Since the late 20th century Nihonjin gakko has seen the increase of Foreign-born students, as more and more Japanese marry outside of their ethnicity or race. These studnets are permanent residents and gurantee the stable enrollment, however, often times their Japanese language skills are below average because they grew up overseas and many of them speak other language(s) at home.
Nihonjin gakko(日本人学校 Nihonjin Gakkō ), also called Japanese School, is a full day school outside of Japan for native or bi- or multilingual speakers of Japanese. It is an expatriate school, designed for children whose parent is working on a diplomatic, business or educational mission overseas and have a plan to go back to Japan for good.
It offers the exact same curriculum used in public elementary and middle schools in Japan, so when the students go back to Japan, they won't fall behind in the class. Some schools accept Japanese citizens only, others welcome Japanese speaking students regardless of citizenship.
It is accredited by Japan's Ministry of education and science and receives funding from the Japanese government. Every school has teachers transferred from Japan for a 2 to 3 year assignment. They hire locals as Japanese speaking teachers, English and other language instructors, administrative assistants, gardeners, janitors and security guards. There are 85 schools worldwide as of April 2006,[1] and all of these schools provide English classes in the primary education.
Schools that partially offer the Nihonjin gakko's curriculum after school hours or on weekends are sometimes called Japanese School too, but strictly speaking they are categorized as Hoshu jugyo ko (hoshu ko), a supplementary school.
History
editSome of Nihonjin gakkos in Asia have a long history, originally established as a public school in the Japan-occupied territories in Thailand, Philippines and Taiwan. During the postwar rapid economic growth in 1950's to early 1970s and Japanese asset price bubble in 1980s, the country gained economic power and many Sogo shoshas and major industries sent their employees all over the world. That was when many Nihonjin gakkos were established to educate their children in Asia, Europe, Middle East, North,Central and South America . While Japan was experiencing a major recession called the Lost decade in 1990s, so were Nihonjin Gakkos. Many of them were closed down due to a dramatic decrease in enrollment.
However, for its rapidly growing economy, China is an exception. Schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong have been expanding and new schools had founded in Dalian, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Suzhou since 1990s.
Locations
editSee the complete list here. Nihonjin Gakkos tend to be in the following three types of areas in the world.
- Area with a big Japanese temporary resident population such as London and New York . Many students are staying only for a few years for their parent's business.
- Area where English is not the official language such as Düsseldorf, São Paulo, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur. Many parents would sent their children to local schools if they live in an English speaking country.
- Area that has/recenlty had unstable political and/or educational system(s), high crime rate, anti-Japanese sentiment such as Bangkok, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Karachi , Seoul
Tendencies
editSince the early 1990s more parents have chosen a local school or an international school over a Nihonjin gakko.
- The parents prefer the children to receive education in English.
Nihonjin gakko has only elementary and middle schools (Grade 1 through 9) that are mandatory in Japan. Some offer a kindergarten program, but none offers a high school, which is a big drawback for those who have a high school aged child. The children educated in English environment will be able to continue their education where they live with their parents. Otherwise they need to pass the entrance exam to enroll in a boarding school in Japan or one of the seven(as of October 2006) Japanese boarding schools worldwide.
- The parents take advantage of the situation and let the children be exposed to local culture and make non-Japanese friends
- Many of private and public Japanese schools have become flexible and accepts expatriate students by having a separate requirements for admissions or offering exams in English.
List of Nihonjin Gakkos
editAs of October 2006 [2]
Asia
edit- Bangladesh
- Japanese School Dhaka
- India
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- The Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur
- The Japanese School of Johor
- Kota Kinabalu Japanese School
- Penang Japanese School
- Myanmar
- Yangon Japanese School
- Pakistan
- People's Republic of China
- Philippines
- Manila Japanese School
- Republic of China (Taiwan)
- Singapore
- The Japanese School in Singapore
- South Korea
- Busan Japanese School
- Japanese School in Seoul
- Sri Lanka
- Japanese School in Colombo
- Thailand
- Thai-Japanese Association School (Bangkok)
- Vietnam
- Japanese School in Ho Chi Minh City
- The Japanese School of Hanoi
North America
edit- United States
- Chicago Futabakai Japanese School
- The Japanese School of Guam
- The Japanese School of New York
- The New Jersey] Japanese School
Central and South America
edit- Argentina
- The Japanese School of Buenos Aires
- Brazil
- Escola Japonesa de Manaus
- The Japanese School of São Paulo
- Sociedade Civil de Divulgação Cultural e Educacional Japonesa do Rio de Janeiro
- Chile
- Santiago Japanese School
- Colombia
- Asociation Cultural Japonesa (in Bogotá)
- Costa Rica
- Escuela Japonesa de San José
- Guatemala
- Escuela Japonesa en Guatemala
- Mexico
- Escuela Japonesa de Aguascalientes,A.C.
- Liceo Mexicano Japones, A.C. Cecction Japonesa (in Mexico City)
- Panama
- The Japanese School of Panama
- Paraguay
- Colegio Japones en Asunción
- Peru
- Instituto de enseñanza Japonesa (in Lima)
- Venezuela
- Colegio Japones de Caracas
Europe
edit- Austria
- Japanische Schule in Wien
- Belgium
- The Japanese School of Brussels
- Czech Republic
- Japonska Skola v Praze
- France
- Institut Culturel Franco-Japonais (in Paris)
- Germany
- Japanische International Schule Frankfurt am Main e.V.
- Japanische Internationale Schule in Düsseldorf e.V.
- Japanische Internationale Schule Munich e.V.
- Japanische Internationale Schule zu Berlin e.V.
- Japanische Schule in Hamburg e.V.
- Greece
- Japanese Community School of Athens
- Hungary
- The Budapest Japanese School
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Japanese School in Warsaw
- Romania
- Scoala Japoneza Bucuresti
- Russia
- Japanese School in Moscow
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Japanische Schule in Zürich
- United Kingdom
- The Japanese School in London
Africa and Middle East
edit- Bahrain
- The Japanese School in Bahrain
- Egypt
- Cairo Japanese School
- Iran
- Japanese School in Tehran
- Kenya
- The Nairobi Japanese School
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- The Japanese School of Johannesburg
- Turkey
- Istanbul Japanese School
- United Arab Emirates
Oceania
editFootnotes
editJapanese materials