3

The main setting of Tanaka-kun Is Always Listless appears to me to be extraordinarily fancy, at least by my American experience of going to high school in Wisconsin.

Outside:

outside view of high school

Do those poles along the building support a net, maybe to protect windows from stray balls? The surrounding area is beautiful, with a rural forested feel and located near a river.

Inside:

inside view of high school

It appears as if one end is open, and there are other shots of small patios upstairs. Apparently they do not air condition the middle area -- it is sort of a breezeway, albeit with one end partially closed off. I am impressed by the sunroof, the middle downstairs area which appears to be some sort of courtyard or atrium, and the upstairs walkway which reminds me more of an indoor shopping mall than a high school. I don't remember other anime where the high school itself was so interesting.

Wow, a Google search for Japanese high school architecture starts off with 5 more affluent-looking schools. Maybe the word architecture tuned the search for high end samples. It gets even more impressive if you click over to Images. This ain't Wisconsin.

RichF
  • 3,134
  • 3
  • 20
  • 42
  • I've always gotten the impression that the Japanese government spends a lot more money on schools than the US government does. It's also apparently common for parents to send their children to expensive private middle schools and high schools. – Torisuda Jan 01 '17 at 22:09
  • In the USA school spending in most states is supported locally. So some schools can barely afford books for the students, while others can give each student a computer. I'm sure we have some very fancy public schools, but the current political anti-tax climate is probably starting to strangle even affluent districts. – RichF Jan 01 '17 at 22:21
  • 3
    The school in _Tanaka-kun_ is heavily modelled after Motomachi High School in Hiroshima, which is just about as fancy. You can find pictures of it by searching for "広島市立基町高等学校". Google Maps has Street View around it as well. Hiroshima Castle (not the original; a replica was built after the atomic bombing) is just across a moat from Motomachi HS. – senshin Jan 02 '17 at 06:39
  • 3
    It's worth noting that the adult:child ratio is high and growing faster in Japan than probably anywhere else, which (combined with Japan being one of the wealthiest nations in the world) I would imagine means relatively more tax dollars for education per child in Japan than in most places. (And if you think you've seen impressive anime schools, wait 'till you watch _Madoka_ or _Bakemonogatari_!) – senshin Jan 02 '17 at 06:45
  • @senshin thank you for the link and info! From an image there, one can see that the ground floor hall is an actual atrium. The building also appears to have 2.5 or even 3 stories, with a basement or half-basement. The page also has a poster for their upcoming cultural festival. – RichF Jan 02 '17 at 12:02
  • 1
    If you've seen the film "Your Name" (Kimi no Na wa), Taki's high school is also modelled on the Hiroshima Motomachi HS, despite it being located in Tokyo. – ConMan Jan 09 '17 at 03:58
  • @ConMan I have not seen *Your Name* yet, but I look forward to it. The film has only been shown for 1 week in 1 or 2 USA theaters. It is expected to get wide release later this year. That aside, it is cool that people other than me think this high school is worth recognizing. – RichF Jan 09 '17 at 21:17
  • @RichF It's such a distinctive school (even with a slightly different colour palette) that after I saw the film I did some detective work to confirm that they were the same. (It's been running in Australia in most capital cities for two months now.) – ConMan Jan 09 '17 at 22:00

0 Answers0