The Institut Culturel Franco-Japonais – École Japonaise de Paris ("French-Japanese Cultural Institute - Japanese School of Paris" - Japanese: 日仏文化学院パリ日本人学校 ''Nichifutsu Bunka Gakuin Pari Nihonjin Gakkō'') is a

Japanese international school ''Zaigai kyōiku shisetsu'' ( 在外教育施設 'Overseas educational institution'), or in English, Japanese international school or overseas Japanese school, may refer to one of three types of institutions officially classified by the Ministry ...

located in

Montigny-le-Bretonneux Montigny-le-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris, in the " new town" of Saint-Quentin-en-Yveli ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in the

Paris Metropolitan Area The Paris metropolitan area () is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to and from Paris, France and its surrounding suburbs. Overview In 2020, France's national INSEE statistical bureau introduced the concept "ai ...

. The school is located in proximity to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

.Conte-Helm, p
84
Japanese is the primary language of instruction while students also take French classes.''

Look Japan was an English language magazine published from Japan. It was created to introduce Japanese culture to expatriate foreigners who were unfamiliar with the country. History and profile ''Look Japan'' was established in 1953 by Takenori Kimura (木 ...

, Volume 37, Issues 421-432''. Look Japan, Limited, 1991. p
42
"Last year at the Ecole Japonaise in Paris, 563 elementary through junior high school students spent most of the school day speaking their mother tongue, with three hours of classes in French." The school serves ages 6 through 15. Marie Conte-Holm, author of '' The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters'', wrote that the bus route to and from the school "essentially determines" where Japanese families with children settle in Greater Paris. She also wrote that "While some Japanese children attend local schools for a proportion of their time in France, even the more internationally minded Japanese parents will transfer their offspring to the Japanese School for reorientation during the latter part of their stay." the school is led by Principal Onoe (小野江校長).校長の挨拶
/ref>

History

The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry established the Japanese School in 1973. It was located in Trocadéro in the

16th arrondissement The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and it had opened with 100 students. In the 1980s the school expanded rapidly. In 1990 it moved to a building that had been erected to serve as the Japanese school. Japanese companies had funded the new school building. That year, the school had 563 students in elementary school and junior high school. In 1991 it had 500 students, around the time of its peak enrollment and the time of peak investment from Japanese companies. Since then a Japanese recession occurred. In 2013 the school had 380 students.

Operations and curriculum

The school committee overseeing the school includes representatives of Japanese companies with offices in the Paris area. The tuition paid by parents is comparable to tuition at Japanese private schools. The school emphasizes the maintenance and cultivation of Japaneseness in its students while also promoting international understanding. As part of the latter, the school has its ninth grade students participate in class exchange visits with area French schools, and the Japanese school and the French schools partake in events in the School Festival compete in the Annual Sports Day. In addition, the Japanese school offers Saturday morning Japanese classes to the local community.

Curriculum

The

Japanese Ministry of Education The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001, the former ...

sets the curriculum, which is intended to provide a Japanese-style education and allow students to re-enter Japanese schools. The ministry also sends teachers to teach at the Japanese school. The school has no Saturday morning programme so seven classes per day are offered instead of six. The local authority requires the school to offer French classes for two to three hours per week, so the school uses French and Japanese French-language teachers.

Transport

The school runs eight daily buses throughout the Paris area to pick up and drop off students.Conte-Helm, p
85

References

* Conte-Helm, Marie. '' The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters'' (Bloomsbury Academic Collections).

A&C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...

, December 17, 2013. , 9781780939803.

Notes

External links

Institut culturel franco-japonais
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Institut Culturel Franco-Japonais - Ecole Japonaise de Paris Private schools in France

International schools in Île-de-France Schools in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Secondary schools in France 1973 establishments in France Educational institutions established in 1973