Iwakuni ES History

Opened: 2017
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Iwakuni Elementary School is a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school located on Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, located in Iwakuni, Japan.

Iwakuni Elementary School serves students in grades 3 through 5, and opened with an enrollment of approximately 270 students. The school opened for the 2017-2018 school year on Wednesday, August 30th, 2017 – and held an official ribbon cutting on Monday, October 2nd, 2017.

Iwakuni Elementary, along with its sister schools, MC Perry Elementary, Iwakuni Middle School, and MC Perry High School serve children of military and civilian parents who have been stationed at MCAS Iwakuni.

During the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Iwakuni ES student R.M. gave the following description of the Iwakuni area.

Iwakuni Elementary is named after the mid-sized city Iwakuni, in the Yamaguchi prefecture, and located on the United States military base. Iwakuni is known for its famous Kintai Bridge, the reconstructed Iwakuni Castle, cormorant fishing, and its white snakes. The Kintai Bridge is known as one of the most famous bridges in Japan, first built without nails or bolts and beautiful wooden arches! The Iwakuni Castle can be seen peering out above the bridge, and the 1,300-year-old traditional cormorant fishing can be seen down below the bridge on the Nishiki River. There is also a White Snake museum nearby where the albino snake with red eyes and white scales can be visited. The White Snake is believed to be a natural treasure by the Japanese government. They are thought to be good luck as they are messengers from Benten, the goddess of wealth. This is why we have the White Snakes as our mascot.
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