Abandoned Schools × Welfare Facilities in Kyushu — Nagasu Town and CTI Engineering's Initiatives

Kyushu's seven prefectures (Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima) are regions where declining birthrates, aging populations, and population outflow continue, with ongoing school closures. Island areas (Nagasaki, Kagoshima prefectures) and mountainous regions (Kumamoto, Oita prefectures) in particular face accelerating processes of multi-grade classes → consolidation → closure.

Of the 8,850 closed school facilities nationwide (cumulative FY2004-2023), 735 have been converted to welfare or medical facilities, showing an increasing trend in recent years. This upward trend is also evident in the Kyushu region, with conversion cases spanning 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.

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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

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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

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Why Welfare Conversions Are Increasing

Conversion of closed schools to welfare facilities is increasing nationally. The FY2024 survey shows 735 welfare and medical facility conversions. Three structural reasons drive this increase.

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).

Revenue Advantage of Welfare Conversion

The greatest benefit of converting closed schools to welfare facilities is "compressed facility costs." Typical leased properties cost 200,000-400,000 yen monthly in facility rent, but free or low-cost provision of closed schools reduces this to 0-50,000 yen monthly, achieving cost savings of 150,000-350,000 yen per month.

→ For detailed revenue models of abandoned school × welfare facilities, see Abandoned School × Welfare Facility Revenue Model.

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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.

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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.

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Abandoned School × Welfare Facility Revenue Model

Structure for reducing facility costs by ¥150,000-350,000/month. Revenue simulation for 20-person employment support type B

7 Small Concession Cases

Target facilities, experts, and design intent of 7 municipalities selected in FY2026

References

FY2024 Survey on Utilization of Closed School Facilities in Public Elementary and Middle Schools (2025)

Announcement of Expert Recruitment for Small Concession Municipalities (2026)

Nagasu Town Children's Third Place Hub Opens (2025)

'Children's Third Place' to Open in Nagasu Town for Elementary and Middle School Students from Economically Disadvantaged Families, Spring 2025 (2024)