Abstract
This study is conducted to provide an empirical review on how schools play a pivotal role in the regional communities. For this, the use of closed schools, activities to revive small-scale schools, and activities related to nearby schools outside the village were analyzed for villages that have participated and have been awarded in the Contest for Making Happy Rural Communities by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The results of this are as follows. Out of 204 villages that won the contest, there were 19 cases of school closures. Of these 19 cases, there are 17 cases in which the closed school facilities still exist. For the two remaining cases, there are no buildings and only the site remains. To summarize the use of these schools, the functions are being combined and are determined within the range that local residents can operate. The impact or success factors on the region can be summarized into five main categories through the revival of schools in the crisis of closure. First, it was an opportunity to lay an organizational foundation for village projects in the future by reorganizing the village's organization, such as the formation of a village promotion committee to revive the schools. Second, it did not just introduce outsiders to increase the population, but supported housing and jobs for them to successfully settle down. Third, a cultural community was created with senior and junior residents, and finally, the residents became teachers or formed a village education communities such as lifelong education. In the relationship with schools existing outside the village, activities with members of the surrounding schools and linked activities are being carried out in the sense of "school".