Sunday, April 24 1921: Bunka Gakuin opened

1921 (Taisho 10) Sunday, April 24: The opening ceremony of the Bunka Gakuin in Ochanomizu was held. It was established by Isaku Nishimura, Tekkan Yosano, Akiko Yosano and Hakutei Ishii. All the students are girls and there are 43 students. The school will have 25 teachers, including Kosaku YAMADA, Natsu KAWASAKI, Ikuo ARISHIMA and Kyoshi TAKAHAMA. He advocated a new education called “a free and original school that does not comply with national school regulations” and continued a liberal education called “Small but good.” and “foster a sensitive person” and received no subsidies from the government.

It was the first time in Japan that an equal education for men and women was implemented and coeducation was realized. Not only Japanese culture but also Christian spirit and Western culture were actively taught, and many Westerners were invited as teachers. Since the school was founded, they did not have uniforms and preferred Western clothes over Wafuku, and most of the students wore Western clothes, which was rare in those days. It symbolized “freedom” “intellect” and “Art” and since then Bunka Gakuin has been known as a synonym for fashion.

It has produced many famous people such as artists, musicians, novelists, critics and film directors, but the training of actresses is especially noteworthy, and it has produced many outstanding graduates such as Takako Irie, Akiko Santo, Yaeko Mizutani, Hideko Takamine, Yukiyo Ake, Yoko Minamida and Riho Makise. It was regrettable that the school ended after 2018 years of history and 97 years of history. A comment on the website states, “I’m very sorry to hear that your school is closed. It has not been 100 years since the school was founded, but I wish you all the best of luck in the future, keeping in mind the good spirit of the school.”.

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