Current State of Abandoned Schools in Kyushu
School closure trends and reuse rates across seven Kyushu prefectures. Why welfare facility conversions are chosen
Nationwide school-to-welfare/medical facility conversions (FY2024 survey)
735 cases
Buildings and gymnasiums counted separately; 774 in the previous survey
B&G Foundation grant for Nagasu Town 'Children's Third Place'
¥78.8M
FY2025 Small Concession Formation Promotion selections (including Nagasu)
7 municipalities
School closures from FY2004 to FY2023, by prefecture: Kumamoto 282, Kagoshima 262, Oita 204, Fukuoka 191, Nagasaki 185, Miyazaki 101, and Saga 76. The seven prefectures add up to 1,301, or 14.7% of the national 8,850 (this article did the addition and the division).
Island areas and mountainous regions do move from multi-grade classes to consolidation, but no document shows how fast that happens region by region. Nationally, annual closures have run between 279 and 405 since FY2016, below earlier years (578 in FY2004).
Among the main uses of closed schools nationwide, counting school buildings and gymnasiums separately, welfare and medical facilities number 735 (7.1%), below the 774 in the previous survey (as of 1 May 2021). In Kyushu too, conversion cases span child welfare, disability welfare, and elderly welfare.
High Welfare Needs in Kyushu
Kyushu has comparatively high aging rates nationally, with elderly welfare service demand particularly strained in Kumamoto, Oita, and Kagoshima prefectures. Simultaneously, child poverty rates exceed the national average in several prefectures, making enhanced child welfare another priority. The combination of "high welfare needs" and "available closed school stock" is driving school-to-welfare conversions in Kyushu.
Nagasu Town's Small Concession
Former Nagasu Junior High School site reuse plan and basic plan formulation process
Former Nagasu Junior High School Site Reuse
Nagasu Town (Tamana County, Kumamoto Prefecture) is a town of approximately 15,000 residents. Facing the Ariake Sea, it is known for goldfish farming and shipbuilding. Selected as one of seven municipalities for the FY2025 Small Concession Formation Promotion Project, the former Nagasu Junior High School site is the target project.
Background of Site Reuse Following Consolidation
In April 2024, Nagasu Town consolidated its junior high schools, leaving the former Nagasu Junior High School buildings and grounds idle. The town promptly began studying site reuse after consolidation, initiating formulation of the "Nagasu Junior High School Site Reuse Basic Plan." By employing Small Concession methodology, the town leverages national expert dispatch support while exploring utilization strategies that maximize private creativity.
CTI Engineering's Involvement
CTI Engineering is a comprehensive consultant with extensive experience in public facility management and PPP/PFI. Their involvement in supporting Nagasu Town's site reuse planning represents the expanding reach of Small Concession nationwide, with major consultants now supporting small municipalities in Kyushu.
Characteristics of the Nagasu Town Model
Nagasu Town's case is noteworthy for the following reasons:
- Junior high school site reuse: While most closed school reuse involves elementary schools, junior high schools offer larger-scale gymnasiums, pools, and athletic fields, providing broader utilization options
- Swift response after consolidation: Minimizing the time lag between consolidation and basic plan formulation to determine utilization policy before facility deterioration advances
- Integrating welfare and regional revitalization: Combined with the "Children's Third Place" initiative described below, the town aims to form a community hub centered on welfare functions
Nagasu Town's "Children's Third Place"
B&G Foundation grant program. Converting former community welfare center into multigenerational hub
B&G Foundation's Grant Program
B&G Foundation (Blue Sea and Green Land Foundation) is developing "Children's Third Place" hubs nationwide. This program provides safe spaces for children from economically disadvantaged households — a "third place" beyond the home (first place) and school (second place).
The Nagasu Town "Children's Third Place" hub opened in April 2025, with a grant of 78.8 million yen. The former Nagasu Town Community Welfare Center was renovated into a multigenerational exchange hub — a welcoming space for everyone from children to the elderly.
Operating Structure of "Children's Third Place"
The Nagasu hub has the following operational characteristics:
- Target users: Primarily elementary and middle school students from economically disadvantaged households, while also functioning as a multigenerational exchange space
- Operating body: General Incorporated Association SEP manages operations, ensuring coordination with the local welfare network
- Facility renovation: The former community welfare center was renovated with study support spaces, cooking spaces, and exchange spaces
Structural Analysis of School-to-Welfare Conversions
Reasons behind 735 welfare/medical conversions — stable revenue, building compatibility, supply shortages
Unit costs and amounts in financial examples without a cited source are illustrative assumptions, not statistically established market rates. Use estimates and comparable records appropriate to the target facility, location and business when preparing a project plan. Distinguish these assumptions from cited statistics and case expenditure.
Why Welfare Conversion Is Chosen
The FY2024 survey counts 735 welfare and medical uses (7.1%), a small share of the total. Three structural reasons explain why operators and municipalities choose welfare conversion anyway.
Reason 1: Stable welfare service revenue
Disability welfare and long-term care services have nationally regulated fee schedules, providing stable income with adequate utilization rates. Unlike tourism facilities or cafés, they are less subject to market risk, making business planning more predictable.
Reason 2: Physical compatibility with school buildings
School buildings are designed as "facilities where large numbers of people stay simultaneously," offering hallway widths, classroom sizes, and restroom counts that are compatible with welfare facility requirements. Employment continuation support type B, community life support, and after-school day services are particularly well-suited to classroom-sized activity spaces and gymnasium availability.
Reason 3: Nationwide welfare facility supply shortage
In many regions, the supply of disability welfare and child welfare facilities cannot keep pace with demand. Utilizing closed schools enables facility procurement at lower cost and shorter timelines than conventional new openings (property search → lease → interior renovation).
Welfare Conversion and Facility Costs
In the case collection, Nishiwaga Town in Iwate lends the school building free of charge and the land for a fee to the operating corporation, and Nagaoka City in Niigata transferred the building free of charge and the land for a fee. How far facility costs fall depends on your current rent and on what is agreed about land rent and maintenance.
→ For detailed revenue models of abandoned school × welfare facilities, see Abandoned School × Welfare Facility Revenue Model.
Kyushu Abandoned School × Welfare Patterns
Four patterns: child welfare, disability welfare, elderly welfare, multigenerational exchange
Organizing Kyushu region abandoned school × welfare cases reveals four classifiable patterns.
Pattern 1: Child Welfare
Converting closed schools to after-school day services, children's centers, and childcare support facilities. Nagasu Town's "Children's Third Place" falls within this pattern. These address community childcare support needs while functioning as multigenerational exchange hubs.
Pattern 2: Disability Welfare
Utilizing as disability welfare service offices including employment continuation support type B, community life support, and employment transition support. Classrooms are converted to workrooms and training rooms, with gymnasiums serving as recreation spaces. Kyushu's strong agricultural sector makes "agriculture × disability welfare" (agricultural welfare linkage) models particularly viable.
Pattern 3: Elderly Welfare
Utilizing as day services, community-based day care, and small-scale multifunctional in-home care facilities. With high aging rates, Kyushu — especially in mountainous areas — faces severe day service supply shortages, creating substantial demand for closed school conversion to elderly welfare facilities.
Pattern 4: Multigenerational Exchange
Rather than single-function welfare facilities, these serve as "multigenerational exchange hubs" where children, people with disabilities, and the elderly interact. The positioning of Nagasu Town's "Children's Third Place" as a multigenerational exchange space represents a pioneer case of this pattern.
Steps for Consideration
Five prerequisites municipalities should verify for welfare conversion
Five prerequisite steps for Kyushu municipalities considering welfare conversion of closed schools:
Step 1: Identify regional welfare needs
Review the municipality's disability welfare plan, long-term care insurance business plan, and child and childcare support plan to identify which welfare service types face supply shortages. Welfare conversion in areas without welfare needs is not viable.
Step 2: Assess building condition
Verify the closed school's construction year, seismic performance, and equipment condition. Pre-1981 construction requires seismic retrofitting, significantly increasing renovation costs. Also verify applicability of sprinkler requirements (welfare facilities exceeding 275m² gross floor area).
Step 3: Confirm use-change procedures
Verify Building Standards Act and Fire Service Act compliance for use-change from school to welfare facility. Additional smoke ventilation, emergency lighting, and evacuation route installation may be required.
Step 4: Recruit and select operators
Solicit utilization proposals from social welfare corporations, NPOs, and private operators. Posting on MEXT's "Everyone's Closed School Project" enables outreach to operators nationwide.
Step 5: Prepare for NIMBY issues
Proactively assess the risk of neighborhood opposition (NIMBY) to welfare facilities (particularly disability facilities) and design resident information sessions and consultation processes.
→ For abandoned school reuse prerequisite checklists, see 47 Abandoned School Reuse Cases.
Abandoned School × Welfare Facility Revenue Model
Using Type B continuous employment support as the example: base fee tiers from June 2026, the rule on user wages, how to work out facility cost differences, and three cases.
7 Small Concession Cases
Target facilities, experts, and design intent of 7 municipalities selected in FY2026
What to do next
When developing a school reuse plan and renovation budget, check the following matters.
| # | What to check or consider | Responsible team or contact |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Find operators interested in using the building. Ask about their intended uses and requirements, and use the responses to develop the reuse plan | Market sounding and local operators |
| 2 | Check the seismic assessment and asbestos survey results. If surveys have not been conducted, determine their scope and how to commission them | Facilities team |
| 3 | Estimate renovation costs from the survey results and compare them with demolition costs | Design office |
| 4 | Check the property disposal procedures. For subsidized school buildings, check MEXT approval or reporting requirements against the intended use and disposal restriction period | Board of education and MEXT |
| 5 | Explain the proposed reuse to alumni and community groups and hear their views before announcing the use | Alumni and neighbourhood associations |
Check operator interest and requirements before finalizing the use, and take prospective demand into account when developing the reuse plan.
References
FY2024 Survey on Utilization of Closed School Facilities in Public Elementary and Middle Schools — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2025)
Announcement of Expert Recruitment for Small Concession Municipalities — Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2026)
Nagasu Town Children's Third Place Hub Opens — Blue Sea and Green Land Foundation (B&G Foundation) (2025)
'Children's Third Place' to Open in Nagasu Town for Elementary and Middle School Students from Economically Disadvantaged Families, Spring 2025 — Nishinippon Shimbun (2024)
Related Articles
47 Former School Reuse Cases
Success patterns and failure factors from MEXT data
How to Reuse a Closed School: Survey Counts, MEXT's List of Closed Schools Seeking Uses, the Property Disposal Procedure, and National Subsidies
Survey counts and why uses stay undecided, MEXT's list of closed schools seeking uses, when property disposal needs only a report or no treasury repayment, and the national subsidy list
Abandoned School Reuse in Tohoku
Challenges and success stories from aging regions
