| Head of School | Terence Christian |
| School type | Private |
| Religious affiliation | None |
| Established | 1949 |
| Location | Tokyo, Japan |
| School color(s) | Blue and White |
| School Address | 2-14-7 Moto Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0046 Japan |
Nishimachi International School (NIS) is a private school in Tokyo, Japan which was established in 1949. Located in the Azabu Juban area of Tokyo, it is one of the International Schools in the area. Nishimachi currently has students of over 50 nationalities attending, and has a very international community.
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Nishimachi International School includes grades K-9. The elementary school includes grades 1-5, and the middle school includes grades 6-9. The current population of Nishimachi is at about 500 students, with about 45 students in each grade. However, the higher grades tend to have fewer students, with 9th grade the smallest. The teacher-student ratio is about 1:10, and the average class size is about 20 students, for core classes. However these numbers differ for the middle school, especially the 9th grade. The school has become particularly popular with bi-lingual or bi-cultural families and with Japanese families who have spent time overseas; although the main language of instruction is English, Japanese is taught to all students, from beginner to native speaker level. It is also popular with children of ex-pats working overseas with foreign companies.
The school was established in 1949 by Tane Matsukata, on the family property in the Azabu Juban area of Tokyo. She had recently returned to Japan after seventeen years in the U.S., where she received her education and spent the war years. She received her doctorate in education from Columbia University in New York City.
Miss Matsukata found Tokyo still badly scarred from the war although the slow process of rebuilding had begun. It was apparent to her that there was moral rebuilding to be done as well. In discussions with friends, who were themselves mothers, she began to realize the important role that education would play in the process. Together the women explored alternatives and concluded that a new approach to traditional education was needed, one that stressed the human side of learning and had peaceful coexistence among neighbors as an objective.
Accordingly, Miss Matsukata and her friends decided to start their own school, along the lines of the progressive academy Miss Matsukata's mother had established for her and her siblings in the years before the war.
Learning a second language, in this case English, was step one in the educational process. They saw this as fundamental to extending children's understanding beyond the boundaries of their own culture.
Tane Matsukata and her sister undertook the English part of the curriculum. They hired a teacher for the Japanese portion, and the school that was eventually to become Nishimachi opened its doors to its first four students.
Nishimachi is a small school with a clear philosophy, "To share, to live, and to learn together, yet still keep a special identity... that is Nishimachi". Nishimachi believes that education should promote the well-rounded development of individuals through the cultivation of their intellectual, creative, personal, social, and physical abilities. The school is committed to educating both Japanese and foreign students to be international and independent thinkers. They believe that learning a second language provides the opportunity to grow beyond a single culture. They believe that classroom and co-curricular activities should foster sensitivity to, and respect for, individual talents as well as differences. They believe that every student must learn to function both as an individual and as part of a group. Their ultimate goal is that every Nishimachi student learn to live harmoniously in, and contribute to, world society.
Also, in 2009, Nishimachi became a CIS accredited school (Council of International Schools). In doing this, Nishimachi joined a growing network of other institutions world-wide which are dedicated to providing a high quality education in an international context.
By the end of the 2008-2009 school year, Nishimachi's student body population expanded to about 520 students.
The original Matsukata house that housed the school is still located on the property, now serving primarily as the administration building. A new, larger Library Media Center was constructed in the summer of 2007. The school has purchased property around the original building and built two multi-story school buildings and a gymnasium, which enclose an open play area. All buildings have additional recreational areas on the roof. Many children love to play after school in these play areas.
The school's teams are known as the NIS Vikings, and the school offers badminton, volleyball, cross country, boys and girls soccer, track and field, and boys and girls basketball programs. During the 2009 sports season, the Nishimachi Vikings volleyball team became the champions of the Kanto Plains league.
Nishimachi also offers programs in drama, music and the arts. The school offers extra-curriculars such as choir, yoga, cooking, calligraphy, a Model United Nations course, and many more.
After 9th grade, students continue their schooling at other schools in Tokyo or overseas. Many students attend boarding school in the states as well.
The Good Schools Guide International called Nishimachi International "A small school with a clear philosophy."[1]
Nishimachi is a competitive school, and not all who apply will be accepted. Grade placement is determined by Nishimachi's Admissions Committee.
The Nishimachi International School Outreach Scholarship Program is dedicated to awarding partial or full scholarships to select students from a variety of socioeconomic, racial, cultural, and geographic backgrounds. These scholarships were created to augment diversity on Nishimachi’s campus and provide children, who might otherwise find the opportunity unattainable, with a superb and unique education.
Nishimachi alumni go on to attend a variety of universities and colleges world-wide including Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, Brown University, and the University of Oxford.