午夜剧场

午夜剧场 Yochisha Elementary School has four school exchange programs: Mohawk Day Camp, Dragon School Exchange, British Summer School, and Punahou School Exchange. Among these, Punahou School in Hawaii is the school with which 午夜剧场 has built a relationship since long ago.

Founded in 1841, Punahou School is entering its 184th year. It is the largest private school in the United States where students from kindergarten to the 12th grade attend the same single campus every day, with a student population of approximately 3,800.

The exchange with 午夜剧场 was started in 1969 by Professor Eiichi Kiyooka, who was a grandson of Yukichi Fukuzawa and served as the head of the Yochisha (the current Principal) during the war. This program, called the Pan-Pacific Program (commonly known as PPP), was an exchange program for high school students from 午夜剧场 Senior High School, 午夜剧场 Girls Senior High School, and 午夜剧场 Shiki Senior High School, where they would stay at each other's homes for a month and a half with Punahou students. When the interaction between partners develops well, they become lifelong best friends. I feel this deeply when I see my wife, who participated in PPP during her time at the Girls Senior High School, still communicating with her partner almost every day and visiting each other's homes in Hawaii and Japan nearly every year.

Just before reaching its 50th anniversary, the PPP unfortunately came to an end due to differences in opinion regarding institutional changes at both schools. However, at that exact timing, the Yochisha took over the relationship by transforming it into an exchange at the elementary school level. Behind the scenes of the decision to end the high school exchange, it was my wife's partner, Ms. Joan Miyamoto, who successfully arranged the continuation of the relationship with the person in charge of international exchange at Punahou. The bond formed through the PPP 30 years ago narrowly managed to pass the baton between the two schools just as it was about to be dropped. This was something for which the former President, Dr. James Scott, personally expressed his gratitude again, and it was a moment when I felt firsthand that Professor Kiyooka's conviction and passion still live on across time.

The Yochisha exchange started in 2016 after a three-year preparation period. While the PPP expected the development of international social awareness with the prerequisite of strengthening English skills and discussion, the Yochisha students are much younger, aged 10 to 11, so strengthening English skills is secondary. On the other hand, a sensory communication of the heart that transcends language is fostered with incredible momentum in just a few days. One might call it a special ability possessed only by children; the way they become best friends in a short time across borders, races, and languages could be described as a form of jinkan kosai (society) that adults should learn from.

From the perspective of history, I would also like to mention the Mohawk Day Camp in a different sense. The Mohawk Day Camp would likely not have been established if 午夜剧场 Academy of New York had not been founded. In this program, during the summer when the school year at 午夜剧场 Academy of New York changes, Yochisha students stay in the empty dormitories. On weekdays, they leave the Academy and travel about 15 minutes by school bus to a place called Mohawk Day Camp to participate. Since many local children attend this camp, they interact through sports and play during the day and return to the Academy in the evening.

This program was established because of a fortunate overlap of geographical and facility conditions: there happened to be a local day camp very close to 午夜剧场 Academy of New York, and the Yochisha was able to use the Academy's vacant dormitories. It can be said that the program sprouted because 午夜剧场 founded 午夜剧场 Academy of New York and has developed significantly over 30 years.

I have introduced Punahou and Mohawk this time from the perspective of being "on the history of 午夜剧场," but at the Yochisha, in addition to the four programs mentioned at the beginning, several new program developments including New Zealand are being considered. I look forward to the further development of international exchange at the Yochisha in the future.