The Japanese School of Brussels

The Japanese School of Brussels a.s.b.l. (ブラッセル日本人学校 Burasseru Nihonjin Gakkō, JSB) is a Japanese international school located in Auderghem, Brussels.[1] The school serves elementary and junior high school levels. It is Belgium's only Japanese international school.[2] The Japanese Supplementary School of Brussels (ブラッセル日本人学校補習校 Burasseru Nihonjin gakkō hoshūkō), a supplementary school operated on Saturdays, is held on the premises of the JSB.[3]

The presence of the school has drawn Japanese families with school-aged children to the area around the school. Marie Conte-Helm, author of The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters, wrote that the school "acts as a focal point for all local Japanese."[4] Chin Ling Pang (彭靜蓮, Pinyin: Péng Jìnglián), the author of Negotiating Identity in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Kikokushijo, wrote that the Japanese School of Brussels "functions as a microcosm of the Japanese community in Brussels."[5]

As of 2000 Japanese companies provide about 50% of the school's funding, while the Ministry of Education of Japan (Monbusho) provides the remainder of the funds.[3]

History

A Japanese Saturday school opened in 1974. The Brussels Nihonjinkai took control of a facility in Auderghem in 1979 and founded the school.[4] The school opened in April 1979.[6]

Programme and curriculum

The Japanese Ministry of Education sends teachers to the school;[3] as of 1998 20 teachers originated from Japan.[7]

In addition the school has a curriculum that is used in schools in Japan.[3] The school receives schoolbooks mailed from Japan.[3] The students take mathematics, standard history,[7] comparative history,[2] French,[8] English,[3] geography, calligraphy, art, and home economics. The geography and standard history courses are centred on Japan. The home economics course includes childcare, gardening, sewing, food preparation, and crafts.[7]

The Saturday school offers courses in Japanese and mathematics.[3]

Student body

In 1995 the day school had 323 students, including 252 in elementary school and 71 in junior high school. Of the total number of students, 146 were males and 177 were females.[3] In 1998 there were 276 students.[7] In 2005 the school had 320 day students; two of them were Americans learning Japanese while the remainder were Japanese.[2] In 2008 the school had 399 students; this was its peak enrollment. In 2013 the day school had 295 students and the Saturday school had 205 students. That year the Japanese ambassador to Belgium described the enrollment as having "decreased considerably".[9]

As of 2000 students of the Saturday school were resident in several cities, including Brussels, Antwerp, Ostend, and Maastricht. The students of the Saturday programme are Japanese.[3]

As of 2005 most students return to Japan after completing their term at the JSB while some attend international schools in Brussels.[2]

Facility

The campus, inside a residential area,[9] and in proximity to the Beaulieu Station of the Brussels Metro,[9][10] is two stories tall. Japanese cherry trees are planted on the grounds.[2] It can house a maximum of 500 students.[4] As of 2005 the school's facility had 15 classrooms, a library, a science room, a music classroom, an indoor gymnasium, and four language laboratories.[2] In 2010 funding was provided for an expansion for the school. It was scheduled to be completed around 2013. That year the Japanese Ambassador to Belgium described the facility as "a spacious campus".[9]

Extracurricular activities

The school organizes field trips to several places including the Royal Museum for Central Africa and the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ブラッセル日本人学校 TOP:" The Japanese School of Brussels. Retrieved on 2 January 2014. "Avenue des Meuniers 133, 1160 Auderghem, Brussels, Belgium"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 H. P. P. "320 élèves japonais à Auderghem" (Archive). La Dernière Heure. Sunday 1 May 2005. Retrieved on 11 January 2015. "La commune héberge la seule école nippone de toute la Belgique"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Pang, Ching Lin. Negotiating Identity in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Kikokushijo (Japanese studies). Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0710306512, 9780710306517. p. 188.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Conte-Helm, Marie. The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters (Bloomsbury Academic Collections). A&C Black, 17 December 2013. ISBN 1780939809, 9781780939803. p. 104.
  5. ↑ Pang, Ching Lin. Negotiating Identity in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Kikokushijo (Japanese studies). Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0710306512, 9780710306517. p. 189.
  6. ↑ "沿革史." (Archive) The Japanese School of Brussels. Retrieved on 9 January 2014. Table: 西暦: 1979, 元号: 4, 月, 4: "全日制日本人学校開校　文部省派遣　脇坂譲校長着任(３代)(本目英世氏は全日制教頭とする)この年より全日制校長が補習校の校長を兼務する"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "auderghem ma decouverte (III) AUDERGHEM L'«honorable commune» héberge depuis 19 ans la Japanese School of Brussels Le thé de blé nippon aide à mieux digérer les maths Le 17 mai, le soleil se lèvera un peu plus à l'es" (Archive) (Stagiare). Le Soir. Thursday 14 May 1998. p. 19. Retrieved on 11 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Conte-Helm, Marie. The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters (Bloomsbury Academic Collections). A&C Black, 17 December 2013. ISBN 1780939809, 9781780939803. p. 105.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Belgian Educational Circumstances for Japanese Children (No.7)" (Archive). Embassy of Japan in Belgium (在ベルギー日本国大使館). February 1, 2013. Retrieved on January 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ "The 24th Japanese Speech Contest in Belgium" (Archive). Embassy of Japan in Belgium. Retrieved on 11 November 2005. "Avenue des Meuniers 133, 1160 Bruxelles / Métro:Beaulieu Mulderslaan 133, 1160 Brussel / Metro:Beaulieu"

Further reading

(Japanese)

External links