Nationally Designated Important Cultural Property Iwashina School
Completed in 1880 (Meiji 13), this school features namako walls and shrine-temple–style architecture.

Blending Matsuzaki’s traditional building techniques with Western architectural elements, the structure is celebrated as a masterpiece of wooden construction and the oldest school building in the Izu region.

This two-story wooden hipped-roof building is symmetrical, and its exterior is finished in namako walls. The nameplate above the main entrance, reading “Iwashina School,” bears the calligraphy of Sanjo Sanetomi, then Lord Minister of the Interior, and the dragon carved above it is said to have been whittled by master carpenter Irie Chohachi using only a chisel he borrowed.

With its striking Western-influenced design, the building ranks among Japan’s older Western-style schools, alongside Kofu’s former Rikusawa School and Matsumoto’s former Kaichi School. It was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1975 (Showa 50). In Matsuzaki, strong local support for education raised donations to build the school; more than 40 percent of the total construction cost came from contributions.