Weren’t you surprised by how polite the children of Chiburijima island are? They greet travelers they don’t even know and bow after a bold “Konnichi-wa!” taking their hats off. There are some children who participate in a program called “Shima Ryūgaku” or Island Study Abroad where children from other islands will come to study at schools here.

The elementary school is broken up into three groups of students: the first and second years, the third and fourth years, and the fifth and sixth years. Each class has an average of five students (as of 2018) and almost all of the students are involved in learning the art of kabuki, kagura and the Minaichi Odori dance where they dance while beating the taiko drum.

Since this is the only elementary school on the island, and there is no school bus, children from all over the island have to walk to the school. Whether they meant this as training or not, it is said that they are all abnormally fast at long-distance running.