Nihonjin gakkō

Nihonjin gakkō(Nhật Bản người trường học,lit. School for Japanese people),also calledJapanese school,is a full-day school outsideJapanintended primarily for Japanese citizens living abroad. It is anexpatriateschool designed for children whose parents are working on diplomatic, business, or education missions overseas and have plans torepatriateto Japan.

The schools offer exactly the samecurriculumused in publicelementaryandjunior high schoolsin Japan, so when the students go back to Japan, they will not fall behind in the class. Some schools accept Japanesecitizensonly; others welcome Japanese speaking students regardless of citizenship.^[3]

They are accredited by Japan'sMinistry of education and scienceand receive funding from theJapanese government.There were 85 schools worldwide as of April 2006,^[4]and all of these schools provide English classes in the primary education.

Every school hires teachers from Japan on a two- to three-year assignment, but they also hire people from the local community as Japanese-speaking teachers, English and other language instructors, administrative assistants, gardeners, janitors and security guards.

Nihonjin gakkōserve elementary school and junior high school.^[5]Onenihonjin gakkō,Shanghai Japanese School,has a senior high school program.^[6]

Schools that partially offer the nihonjin gakkō's curriculum after school hours or on weekends are sometimes called Japanese schools, too, but strictly speaking they are categorized ashoshū jugyō kōorhoshūkō,a supplementary school. Overseas Japanese schools operated by private educational institutions are not classified as nihonjin gakkō, but instead asShiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu[ja].

History

TheShanghai Japanese School(Pudong Campus pictured) is the onlynihonjin gakkōin the world that offers senior high school classes.

Some of thenihonjin gakkōinAsiahave a long history, originally established as public schools in the Japan-occupied territories inThailand,Philippines,andTaiwan.^{[citation needed]}

As Japan recovered afterWorld War II,increased numbers of Japanese international schools serving elementary and junior high school levels opened around the world.^[7]The first postwar Japanese overseas school was theJapanese School of Bangkok,which opened in 1956.^[8]

TheMinistry of Education of Japan,as of 1985, encouraged the development ofnihonjin gakkō,indeveloping countries,while it encouraged the opening ofhoshū jugyō kō,or part-time supplementary schools, indeveloped countries.However, some Japanese parents in developed countries, in addition to those in developing countries, campaigned for the opening ofnihonjin gakkōin developed countries due to concern about the education of their children.^[9]

In 1971, there were 22nihonjin gakkōworldwide.^[9]During thepostwar rapid economic growthin the 1950s to early 1970s and theJapanese asset price bubblein the 1980s, the country gained economic power and manysogo shoshasand major industries sent their employees all over the world. That was when manynihonjin gakkowere established to educate their children in Asia,Europe,Middle East,North,CentralandSouth America.^{[citation needed]}The number ofnihonjin gakkōincreased to 80 in 1986 with the opening of Japanese schools inBarcelonaandMelbourne.As of May of that year 968 teachers from Japan were teaching at these Japanese schools worldwide. That month 15,811 students were enrolled in those schools.^[10]The number ofnihonjin gakkōincreased to 82 by 1987.^[9]

In the early 1980s, 40% of Japanese national children living in Europe attendednihonjin gakkō,while almost 95% of Japanese national children living abroad in Asia attendednihonjin gakkō.^[9]

Many Japanese parents abroad sent their children to Japan to attend high school after they completed the junior high school abroad, or leaving the children behind, so they could become accustomed to the difficult Japanese university entrance systems. Toshio Iwasaki, the editor of theJournal of Japanese Trade & Industry,stated that this reason inhibited the development of Japanese senior high schools in other countries.^[7]The first overseas international schools that served the senior high school level were theRikkyo School in England,^[7]gaining senior high school level classes after 1975,^[11]and theLycée Seijoin France, which opened in 1986. By 1991 Japanese international senior high schools were in operation in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, Denmark, and Ireland.^[7]

By 1991 many overseas Japanese high schools were accepting students who were resident in Japan, and some wealthier families in Japan chose to send their children to Japanese schools abroad instead of Japanese schools in Japan.^[12]

While Japan was experiencing a majorrecessioncalled theLost Decadein the 1990s, so werenihonjin gakkō.Many of them were closed due to a dramatic decrease in enrollment.^{[citation needed]}

With its rapidly growing economy, China is an exception. Schools inBeijing,ShanghaiandHong Kong^{[citation needed]}have been expanding and new schools had founded inDalian,Guangzhou,Tianjin,Qingdao,Suzhousince 1991.^{[citation needed]}

By 2004 there were 83 Japanese day schools in 50 countries.^[8]

Characteristics

Nihonjin gakkōuse Japanese as their language of instruction. The curriculum is approved by the JapaneseMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT) so that students may easily adjust upon returning to Japan.^[8]For foreign language classes, each school usually teaches English and, if different, a major local language of the country.^[8]^[13]Mostnihonjin gakkōdo not admit people lacking Japanese citizenship.^[8]This practice differs from those of American and British international schools, which do admit students of other nationalities.^[14]Nihonjin gakkōusually use the Japanese academic calendar instead of those of their host countries.^[15]

Tendencies

As of 2005–2007, parents of Japanese nationality residing in the United States and Europe,^[8]as well as other industrialized and developed regions,^[16]generally prefer local schools overnihonjin gakkō,while Japanese parents in Asia and the Middle East prefernihonjin gakkō.^[8]

In 2003 11,579 Japanese students living in Asia (outside Japan) attended full-time Japanese schools, making up more than 70% of the Japanese students in Asia.^[17]In Oceania, 194 Japanese pupils attended full-time Japanese schools, making up 7.7% of the total Japanese students in Oceania.^[18]In North America there were 502 students at full-time Japanese schools, making up 2.4% of Japanese pupils on that continent.^[17]As of 2007, there were a total of threenihonjin gakkōon the U.S. mainland recognized by MEXT.^[19]

History

Characteristics

Tendencies

Locations

Map

Asia (except the Middle East)

Middle East (not including Africa)

North America

Central and South America

Europe

Africa

Oceania

Former locations

Notes

References

Further reading