Azabu High School

Infobox School
name = Azabu High School


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established = 1895
type = private boys' school
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location = Minato, Tokyo
country = Japan
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nihongo|Azabu High School|麻布中学校・高等学校|"Azabu Chūgakkō Kōtōgakkō|literally Azabu Junior High School and High School, referred to as "Azabu," is a private boys' school located in the Azabu district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It has been constantly ranked in the top 10 schools in Japan in terms of the number of alumni accepted into the University of Tokyo (a.k.a. Todai) over the past 50 years since the education reforms after World War II, and is considered to be a highly prestigious institute. However, unlike many other schools with high Todai Ratings, school traditions at Azabu are liberal and magnanimous. For example, there are (almost) no school rules, and there is no "study-compelling" atmosphere. Because of this unique feature, the Azabu Junior High entrance exams are always highly competitive. Many of its alumni have succeeded in various fields (e.g. Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister of Japan).

Present

Azabu is a 6-year school that combines a conventional high school and a junior high school, and admits 300 students each year through the junior high entrance exams. There are over 100 teachers and about 1,800 students in all. Nearly 100 alumni are admitted to the University of Tokyo each year. The school has no substantive regulations for students. The school festival, which usually takes place from May 3rd to May 5th, is one of the largest in Japanese high schools, with over 20,000 people attending each year. The athletic meet is held in October. There are nearly 50 clubs, and the chess club, the othello club, the go club, and the shogi club are especially famous for their performances, winning the all-Japan championships almost every year. The clubs (often referred to as “circles” in the school), the school festival, and the athletic meet are all planned and run completely by the students. The present headmaster is "Nobuhiro Hikami" (氷上信廣 "Hikami Nobuhiro").

Location/Facilities

The school is located in the "Azabu" district (the origin of the school name) which is an area in the Minato Ward, and the nearest train station is Hiroo Station (Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line). The Azabu district is mostly a residential area, and the main gate of the school is so narrow that one may not notice that there is a large school there. This fact produced the famous phrase "Azabu’s narrow gates," which also implies that it is not an easy job to pass the entrance exams for the school.

The classrooms are located in the main building, which is a square-shaped, 4-story building with a courtyard. The courtyard can also be used as two tennis courts. In 1995, a building commemorating the 100th anniversary was constructed, which houses the library and some clubrooms. The number of books in the library is over 40,000, which is a fairly large number for a high school library.

The schoolyard has a 200-meter track (which is also a soccer field), four volleyball courts, two more tennis courts and a 25-meter pool.

History

Azabu was founded by Ebara Soroku (江原素六 "Ebara Soroku")　in 1895, as a junior division of Toyo-Eiwa School (東洋英和学校), the present Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin (東洋英和女学院), which is located in Roppongi, also a district of the Minato Ward. It was then transferred to the Azabu area and was renamed Azabu Junior High in 1900. As the first headmaster, Ebara valued the spirit of autonomy and independence. In 1948, Azabu was reorganized into the present format under the education reforms, as a 6-year high/junior high school.

agami Lake incident

On October 8th, 1954, an accident occurred to the 8th graders (the 2nd year of junior high school). During a field trip to Lake Sagami, an excursion boat with 75 Azabu students on board sunk, resulting in the deaths of 22 of them. It turned out that the vessel was an illegally converted boat, and the number of students on board had by far exceeded its capacity. Today, the 22 students are regarded as "Azabu's eternal pupils", and October 8th has become a commemorative day.

chool disputes

In the late 60s, when the hippie movement was becoming popular, campus disputes and political activities were spreading all over Japan. During the period between 1969 to 1971, Azabu also had two major disputes. During this period, the high school students came to think that the teachers were not doing their best at teaching. They claimed that if liberty was the motto, they had the right to argue that the lectures were too standardized, and that the teachers were doing nothing to improve their own teaching skills. In addition to that, the students were evermore frustrated about regular exams and the upcoming college entrance exams. As a result, with the tide of political activities by students all over the country running in their favor, the dispute escalated to a level at which a number of students squatted the principal’s office (the principal then was Goro Fujise (藤瀬五郎 "Fujise Gorō")). After a major assembly between all of the students and the teachers, the dispute tentatively calmed down, with pledges proposed by the teachers.

As a result of the anxiety and unease during the dispute, Fujise ruined his health and decided to resign immediately after the brawl calmed down. Ichiro Yamanouchi (山内一郎 "Yamanouchi Ichirō") subsequently succeeded him as the acting headmaster. As Yamanouchi did not want the students to participate in any political activities as such, he discarded the pledges by the teachers, and imposed many restrictions that went against the spirit of autonomy and independence. Furthermore, Yamanouchi started to dominate the whole school and the management. For example, he was even appropriating the school’s money and property, as it later turned out. The students and teachers started to turn against the Yamanouchi administration.

Yamanouchi was trying to control the school through dictatorship. He dismissed some teachers (after his resignment, a lawsuit was brought against Yamanouchi for this matter and for the appropriation, and he lost), and placed numerous major regulations on students (for example, restrictions against political activity). Yamanouchi insisted that his strong attitude would act as a “shock treatment” on the disordered school, and at first, the students’ parents were actually sympathetic towards him..

In October 1971, as frustration was still brewing, the school festival was held (in those days it seems to have been held in autumn) with guards and policemen on guard. On the second day, about 20 demonstrators suddenly stormed into the school through the back gate. They rushed to the school office, demanding to speak with Yamanouchi. Although the demonstrators themselves did not outnumber the guards, the students that were not participating in the demonstration started to assist the demonstrators, and the situation fell into a complete chaos. Two days later, Yamanouchi decided to carry out a lockout. Locking out students in compulsory education was an unordinary thing to do, and the seniors of the high school were in danger of failing to receive their units and thus being unable to graduate and to go on to college. The parents were outraged, and Yamanouchi was isolated. After the lockout had lasted for over a month, a school assembly was held in the schoolyard. Over 1,000 students and parents attended, and it lasted for two days. On the second day, in spite of the rain, the students, teachers, and parents gathered in the schoolyard and pressed hard for Yamanouchi’s resignation, and he finally complied.

After the school disputes calmed down, the teachers and students were eager to maintain the spirit of autonomy and independence. To this day, there have not been any other major disputes as such.

Notable alumni

* Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto
* Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
* Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa
* Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki
* Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano
* Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, president of Seibu Railway, former wealthiest person in the world
* Takeo Fukui, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
* Yoshiro Nakamatsu, inventor of the floppy disc
* Morio Kita, novelist
* Iou Kuroda, manga artist
* Takashi Yuasa, international lawyer, commentator
* Hidekatsu Shibata, seiyū ("grad." 1955)

ee also

References

*"Azabu's 100 Years" / 『麻布学園の100年』　Distributed by Azabu High/Junior High School

External links

* [http://www.azabu-jh.ed.jp/English/azabuhighschool.htm Azabu High School]