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Ishinomaki Elementary Swinging Pole
1951 Photograph by an American Military Doctor
Thanks to Stefan Ramos for the translation
Feb. 18th, 2018
The school gate of the Ishinomaki Elementary faced the road in front of the old Kyuishinomaki Town Hall that was built in 1917 (Taisho 6). The main and secondary gates were made up of four white granite poles, and if you entered the school grounds on the right-hand side towards the back was playground equipment.
In the picture, the children are gathered around a “swinging pole.” Many remember the nearby jungle gym and slide, and the horizontal bars in the front of the school. You won’t notice the swinging pole there anymore. Since there were chains fixed to the props on both ends of the thick log, it was a toy that hung horizontally and would graze the surface of the ground. It could be enjoyed like a swing swaying forwards and backwards.
The log that the kids would sit on was quite large so several children could ride at the same time. There was no place to grab onto the log, so it was difficult for the younger children to not fall off if someone shook it. With envious eyes they watched the skilled older children.
One day, the log toy was suddenly dismantled and disappeared. Maybe it was taken down during regular maintenance?
Behind the log toy is the newly built Ishinomaki community center, and there is a long stairwell stretching down from the second-floor emergency exit.
Because of an official notice from the national government, in June of 1947 (Showa 22) the community center leased the second floor of the Kankeimarushoten store on Omachidori Street and reopened. In June of 1949 at the site of the old Kyuishinomaki Town Hall in Yatsuzawa (currently Yatsuzawakoen Park) a new wooden mortar, two story building was constructed and the community center reopened there as the first independent community center in the prefecture.
This writer, a graduate of Ishinomaki Elementary, would take a field trip after school and stop by to visit the different exhibitions. This community center is filled with memories of walking around the building with shoes still on.
• By Local Historian, Seiji Henmi
<Please let us know if you have any information>
You can browse the published photos on the photographer’s eldest son, Alan Butler’s, website “Miyagi 1951”. https://www.miyagi1951.com/
Please feel free to contribute any information regarding these photos to Mr. Henmi at 090(4317)7706.
米軍医が撮った1951、石巻地方＜６＞ 石巻小の遊動円木
旧石巻市役所前の通りに面した石巻小の校門は１９１７（大正６）年の建築で、正門と副門の４本の白御影石からなり、校庭に入ると右手の奥の方に遊具がありました。
写真で、子どもたちが集う遊具は「遊動円木」です。近くのジャングルジムと滑り台、正面校舎前の鉄棒などが思い出されます。
遊動円木は、今は見掛けなくなりました。太い丸太の両端を、支柱に固定した鎖で、地面スレスレに水平につり下げた遊具で、前後に揺すってブランコのように乗って楽しみます。
尻を乗せる丸太は太く、大勢の子どもが一度に乗れます。円木にはつかまる所がなく、大きく揺すると低学年の児童にはバランスをとって落下しないようにすることが難しく、乗りこなす上級生を羨望（せんぼう）の目で見ていたものです。
遊具は、ある日突然、取り外されて無くなることがありました。定期的に点検整備されていたのでしょうか。
遊動円木の後方にあるのは、当時、新築間もない石巻市公民館で、２階非常口から外階段が延びています。
同公民館は１９４７（昭和２２）年の国の通達に基づき同年６月、大町通りの観慶丸商店２階を借り上げて開館。４９（昭和２４）年６月に旧石巻町役場跡の八津沢（現八つ沢公園）に木造モルタル２階建て、県内初の独立公民館として新築開館しました。
石巻小ＯＢの筆者は下校時に立ち寄り、各種展示会などを見学しました。靴履きのままで館内を歩き回れた思い出あふれる公民館です。（郷土史家・辺見清二）
