Geographical location
	City of Suwa Lat. 36° 02' N Long. 138° 07' E Access from Tokyo about 3 hours by train to Kamisuwa Station from Osaka about 1 hour by bullet train to Nagoya Station from Nagoya Station about 2 1/2 hours by train to Kamisuwa Station
	Related links Nagano Prefecture Takashima Elementary School (Japanese only)

The city of Suwa is located near the center of Nagano Prefecture, famous for having hosted the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. In the western part of the city lies Lake Suwa, the prefecture's biggest body of water. Takashima Elementary School, located in Suwa, has had a unique program for 26 years. Out of respect for the kids' own wishes, it allows the pupils of each class to choose a theme that they pursue on their own. Because there are no printed textbooks, the program has been dubbed the "blank page class," with the kids themselves filling in the pages with the help of their teachers.

The theme is chosen at the start of the school year by each class, grades one through six. This year, for example, second grade class 2 chose to keep a goat in a pen they built by themselves, and sixth grade class 1 grew taro potatoes and cooked them in handmade clay pots. One project that addresses environmental concerns focuses on Lake Suwa. The 39 students in fifth grade class 1 are now in the second year of an effort to clean up the lake that they've grown up with. The lake is a popular sightseeing destination all year round; people enjoy water sports in the summer and fish for smelt or go ice skating in the winter.

The kids decided to focus on the lake when they realized how littered it had become. When they visited it on a school picnic in the spring of their fourth grade year, they were shocked to find empty cans and cigarette butts there. They decided to create posters and leaflets asking people not to litter, which were put on display in local shops and handed out to visitors.

This year, the kids turned their attention to cleaning up not just the lakefront area but also the water itself. They performed a number of experiments in the school pond, thinking of it as Lake Suwa in miniature.

They learned that certain water grasses have cleansing properties and tried growing them in the pond. Unfortunately, they were eaten by the ducks that are also kept in the pond, and so the experiment failed. They then read a newspaper article about a neighboring town's plan to lay wood charcoal at the bottom of Lake Suwa to purify it. The kids decided to try this, too, and they've making the charcoal on their own.

The students visit the lake regularly to carry out on-site checks. In November 1999 they split up into four groups devoted to different aspects of keeping the lake clean. The Living Organism team collected shrimp and other creatures in the lake and have been observing them in the school pond. The Litter squad collected trash around the lake in a joint program with pupils from the neighboring city of Okaya.

"I made a lot of friends with kids from another school," one of the Takashima participants said. "I was really glad to find out that there are others who are also concerned about keeping the lake clean."

The Facilities group tried walking along the lake's shores blindfolded to see if the the lakefront layout was accommodating to people with disabilities. "It's really scary walking without being able to see," one student exclaimed, "even when it's in a place you're familiar with. I bet walking around in the middle of the city would be a lot scarier."

The Water team studied the quality of the flow into the lake at the mouth of the Nakamon River. The test called for examining living organisms, but the kids weren't able to find any. When their teacher Mr. Haruki Okabe suggested they give up, the kids said they would give it another try. "I'm sure there's a way to check for water quality without having to look for living organisms," exclaimed one. "Let's go to the library to look for alternative methods," said another. Now they're busy poring over books at a neighborhood library to find a different approach.

"The more I find out about the lake, the more fascinating it gets," one of the young researchers said enthusiastically. The interest seems to be spilling over into other subjects like history, too: "There's a legend that the remains of Takeda Shingen [a powerful warlord in the late sixteenth century] are buried nearby."

While not all experiments have been successful, the experience has been rewarding all the same, and the kids have gained a wider perspective as a result. The students of fifth grade class 1 also seem to be learning how fun it can be to work together in overcoming problems.


Photos: (From top) Lake Suwa is a great place to swim in the summer; kids search for lake organisms to study; making charcoal to purify the water; testing chacoal filters in the school pond. (Takashima Elementary School)