Nairobi Japanese School

The Nairobi Japanese School (ナイロビ日本人学校 Nairobi Nihonjin Gakkō, NJS) is a Japanese school located in the Lang'ata area of Nairobi, Kenya,[1] in proximity to Karen.[2] The school serves Japanese expatriate students.

History

The school was founded on 9 May 1970 (Showa 45),[3] with its first campus in Hurlingham. The school had originated from volunteer teaching duties held at the Embassy of Japan in Nairobi that began in 1967. In January 1975 the school received permission to begin its junior high school classes. The first school camp was established in Tsavo Park in September 1976, and the wooden school on Gitanga Road in Lavington opened the following January. The current campus in Langata was completed on 26 June 1981.[4]

On Wednesday August 16, 1995,[5] 56-year old Kuniaki Asano (浅野 邦章 Asano Kuniaki), the school's principal, died in an apparent robbery attempt,[6] just as he was located at the school's entrance.[7] Two gunmen shot him and stole his car.[5] The shooting occurred during a crime wave in Kenya,[8] which targeted foreigners and occurred in the early 1990s.[9]

Operations

As of 1999 the school gave British English ESL language classes to students twice per week in the levels from primary one through junior high school. As of the same year the school does cultural exchange activities with Kilimani Primary School.[10]

9th grade (third year of junior high school) student Yuko Watanabe (渡辺 優子 Watanabe Yūko) composed the school song's music and lyrics in July 1976. The school designed its school badge in July 1983, and the school flag was designed in October 1984. The school has held an anniversary day beginning in 1983.[4]

Student body

As of 1999 the school had a total of 45 students, among them children of employees of the Embassy of Japan in Nairobi, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), trading companies, and the Japanese school itself. As a result of the overall small size of the school, the class sizes were also small, ranging from 2 to 9. Some students were born in Kenya and had lived their all their lives, and most students stayed for the durations of their fathers' employment terms of two to three years.[10] Most students lived in the "River Side" housing development.[11]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "NAIROBI JAPANESE SCHOOL." (map to the Nairobi Japanese School) (Archive) Rosslyn Academy. Retrieved on August 27, 2013.
  2. ↑ "image1.jpg." (Archive) Nairobi Japanese School. Retrieved on August 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ (Japanese) 概要 (School outline) (Archive) Nairobi Japanese School. Retrieved on 4 May 2014. - Includes map in Japanese. Information supporting founding date: "設置年月日1970年（昭和45年）5月9日"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "1 An overview of our school" (Archive). Nairobi Japanese School. February 4, 1999. Retrieved on April 16, 2015. Translated into English from the original Japanese page: "１　日本人学校の概要" (Archive). Author and translator credits at this page (Archive): Authors were teacher Kenichi Shinoda (篠田　賢一 Shinoda Ken'ichi) and five students, and the English translators were Linda Henson and Emma Cadzow
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mickolus, p. 855 ("1992-1995 incidents"). Retrieved from Google Books on August 26, 2013. "August 16, 1995--Two gunmen shot to death the pinrcipal of the Japanese School in Nairobi as he arrived at the school. They drove off in his four-wheel-drive vehicle."
  6. ↑ "PRINCIPAL SLAIN IN KENYA." Associated Press at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 17, 1995. Five Star Lift Edition. News p. 10A. Retrieved on August 26, 2013. ID#: 9508170086. "Author: AP Two gunmen killed the principal of Nairobi's Japanese school Wednesday in an apparent robbery, the Japanese Embassy said. Kuniaki Asano, 56[...]"
  7. ↑ Coplin, p. not stated in preview, contains "The concentration of a large and growing population of unemployed[...]". Retrieved from Google Books on August 26, 2013. "[..]the Japanese school in Nairobi was killed by carjackers at the school gate,[...]
  8. ↑ Lorch, Donatella. "Nairobi Journal;Kenya's Asphalt Jungle, With a Law to Match It." The New York Times. October 5, 1995. Retrieved on August 26, 2013. "A scourge of the city are the brazen and well-armed carjackers who steal scores of cars in broad daylight, even at crowded intersections in Nairobi and often by opening fire on the car and driver. The principal of the Japanese school in Nairobi was shot and killed in this way,[...]"
  9. ↑ Africa Development, Volume 26, p. 302. "[...]the Principal of the Japanese School in Nairobi was shot dead by armed robbers, who drove away from his Karen suburb in[...]" and "Criminal Violence on Embassy Staff and Expatriates In the early 1990s, criminal violence in Nairobi seemed ot be targeted on foreigners - especially on staff members of foreign embassies and[...]"
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "2 Special features of our school" (Archive). Nairobi Japanese School. February 4, 1999. Retrieved on April 16, 2015. Translated into English from the original Japanese page: "2　日本人学校の特色" (Archive). Author and translator credits at this page (Archive): Authors were teacher Kenichi Shinoda (篠田　賢一 Shinoda Ken'ichi) and five students, and the English translators were Linda Henson and Emma Cadzow
  11. ↑ Ichiryu, Ikuko (一柳 活子 Ichiryū Ikuko; 8th grade student). "3 Life in Nairobi" (Archive). Nairobi Japanese School. February 4, 1999. Retrieved on April 16, 2015. Translated into English from the original Japanese page: "３　ナイロビの暮らし" (Archive) - translator credits at this page (Archive): The English translators were Linda Henson and Emma Cadzow

Further reading

(Japanese)

External links

Coordinates: 1°20′08″S 36°45′07″E / 1.33556°S 36.75194°E