The American School in Japan (ASIJ; ja, アメリカンスクール・イン・ジャパン) is an
international
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
day school
A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...
located in the city of
Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The school consists of an
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
, a
middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
, and a
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, all located on the Chōfu campus. There is also an early learning center (nursery-kindergarten) for children aged 3–5 located in the
Roppongi Hills
is a List of development projects in Tokyo, development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest Real estate development, integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo.
Constructed by building tycoon Mi ...
complex in downtown
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. Instruction is in English and follows an American-style curriculum. About two thirds of the school's students are the children of citizens of a wide variety of countries who are on temporary assignment in Japan, and the remaining one third are
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
students who speak English. The campus is fenced in, resulting from heightened security measures taken after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, with campus surroundings including the
Nogawa Park
is a public park in Nomizu, Chōfu, Tokyo. It is located at the intersection of Chofu with Koganei and Mitaka, and parts of the park extend to those cities as well.
History
The land for the park was purchased from International Christian Unive ...
and the neighborhood of Tama. The ''
Good Schools Guide International
''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and independent.
Overview
The guide is compiled by a team of editors which, according to the official website, "''comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and contri ...
'' called ASIJ "an impressive school, not only for its size and facilities but also for its strong sense of where it is going."
History
Officially founded in 1902, The American School in Japan was started by a group of women who recognized the need for a school among the growing foreign community. Beginning life in rented rooms in the Kanda YMCA, the Tokyo School for Foreign Children, as it was then known, quickly attracted a growing numbers of students from around the world and soon needed to move to a more permanent home in
Tsukiji
Tsukiji (築地) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "reclaimed land", it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century during the Edo period. The eponymous Tsukiji fish market opened in 193 ...
. In 1921, the school moved to a new 3 story building in Shibaura. The building was deemed unsafe after the
Great Kanto earthquake
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
, and classes resumed on the Friends Mission compound in Shiba, in the former home of the Bowles family.
[
]
In the early 1920s
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
, who was in Tokyo building the Imperial Hotel, drew designs for a proposed new campus,
[
] as did
Antonin Raymond
Antonin Raymond (or cs, Antonín Raymond), born as Antonín Reimann (10 May 1888 – 25 October 1976)"Deaths Elsewhere", ''Miami Herald'', 30 October 1976, p. 10 was a Czech American architect. Raymond was born and studied in Bohemia (now part ...
. Although neither of the designs were constructed, Raymond assisted in the move and repurposing of some buildings when the school moved to
Nakameguro
is a residential district of Meguro, Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo. It is popular for its unique boutique cafes and stores, and the area near the Meguro River is a popular ''hanami'' (cherry blossom viewing) destination in mid-spring. The district is sit ...
in 1927.
In 1933, local expatriate architect
William Merrell Vories
Merrell Vories Hitotsuyanagi (; born William Merrell Vories; October 28, 1880 – May 7, 1964) was an educator, architect, entrepreneur, Christian lay missionary, and founder of the Omi Mission. Born in the United States, he later became a natur ...
was asked to design and build a new main concrete building for the campus, which was completed in 1934. After closing during the war years, the school reopened in 1946. The current campus in
Chofu was opened in 1963.
A series of major improvements to the main campus began in the late 1990s, with seismic updates, a new elementary school gym, and an expansion to the high school which included a redesigned entrance. A new cafeteria building with classrooms and administrative offices on the second and third floors opened in 2003. In 2004, the school's Early Learning Center opened in
Roppongi Hills
is a List of development projects in Tokyo, development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest Real estate development, integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo.
Constructed by building tycoon Mi ...
, moving from Nakameguro. A new theater complex opened in 2005. Between 2006 and 2009, athletic fields and playgrounds were upgraded and solar panels were installed. Between 2010 and 2013, a series of changes designed by Paul Tange addressed campus traffic flow, added new athletic facilities (including raised tennis courts with covered bus drop-off below, and replaced the Multipurpose Room, along with the Elementary music and art classrooms with the CADC (Creative Art Design Center) which not only houses the music and art classrooms, but also houses multiple rooms for the high school and middle school Design Technology classes, a Japanese Culture center, and holds multiple meeting rooms.
[
][
]
Jack Moyer sexual abuse
In March 2014, the school publicly announced that a teacher,
Jack Moyer
Dr. Jack Thomson Moyer (March 7, 1929 – January 10, 2004) was a marine biologist and known child sexual abuser from Kansas, who lived for most of his life on Miyake-jima in Japan. Moyer was a scientist with the United States Air Force, who beca ...
, had sexually abused students during his tenure from 1963~1988. He also continued to be involved in the school's 7th grade Miyake outdoor program until 2002, when the erupting island volcano ended that locale for the program. The school stated that the current administration and board had found out about this abuse in November 2013. However, victims of Moyer allege that past administrators were informed as far back as 1968. The school says that it has no record of this earlier reporting. Moyer committed suicide in 2004. Alumni called on the school to commission an independent investigation into a possible years-long cover-up by the school's administration over the abuse allegations.
[
] The school announced on 4 June 2014 that it had contracted the law firm
Ropes & Gray
Ropes & Gray LLP is a global law firm with 13 offices located in the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm has more than 1,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide, and its clients include corporations and financial institutions, government agen ...
to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations against Moyer and how ASIJ responded to the allegations.
In June 2015, the ASIJ Board of Directors released a letter admitting that an independent investigation found that Jack Moyer's abuse of students was extensive and that the abuse was covered up by faculty and administrators for years. The board apologized for the harm this has caused and promised to release the report in English and Japanese by mid-June, 2015.
The full report, released by Ropes & Gray LLP on June 15, 2015, concluded "
light of all of the evidence we have examined, it is apparent to us that Moyer was
a serial pedophile who, in our assessment, sexually abused female ASIJ students".
Lawyers for 13 of the victims also released their report on June 15, 2015.
Curriculum
ASIJ follows a broadly American curriculum and
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
courses are offered for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. There is a Japanese language program, which begins in the first grade. Other languages taught are Spanish and Chinese. All the students in the Elementary School must learn Japanese for one period every other day.
The Early Learning Center's philosophy is heavily influenced by the
Reggio Emilia Approach
The Reggio Emilia approach is an educational philosophy and pedagogy focused on preschool and primary education. This approach is a student-centered and constructivist self-guided curriculum that uses self-directed, experiential learning in rela ...
and the curriculum is project based. The elementary school uses the Columbia Writing Program and Everyday Math program in addition to curriculum units developed by faculty.
In 2011, ASIJ joined
Global Online Academy
Global Online Academy (GOA) is a nonprofit organization which provides online classes, workshops, and other educational resources for students and teachers. Accredited courses for middle and high school students are offered through GOA by a consor ...
, a consortium of leading independent schools that offers courses taught by consortium member teachers to member school students. GOA courses are designed to give students an opportunity to offer their local perspective to global issues.
Environmental sustainability
SAFE, Student Action for the Environment, has been recycling paper for over a decade, approximately 20 tons last year. The school started keeping baseline data on energy usage and garbage volumes in 2007 when they began composting cafeteria waste and campus leaves using earthworms. The compost is used to fertilize the gardens and greenery around campus. Used cooking oil is donated to Revo International to produce biodiesel fuel.
Reflective paint on building roofs, reflective film on windows, the installation of more double pane windows and LED lighting were largely accomplished in 2008. In 2009, with the help of government funding and private and corporate donors, the school installed
solar panels
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...
on top of the gym and pool buildings which have a maximum capacity of 80 kWh. ASIJ also promotes
energy conservation
Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...
each year by not turning on the heat or air-conditioning during October and April, aka NO HEAT-NO COOL months, and has reduced
PET bottle
Although PET is used in several applications, (principally textile fibres for apparel and upholstery, bottles and other rigid packaging, flexible packaging and electrical and electronic goods), as of 2022 only bottles are collected at a substa ...
consumption by promoting the use of water bottles such as
SIGG and replaced regular PET bottles in vending machines with Coca-Cola's I Lohas bottles.
Since the 2007–2008 school year, ASIJ has reduced annual energy consumption on campus by 25.1% with a goal of 30% by the end of 2013.
A 2010-2011
carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...
audit by ECO3 Design has given the school new goals to replace heavy-oil boilers and install a ground source heat exchange system.
Notable alumni
*
Alev Alatlı Alev Alatlı (born 1944 in Menemen) is a Turkish columnist and bestselling novelist.
Early years
She was born 1944 in the town of Menemen in western Turkey to an officer's family. She spent her childhood in Japan, where her father was appointed a ...
, Turkish economist, columnist and bestselling novelist
*
Thelma Aoyama
is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. She is part Afro-Trinidadian and Japanese.
She is known for her collaboration song with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo" and her answer song "Soba ni Iru ne". In September 2008, the Guinness World Records certified th ...
, Japanese pop and R&B singer
*
Agnes Chan
Agnes Meiling Kaneko Chan (; Japanese: 金子 陳美齢, ''Kaneko Chan Meirin'') is a Hong-Kong-born Japanese singer, television personality, university professor, essayist and novelist. Since 1998, Chan has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and ...
, Japanese singer, television personality, university professor
*
John Cornyn
John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...
, American politician
*
Bobak Ferdowsi
Bobak Ferdowsi ( fa, بابک فردوسی, ; born November 7, 1979) is a flight engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He served on the '' Cassini–Huygens'' and Mars Science Laboratory ''Curiosity'' missions.
Ferdowsi gained brief medi ...
, NASA flight engineer
*
Norma Field
Norma M. Field is an author and emeritus professor of East Asian studies at the University of Chicago. She has taught Premodern Japanese Poetry and Prose, Premodern Japanese Language, and Gender Studies as relating to Japanese women.
Her areas o ...
, author
*
Joan Fontaine
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...
, British-American actress
*
Beate Sirota Gordon
Beate Sirota Gordon (; October 25, 1923 – December 30, 2012) was an Austrian-born American performing arts presenter and women's rights advocate. She was the former Performing Arts Director of the Japan Society and the Asia Society and was ...
, American performing arts presenter and women's rights advocate
*
Yu Hayami, Japanese singer
*
Ernest Higa, entrepreneur
*
Kaz Hirai
is a Japanese businessman. He is best known as the former chairman of Sony Corporation, serving from April 2018 to June 2019, as well as president and CEO from April 2012 to April 2018. He also served as a board member of Sony Computer Entertain ...
, Japanese businessman
*
Joi Ito
is a Japanese entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a former director of the MIT Media Lab, former professor of the practice of media arts and sciences at MIT, and a former visiting professor of practice at the Harvard Law School. Ito has re ...
, Japanese businessman
*
Mizuko Ito
is a Japanese cultural anthropology, cultural anthropologist who is a Professor in Residence at the Humanities Research Institute at the University of California, Irvine. Her main professional interest is young people's use of media technology. ...
, Japanese cultural anthropologist
*
James M. Landis
__NOTOC__
James McCauley Landis (September 25, 1899 – July 30, 1964) was an American academic, government official and legal adviser. He served as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1935 to 1937.
Biography
Landis was born ...
, American academic
*
Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974)
, better known by her stage name Lisa, is a Japanese singer, songwriter and producer. In 1998, she debuted as a member of the Japanese urban contemporary group M-Flo with Verbal and Taku Takahashi. In 2002, she left the band in order to pursue a ...
, Japanese singer
*
Lois Lowry
Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including ''The Giver Quartet,'' ''Number the Stars'', and ''Rabble Starkey.'' She is known for writing a ...
, American writer
*
Daryl F. Mallett
Daryl Furumi Mallett is an American author, editor and publisher.
Writing
In the writing world, some of Mallett's duties include being a contributing writer for ''Water Conditioning & Purification''; editor, copyeditor and proofreader for Gryph ...
, American author, editor and publisher
*
May J.
, better known by her stage name May J., is a Japanese pop and R&B singer who made her major label debut under Sony Music Japan on July 12, 2006, with her first mini-album '' All My Girls''. She was born to an Iranian mother and Japanese father ...
, Japanese singer
*
Hikaru Nishida
is a Japanese pop singer and actress. She was born in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and made her singing debut on April 6, 1988 with the release of the single "Fifteen", named after her age at the time. Nishida is affiliated with Manase ...
, Japanese singer
*
Judy Ongg
Judy Ongg (; born 24 January 1950) is a Taiwanese-Japanese singer, actress, author, and woodblock-print artist. Born in Taipei, she graduated from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, and after which, she became a naturalized Japanese citizen. ...
, Taiwanese-Japanese singer, actress, author, and woodblock-print artist
*
Vladimir Ossipoff
Vladimir ‘Val’ Nicholas Ossipoff (russian: Владимир Николаевич Осипов; November 25, 1907 – October 1, 1998) was an American architect best known for his works in the state of Hawai'i.
Biography Early life and s ...
, American architect
*
Rudolph Pariser
Rudolph Pariser (born December 8, 1923) is a physical and polymer chemist. He was born in Harbin, China to merchant parents, Ludwig Jacob Pariser and Lia Rubinstein. He attended the Von Hindenburg Schule in Harbin, an American Missionary School ...
, physical and polymer chemist
*
Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), ''Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), ''Executiv ...
, Canadian-born American actor
*
Linda Purl
Linda Purl (born September 2, 1955) is an American actress and singer, known for her roles as Ashley Pfister (Fonzie's girlfriend) on ''Happy Days'' (she originally played Gloria as Richie’s date in season 2 episode 6), Sheila Munroe in the 1982 ...
, American actress and singer
*
Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer (; October 15, 1910 – September 1, 1990) was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and cul ...
, American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University
*
Haru M. Reischauer
was a Japanese-American writer and wife of the U.S. scholar and Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer."Seasoned Negotiator: Nobuhiko Ushiba." ''New York Times''. November 14, 1970.
Early life and education
Haru Matsukata was born in Tokyo. ...
, Japanese-American writer
*
Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt (born January 22, 1950) is an American translator, interpreter and writer.
Biography
Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 wh ...
, American translator, interpreter and writer
*
Steven Smith (astronaut)
Steven Lee Smith (born December 30, 1958), is an American technology executive and former NASA astronaut, being a veteran of four space flights covering 16 million miles and seven spacewalks totaling 49 hours and 25 minutes. Smith’s spacewalk ...
, American astronaut
*
Norman Tindale
Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist.
Life
Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...
, Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist
*
Oleg Troyanovsky
Oleg Alexandrovich Troyanovsky (24 November 1919 – 21 December 2003) was ambassador of the Soviet Union to Foreign relations of Japan, Japan and Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China, China and was the Soviet Permanent Representat ...
, ambassador
*
Hikaru Utada
, who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan.
Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...
, Japanese-American pop singer
*
Oswald Wynd
Oswald Morris Wynd (1913–1998) was a Scottish writer. He is best known for his novel '' The Ginger Tree'', which was adapted into a BBC televised mini-series in 1989.
Wynd was born 4 July 1913 in Tokyo of parents who had left their native ...
, Scottish writer
See also
*
List of Japanese international schools in the United States
*
Americans in Japan
are citizens of the United States residing in Japan. As of June 2022, there were 57,299 American citizens registered as foreign residents of Japan, forming 1.9% of the total population of registered aliens, according to statistics from Japan's ...
References
Further reading
* 島沢 みどり. "アメリカンスク-ル・イン・ジャパン フレデリック・P・ハリス図書館を訪ねて." 学校図書館 (477), p68-71, 図巻頭2p, 1990–07. 全国学校図書館協議会
See profile atCiNii
CiNii () is a bibliographic database service for material in Japanese academic libraries, especially focusing on Japanese works and English works published in Japan. The database was founded in April 2005 and is maintained by the National Institu ...
.
External links
American School in Japan home page*
{{DEFAULTSORT:American School In Japan
American international schools in Japan
Educational institutions established in 1902
Elementary schools in Japan
Private schools in Tokyo
International schools in Tokyo
Japan–United States relations
1902 establishments in Japan
Chōfu, Tokyo