Seijo Gakuen closes French campus | The Japan Times Online
archived 19 Dec 2012 00:23:23 UTCarchive.today webpage capture | Saved from | ||
| Redirected from | |||
| All snapshots | from host search.japantimes.co.jp from host www.japantimes.co.jp | ||
| Linked from | en.wikipedia.org » Japanese community of Paris en.wikipedia.org » Japanese people in France | ||
| WebpageScreenshot | |||
 share download .zip report bug or abuse Buy me a coffee | |||
 |
|
| Home > News |
|
Sunday, Feb. 13, 2005 Seijo Gakuen closes French campusCOLMAR, France (Kyodo) Lycee Seijo d'Alsace, the French campus of Japan's Seijo Gakuen, held its last graduation ceremony Friday, ending a 19-year run after failing to enroll enough students.
The school near the eastern French city of Colmar experienced a sharp drop in the number of Japanese children in the region due to the falling birthrate and the shrinking activities of Japanese companies hit by the economic slump.
Only 13 students graduated this year, bringing the total in the school's history to 556.
Former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata, a graduate of Seijo Gakuen, said in a speech at the ceremony that he truly regrets the closure.
Hata was accompanied by his second eldest son, who was one of the school's first graduates.
About 200 guests, including senior local officials and residents, reaffirmed the friendship between Japanese and Alsace residents.
Some French families who hosted Japanese students under home-stay programs were in tears.
Lycee Seijo, a boarding school, opened in April 1986 with the aim of cultivating students' individual characters and raising their awareness about international issues.
The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved
Article 10 of 11 in National news   |
history
