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-International schools in Japan cater to growing need for diversity, alternatives-
By MICHIRU YOSHINO, Contributing writer
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The origin of international schools in Japan dates as far back as 1862,
four years before the country opened up to the outside world in 1868.
In October 1862, the Kanagawa Bugyo, the local police of the Tokugawa Shogunate,
visited the residence of James C. Hepburn and his wife, Clara, to request they
teach algebra and chemistry to nine samurai.
Hepburn was an American missionary and medical doctor renowned in Japan today for
inventing the Hepburn romanization system of the Japanese language, and for
translating the Bible into Japanese.
Hepburn, agreeing to take the samurai students, started a private school called
Hebon Juku in Kanagawa. Clara did the actual teaching and, finding her students
already quite advanced in their other studies, concentrated on their English.
Just one year after its establishment, Hebon Juku's number of student was on the
rise. The school roster included names of future prominent figures as Tadasu Hayashi,
who later became foreign minister, and Korekiyo Takahashi, who became prime minister of Japan.
Eventually, the school became a prominent name itself. In 1887, Hebon Juku became
Meiji Gakuin University, with Hepburn its first headmaster in 1889.
International schooling for women also started quite early in Japan. Mary E. Kidder,
a teacher at Hebon Juku, started teaching mixed classes in 1870, and, by 1871, had
established Kidder Juku, a private school with an initial enrollment of 12 girls.
Many Japanese aristocrats and politicians began sending their daughters to Kidder
Juku, as Mary Kidder earned a high reputation for teaching methods that demonstrated
a respect for humanity and freedom and served to bring up sophisticated, devout women.
By 1875, a new school building and dormitory was opened on No. 178 of the Bluff in Yokohama,
under the name of the Isaac Ferris Seminary. In 1950, the school was renamed Ferris Jogakuin.
The school, still known as Ferris Jogakuin, is still known today as a fine women's school.
Schooling and education problems are often headaches for parents around the world. But for the
globe-trotting family, the situation becomes more serious. Parents of school-age children must
consider such issues as the school curriculum of various countries, and how that curriculum
will work with the child's upbringing and personality.
"When talking about international schools, we should think of three different levels: pre-school,
grade 1 to grade 12, and post secondary," notes James Yellowlees, President of Global Daigaku.com,
a company that assists schools and educational institutions in promoting their programs, while
helping individuals and corporate/institutional clients to find appropriate education and training solutions.
Preschools are kindergartens that accept children 18 months or older, and offer intense private
attention with a teacher-student ratio of about 3-to-6. |
Check out the schools
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As the majority of international schools are unlicensed, Yellowlees recommends that
parents visit the schools to "get a feel of what the school is actually like, observe
whether it's in a good location or not, and check that the overall atmosphere is a
bright and happy one."
For 4 and 5-year-olds, international schools are a place for academic preparation where
children are taught to get along with others at play and work, while their creative
abilities are nurtured in a liberal atmosphere.
Yellowlees explains that one is checking, in effect, to find out whether the school has
"structure and discipline so that the children won't go haywire from being too creative.
An intense curriculum isn't necessary for children at such young ages," he says.
Points to note and ponder increase considerably with the expansion of choices. Numerous
international schools, including a wide selection of both boys' and girls' schools, can
be found in Tokyo today, in such convenient locations as Hiroo and Omotesando.
In the greater Kanto area, where the foreign population is steadily increasing, one
can find a vast diversity of international schools including American, British, German,
French, Korean, Chinese and Indonesian.
"Regardless of whatever school, it is important for the director of the respective school
to communicate with parents, hold regular sessions with them and get them actively involved
in what the school is doing," says Yellowlees.
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New trends observed
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The demand for international schools among Japanese is also on the rise. In addition to the
rising number of families that have actually lived or worked in a foreign country, more and
more Japanese parents are becoming internationally minded.
Quick to respond to such trends, many new schools have jumped on the bandwagon. "The most
frequently observed trend of new schools is to first start by collecting around 200 students
from kindergarten to grade two or maybe grade six or seven. The competition is extremely fierce
among schools that accept children from kindergarten to grade three or four level," he explains.
Though such a trend is welcome in itself, Yellowlees says, "Japanese parents should understand
that after kindergarten, it gets very difficult to slide over to a Japanese school, and this
could cause a problem if the parents or the children themselves later think of completing their
studies under the Japanese educational system."
Further up in the level of education, "serious thinking becomes necessary on what to do, since
colleges and universities are definitely more geared toward the nationals," points out Yellowlees.
Today, such universities as Temple, Sophia and ICU offer good international curricula. Some
international courses are also offered by leading domestic universities such as Waseda and Keio.
McGill, Temple, Sophia, ICU, Waseda and Keio also offer graduate courses in that provide MBA.
"Unique international courses are also offered by Ritsumeikan, as well as the International
University of Japan in Niigata that has a good diversity of foreigner-Japanese student
population," noted Yellowlees.
As demand diversifies for alternatives in schooling, Yellowlees spoke of three up-and-coming
international schools, each with a distinctive approach to education.
One is the Montessori School of Tokyo in Hiroo. Already acquiring high international acclaim,
the school stresses creative play and is managed by well-experienced educators.
In spite of only being in its second year of operation, The Montessori School of Tokyo has
received tremendous response and been very successful.
The second school he noted was the International Secondary School, which focuses on correspondence
courses, or distance learning. Providing classes online, courses are personalized and tailored to
small groups, a good fit for children who are having difficulties adjusting to new environments.
The third school Yellowlees mentioned is the Canadian International School in Osaki. It is a
school of Canadian origin that has adopted a Canadian curriculum and currently has an enrollment
of 200 students.
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