Sakuragaoka High School

The Private Sakuragaoka Girl's High School (私立(しりつ)桜が丘(さくらがおか)女子(じょし)高等学校(こうとうがっこう), Shiritsu Sakuragaoka Joshi Koutou Gakkou), sometimes abbreviated as Sakura High (桜(さくら)高(こう), Sakura Kou) is a fictional Japanese high school and the main setting of the series K-ON!.

About

Like other high schools in Japan, the Sakuragaoka High School is divided into three year groups of students and represents the last stage of Japan's education via public schools. The students are taught in several complex subjects to be able to attend the country's universities afterwards.

Structure and Organisation

The Sakura High is an all-girl school led by its headmaster Yoji Okiyama.

The school classes are structured with numbers that are attached to the year group number (first year classes start with a "1", second year ones with a "2" and third year ones with a "3"). There are five classes per year group with averagely 30-40 students. The students are usually assigned to their classes with the principle of contingency. The results are published on large boards in the hallway at the start of each school year.

The students, per the usual Japanese school year structure, are 15 years old when starting as the school's freshmen. Over time, when becoming the school's seniors, they have to be adressed as "senpai" by the younger students. Students are 18 years old when graduating.

The students have to wear a school uniform. The uniform consists of a navy blue blazer, a solid white buttoned shirt (under the blazer), a colored ribbon, a light steel blue skirt, black stockings (sometimes long white socks) and maroon shoes. The summer uniform replaces the blazer with a beige vest. The subject physical education requires a tracksuit (sport jacket with long pants) with white striped brims, a white shirt with colored endings for the summer semester and white sports shoes. The school features three colours (blue, red and green), each for one year group. The colour of the uniform's ribbon, the tip of the indoor shoes and the tracksuit depends on the year group the related student belongs to. Aside from the uniform, the students are also equipped with blue school bags which can be decorated to a certain degree.

The subjects cover the main subject with a higher difficulty. Classes are held by the specialized teachers. Sometimes, instead of lessons, the students are tasked to learn on their own in the study halls. Eventually, the students have to undergo several exam periods, where the subjects are tested. In the last year, the difficulty rises immensely. During the exam periods, club activities are prohibited. Students who fail the tests have the chance to correct their mistakes by attending an make-up test. If they fail it as well, they are banned from club activities.

Even though the school is only accessible for female students, male teachers are part of the school's teacher faculty as well. Aside from teaching, the teachers are also tasked with other organisational duties like helping school clubs as an adviser or planning the school marathon. The obverse of the teacher faculty is the student council, which voluntarily helps the school organise certain subjects. The council is led by its president which is also the student representative in person.

The school has certain rituals. At the start of each school year, the students assemble in the auditorium to sing the school anthem. Once a year, the school organises a school marathon where every student has to participate. At the end of summer, the school also hosts a school festival, where each class and club has the ability to deliver a performance of any kind. The school is open for guests during the festival. At the end of each school year, the seniors graduate unless they don't repeat the last year. The graduation ceremony is held at the auditorium. Before the student representative presents the valedictory, each senior gets decorated with a cherry blossom, handed over by a second-year student.

Like other Japanese schools, the Sakura High offers its students to gather together in clubs. The topic of a club can be anything possible, be it about a certain kind of sports, about music or about mysteries. The clubs have to be officially accepted by the faculty office to be listed by the student council. Each club needs a president and a teacher as an adviser. The school offers each club a budget and the opportunity to hold activities after the lessons have ended. However, the school topics are still superior to club activities. Some clubs differ from the others in their main purpose. An example would be the Mio Akiyama Fan Club, which is about the fandom of a certain person.

Known Clubs

• Abacus Club
• Art Club
• Athletics Club
• Badminton Club
• Basketball Club
• Baton Club
• Brass Band
• Choir Club
• Comedy Study Group
• Drama Club
• Ikebana Club
• Football Club
• Gardening Club
• Go Club
• Horror Study Group
• Jazz Research Department
• Judo Club
• Karate Club
• Kendo Club
• Lacrosse Club
• Light Music Club
• Literature Club
• Magic Club
• Mio Akiyama Fan Club
• Movie Research Department
• Newspaper Club
• Occult Club
• Othello Club
• Photography Club
• Shigin Club
• Softball Club
• Swimming Club
• Table Tennis Club
• Tea Ceremony Club
• Tennis Club
• Volleyball Club

Building

The Sakura High is a large building with two main floors and a third one that contains the music room and an entrance to the roof. Several cherry blossom trees can be seen throughout the school grounds, hence the school's name. In front of the main entrance, a fountain with a statue of a dolphin and two children is placed. Several other statues can be seen on the school grounds, the most prominent of them is the bust of a man, probably the school founder. The school's stairs are decorated with small statues of turtles. The school also has a library, a gymnasium and an auditorium.

Gallery

A front view of the school.

The school during the rainy season.

The bust in front of the door.

The school's guardhouse.

The entrance hall with the shoe cabinets.

The entrance hall with the boards that tell about the class deployment.

Students leave after classes have ended.

Yui Hirasawa standing under the cherry blossom trees that gave the school its name.

A floor inside of the school.

The stairs that lead up to the music room, decorated with statues of turtles.

The school's cafeteria.

The school's kitchen.

The school's auditorium.

The auditorium seen from a closer point.

The inside of the auditorium.

The inside of the auditorium during an entrance ceremony.

The hallway that leads to the auditorium.

The school's library.

The school's gymnasium.

The inside of the gym.

The school's sports ground.

The school's sports ground during physical education.

The grassland around the school, used by sport clubs.

Ritsu Tainaka, Tsumugi Kotobuki and Mio Akiyama on the school's roof.

Sawako Yamanaka on the school's roof with the main building in the background.

A bathroom.

Ritsu Tainaka and Mio Akiyama waiting in the school's music room.

Ritsu Tainaka, Mio Akiyama, Yui Hirasawa and Tsumugi Kotobuki inside of the home ec room.

The school's art room.

The room of the Light Music Club.

The room of the Jazz Club.

Sawako Yamanaka with her students inside of the teacher faculty office.

Nodoka Manabe inside of the Student Council room.

The Student Council Room during a club president meeting.

A first-year classroom.

A second-year classroom.

A third-year classroom.

An empty third-year classroom.

The school during a school festival.

The festival seen from above.

The auditorium during the festival.

The inside of the school during a festival.

A classroom during the festival.

Trivia

The old Toyosato Elementary building, the school Sakuragaoka High is based on.

• The school is based, both externally and internally, on the old Toyosato Elementary School building, which was built in 1937 and used until 2004 when the school moved to a new building, and the existing building was preserved at the request of the town's residents. Even the bronze tortoise and hare seen on the staircases of Sakuragaoka are a feature of the real school as well.
• On July 27th, 2010 Japan Post released a postage stamp set of Toyosato Elementary. The pictures clearly reference K-ON!, mainly featuring locations often seen in the show, including a table set with sweets, tea, a music stand, and even Azusa Nakano's cat ears, and another featuring a Gibson Les Paul in heritage cherry sunburst, just like Yui Hirasawa's beloved "Giita".
• The bust in front of the school is often decorated with different hats or glasses, appearing as a running gag.