Kobe City: Stove Lighting Ceremony at Rokkosan Elementary School

Every year, Rokko Elementary School holds a fire-lighting ceremony on the 24th day of the month, which is the day of frost.
Fourth graders who are trying to start a fire for the first time, together with fifth and sixth graders, light the stone stove in the entrance hall using a “Maigiri-style fire-starter,” which uses friction of tools to start a fire.
This is a traditional event in which children cooperate with their peers from different grades during this season of the year when we feel the arrival of winter.

1. Date and time

Monday, October 24, 2022, 9:00 – 10:20 a.m., rain or shine
*Frost Day is Sunday, October 23, but this year it will be held on Monday, October 24 due to a weekend holiday.

2. Place:

Kobe Municipal Rokkosan Elementary School Gymnasium and Entrance Hall (4512-42 Kita-Rokko, Rokkosan-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe)

3. Participants

: Kobe Municipal Rokkosan Elementary School 4th-6th graders (30 students)

4. Schedule (tentative

) 9:00 a.m. Introduction ceremony
9:15 a.m. Fire starting work
10:00 a.m. 10:
20 Closing ceremony
*As in the previous year, some changes will be made to this year’s event to prevent the spread of the new type of coronavirus.
The

school

is located 795 meters above sea level on Mt. Rokko, and in October, the morning and evening temperatures are very cold, with a maximum around 15℃.
When the morning temperature drops below 10°C, a fire is lit on the stove in the entrance hall. When the temperature drops below 10℃ in the morning, a fire is lit on the stove in the entrance hall, and students come to school and put their hands on the stove to warm themselves before going up to their classrooms.
The stove in the entrance hall was donated in 2005.
Firewood for the stove is made from wood cut down on the school grounds and from waste wood donated by local residents.

6. Requests for interviews

・If you wish to cover the event, please contact Mr. Fujimoto, the head teacher, by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 19.
There is no parking at the school.
No shoes are allowed inside the gymnasium.
The gymnasium is currently undergoing renovation. Therefore, the coverage area will be limited.
　Depending on the situation of the new coronavirus infection, we may only be able to cover the event from the entrance area.
We will cooperate as much as possible, but we will not allow any “redoing for the sake of filming.
We ask for your cooperation in providing photos and videos used in articles and programs.
Please wear your company’s armband when conducting interviews.