We developed a database of the number of public elementary schools and their pupils in Shimane prefecture. This paper aims to explain the changes and concomitant school closures. From 1960 to 1977 the number of children in the prefecture halved and that forced many and especially branch schools to shut down, after that there are no major changes until 1999. However the amalgamation and reorganization of schools proceeded massively after 2000 as the large scale merging of municipalities took place. We classified and analyzed the cities and towns by the fluctuating number of schools in them.
