With the birthrate declining, Tokyo municipalities have found that a growing number of school buildings are not being used. More wards are responding by renovating these vacant classrooms for wider use, ranging from offices to child-care centers.
Leading the way is Arakawa Ward, which is revamping unused classrooms to help revitalize local industry.
In October, the ward will start renting office space from the remodeled classrooms of a junior high school due to close at the end of this month. The offices will mainly serve IT-related venture businesses.