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Oct. 30, 2024
Just sixteen years after Keio founder Yukichi Fukuzawa established his "Fukuzawa-juku" in Tsukiji Teppozu in 1858, one of his prominent students, Yoshiro Wada, founded "Wada-juku" for young Keio students on Mita Campus in 1874. This marked the beginning of Keio Yochisha Elementary School, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Here, we explore the school's origins and the unique educational features shaped over its long history. We also revisit the origins of Keio's integrated education system and contemplate its present and future.
Fukuzawa-juku, founded by Yukichi Fukuzawa in Tsukiji Teppozu, was renamed Keio University after relocating to Shiba Shinsenza in 1868. Following the Meiji Restoration soon after, it made a fresh start as a modern educational institution at its current location on Mita Campus.
During this time, as Fukuzawa's renown grew, requests poured in from those eager to place their children under his tutelage. Among them were very young students, making it impractical to teach them alongside older students. Thus, the "Dojikyoku," a boarding house for students aged 12 to 16, was born. Fukuzawa entrusted the education of these younger students to Yoshiro Wada, an English teacher and jujutsu master from Wakayama who had previously studied at Keio. Wada welcomed several children as boarders into his home on the Mita campus, where he and his wife, Kisa, along with his sister, Hide, taught them. His home soon became informally known as "Wada-juku." His school marked the beginning of what is now Keio Yochisha. After several name changes, including “Yonenkyoku,” the school officially became "Yochisha" around 1880, making it one of Japan's oldest private elementary schools.
From Wada-juku to the present, an education at Keio Yochisha has consistently followed Fukuzawa’s educational vision. Fukuzawa believed that "the power of education merely develops a person's innate gifts" and emphasized nurturing each individual's natural talents. The Keio philosophy of hangaku-hankyo, or "learning while teaching, teaching while learning," where students and faculty members share and learn from each other, also originates from this belief. Another concept Fukuzawa stressed in primary education was the idea of “training the body before nurturing the mind.” In other words, he believed in first building a strong body in childhood before transitioning to intellectual and mental pursuits. Wada, known for his gentle demeanor and mastery of jujutsu, was seen as the perfect person to implement Fukuzawa's vision for primary education. In Yochisha's founding years, Wada personally taught jujutsu, even allowing children to practice their techniques on him at times.
By the late 1910s, Keio Yochisha introduced outdoor learning experiences like forest school, ocean school, and sea voyages alongside physical education to train the mind and body in natural settings. Each of these activities lasted about ten days and included lessons in local geography and history. Even today, Keio Yochisha maintains its tradition of fostering well-rounded children, with a variety of sports events, field trips, and overnight stays planned throughout the year.
In 1898, Keio's academic structure was reorganized into Yochisha, Futsu-gakka (general course), and university divisions, creating a completely integrated education system. Yochisha, responsible for the first six years of education, is still distinguished by its six-year homeroom teacher system and subject-specific teachers. Currently, homeroom teachers at Keio Yochisha cover subjects such as Japanese, social studies, mathematics, and general studies, while specialized instructors teach science, arts, English, and information studies. While this homeroom system has often been a topic of debate, it enables one teacher to observe a child's growth over the long term, with additional support from specialized teachers offering different perspectives.
In recent years, the school has focused on expanding its international education programs, including an exchange program with the Dragon School in the UK, which began in 1995. Keio Yochisha also offers a summer school program in the UK and an international exchange program in the US, held at the Keio Academy of New York dormitories, giving students the opportunity to learn not only the language but also to experience different cultures.
Keio Yochisha has the longest history among Keio's affiliated schools. This year marks the 150th anniversary of its predecessor, Wada-juku, and to celebrate, creative director Kashiwa Sato designed a commemorative logo. Sato describes the logo as a visual representation of "everyone connected to Yochisha—faculty, alumni, and students—shining together in unity, celebrating their differences," capturing the essence of Yochisha's 150-year legacy.
Keio Yochisha continues to uphold Yukichi Fukuzawa’s passion for primary education, a commitment that has endured well beyond the tumultuous period of the Meiji Restoration. Amid the significant shifts of the 21st century, looking back on Keio Yochisha's 150-year journey serves as a moment to contemplate the future of Keio's integrated education system, from primary school to its university and graduate schools.
*This article appeared in Stained Glass in the 2024 Spring edition (No. 322) of Juku.
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