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Because logging is a major industry in the area, students
learn to use wood to make instruments like the violin. They can also take
electives like cooking local delicacies. For several decades, students
have been trekking to neighboring Mt. Ontake every year to clean up the
litter left behind by climbers. |
Otaki
Elementary
and Middle School
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The school festival, field day, and other big days students
look forward to
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1 Making Musical Instruments
At
the Otaki School, art and "integrated studies" classes are devoted to
making musical instruments. Because logging for Japanese cedar, cypress,
and other trees is a major industry in the area, students use wood from
nearby forests to make their own instruments. They all start by building
a bandore, a European instrument shaped like a guitar. Each student
creates their own designs for the body, attaches a neck, and stretches
the strings. The process takes about a month and a half.
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After
they learn the basics of working with wood, they're ready to take on the
challenge of making a violin. The students use tools like the chisel,
mallet, and plane and begin with a wooden board and block. Wood shavings
flying through the air as the students, engrossed in the project, cut
wood based on their own designs and fashion delicate curves with small
planes.
Mr.
Jyun'ichi Nakazawa began teaching the class 20 years ago. "Making instruments
requires concentration and patience, and it provides students with a
sense of accomplishment. They come to realize that each finished violin
has a different tone," he said.
On this day, a fifth-grade girl is adding the final touches on a violin;
all she needs to do now is to apply the varnish. She began making it
more than two years ago, when she was still in second grade. "The hardest
part was making the spiral at the end of the neck. You have to shave
the block of wood with a chisel and smooth it with sandpaper. This part
alone took about a half a year."
The girl then played on her violin, which produced a simple and pleasant
tone.
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2
Cooking Local Dishes > |
3
Cleaning Up Mt. Ontake > |
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