The was a Japanese boarding high school in Kientzheim (now a part of Kaysersberg-Vignoble),

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...

, in the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, near Colmar.Seijo Gakuen closes French campus
" (archived fro

''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

''. Sunday February 13, 2005. Retrieved on 2 January 2013. "Former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata, a graduate of Seijo Gakuen, said in a speech at the ceremony that he truly regrets the closure. Hata was accompanied by his second eldest son, who was one of the school's first graduates." It was operated by Seijo Gakuen, an educational society affiliated with Seijo University, and therefore was an overseas branch of a Japanese private school, or a '' Shiritsu zaigai kyoiku shisetsu'' ( 私立在外教育施設).

History

In the 1980s officials in the

region sent an invitation for a Japanese school to establish itself there as a way of attracting Japanese companies to establish operations in the region. The director of the Alsace Development Agency, Andre Klein, received contacts from several Japanese educational institutions after he had asked a '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' reporter to write an article about a possible site for an overseas Japanese boarding school: a former convent in Kientzheim.Schoenberger, Karl. "COLUMN ONE : 'Japaning' of Europe at Full Tilt : Companies rush for a foothold before the 1992 integration of the European Community. Alsace is a case in point." ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. August 2, 1990. p
3
Retrieved on January 9, 2015. Seijo Gakuen, the organization controlling Seijo University, accepted the offer. It wanted to establish a Japanese school in 1987 to celebrate its 70th anniversary. In 1984 negotiations to establish the school finished successfully. The school opened in April 1986. The first principal was Jokichi Moroga. After the school opened

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

decided to open a factory in Alsace. Other Japanese companies including

Ricoh is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational imaging and electronics company (law), company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Riken, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the ''Riken ...

followed. In 1990 and 1991 the school had 180 students in grades 7 through 12. The school's enrollment declined due to a declining Japanese birthrate and a decreased economic presence of Japanese companies in France, due to the recession in Japan. On Friday February 11, 2005 the school held its final graduation ceremony, with 13 students graduating. In the school's history a total of 556 students had graduated. The European Centre for Japanese Studies in Alsace (french: Centre européen d'études japonaises, CEEJA, ja, アルザス・欧州日本学研究所 ''Aruzasu Ōshū Nihongaku Kenkyūsho'') opened at the site of the former school.Du lycée Seijo au Centre d’études japonaises
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Archive
''

L'Alsace ''L'Alsace-Le Pays'' is a regional daily French newspaper. ''L'Alsace'' covers the Alsace region and ''Le Pays'' the Franche-Comté region. History and profile ''L'Alsace-Le Pays'' was created in November 1944. In addition to its headquarters in ...

''. 19 March 2013. Retrieved on 2 January 2014. "L’ancien lycée Seijo, à Kientzheim, a accueilli des élèves japonais entre les années 1980 et 2006. On y trouve aujourd’hui le Centre européen d’études japonaises." and "Le lycée Seijo a compté jusqu’à 200 élèves vers 1990. Il a fermé ses portes en 2006, suite au déclin progressif de la présence nippone."

Curriculum

''Lycée Seijo'' used the same curriculum as the

Seijo Gakuen Junior High School and High School is a private junior high and high school in Setagaya, Tokyo, operated by the Seijo Gakuen institute. Notable alumni Politicians *Yūko Obuchi * Takao Fujii * Yasuhide Nakayama * Yuichiro Hata *Tsutomu Hata *Yoko Komiyama *Kōki Ishii Writers *Sh ...

and the courses were taught in Japanese.

Student body

During the school's lifetime, according to the Western Society for French History, the "core" of the student body consisted of children of executives working for offices of Japanese multinational companies such as

Sharp Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Since 2016 it has been majority owned by the Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more than 5 ...

and

in the Alsace region.Western Society for French History. ''Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Western Society for French History, Volume 18''. New Mexico State University Press, 1990. p
486
"In Alsace, no fewer than seven major Japanese-based multinationals, including Sony and Sharp, have moved in, and the children of their executives form the core of the 180-strong student body of the Lycée Seijo, the European branch, opened in 1986, of a highly selective private secondary school in Tokyo." - If the words are inputted into Google Books you will see the page In addition, some students were from Japanese families living in Paris.Conte-Helm, Marie. '' The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters'' (Bloomsbury Academic Collections). A&C Black, December 17, 2013. , 9781780939803., p
85
Other students' families lived in other places including

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, other areas in Europe, Africa,Iwasaki, Toshio. "Japanese Schools Take Root Overseas." ''

Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry The ''Japan Spotlight'' () is a bimonthly publication by the Japan Economic Foundation (JEF). It was formerly called the ''Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry'' (JTI). History and profile The publication was established in 1982. It was originally ...

''. Japan Economic Foundation (JEF, ''Kokusai Keizai Kōryū Zaidan''), No. 5, 1991. Contributed to

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

by the JEF. p
24
"The buildings are genuine Japanese junior and senior high schools, operated by Lycee Seijo d'Alsace. There are 180 Japanese boys and girls who attend classes from seventh to 12th grade. Lycee Seijo d'Alsace was founded in 1986 by Seijo Gakuen, a well-known Japanese educational foundation operating schools from kindergarten to university in Tokyo. The students come from homes not only in Alsace-but also from Germany, Italy and almost all parts of Europe, the Soviet Union, Africa, Asia and even from Japan as well. ·They all live in school dormitories." and Australia. Some students' families lived in Japan, and the families sent them to ''Lycée Seijo'' to gain experience living outside Japan. Some students' families lived elsewhere in Asia. As of 1990, about 66% of the students had families resident outside Japan while the remainder had families resident in Japan.

Student life

All of the students lived in the school dormitories. Karl Schoenberger of the ''

'' wrote that the Seijo students "on the whole" were "isolated" at the school even though during athletic meetings they had some interaction with French children.

Extracurricular activities and community relations

Because the school, with about 200 Japanese students and teachers at the time of opening, was located in a community of 800, the school leadership took steps to develop good relationships with the host community. Therefore the school asked its students to participate in the marathon sponsored by the village and the school held " open house" days for the local community.Iwasaki, Toshio. "Japanese Schools Take Root Overseas." ''

''. Japan Economic Foundation (JEF, ''Kokusai Keizai Kōryū Zaidan''), No. 5, 1991. Contributed to

by the JEF. p. 25. "In the case of Lycee Seijo d'Alsace, a total of 200 Japanese teachers and students descended on a village with a population of 800. Thus, the school is making all-out efforts to foster a sense of harmony with the villagers, .. The school established a Japanese cultural center in nearby Colmar, which housed books and printed materials in Japan and hosted lectures about Japan and film screenings.

Notable students

* The second eldest son of

Tsutomu Hata was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan for nine weeks in 1994. He took over from Morihiro Hosokawa at the head of a coalition government. Shortly after he had been appointed Prime Minister, the Japanese Socialist Party l ...

, who was one of the first to graduate from this school

History

Curriculum

Student body

Student life

Extracurricular activities and community relations

Notable students

See also

References

Further reading

External links