HISTORY OF TAISEI【 Part 1】 TAISEI GIRLS’ SCHOOL before the end of World War II
I. Taisei girls’ sewing school (1907 - 1919 )○The Forerunner of Taisei
In December 1907, a newly married couple, Mr.
and Mrs. NUKAGA, opened a private sewing school in thecentral district of Mito, Torimicho ( the present Izumicho).
They had an earnest wish to found a girls’ school, which
would support young girls through all-roundl educationfrom general to vocational subjects.
Previously, Mr. Saburo Nukaga, born in Ishioka
Mr. Saburo Nukaga and Mrs. Kiyo Nukaga
town, the present Ishioka city, had learned at Kokugakuin inTokyo and worked for YAMATO news company as a journalist. Mrs. Kiyo Nukaga, originally from
Ogawa village, the present Omitama city, had learned at Tokyo sewing school, the present Tokyo
Kasei University, and opend a sewing school in her hometown.
In those days in our country, the educational standard for girls was quite low, and many girls
had to stay at home helping their mothers running households till their marriages would bearranged. There were some private sewing schools at that time, because sewing
was one of the important skills for both working women and housewives. But
there were few girls’ high school in the central area of Ibaraki. The only one
was public Mito Girls’ Highschool in Omachi, the present Mito 2nd
Highschool, whose capacity was too limited for girls eager to learn.
The alumnae list of this school has eleven names of students from thattime. One of them was Ms. Fuku Machida, who later married a doctor andworked as a hogoshi, a part-time judicial official helping rehabilitate sentences
criminals. Another one was Ms. Chiyo Saruta, who later became the firstfemale journalist in Ibaraki, and also the eminent poet with the penname of
Gyoko Komatsubara. The founders’ all-round education-oriented
way of teaching seemed to gather bright girls from all over thisprefecture.

Ms. Chiyo Saruta○The Establishment of Taisei
Mr. and Mrs. NUKAGA bought a site in Fujisakacho( the present location of Taisei Girls’ Highschool, Gokencho ),that was adequate for a school building and they applied to theprefectural office for a permission to open a girls’ high school.
They were granted the permission by the prefectural governor
and opened Taisei girls’ sewing school in 1909. This was the first
approved private school in this prefecture.

The first building of Taisei 1908

The school had three courses. One was honka, the 2-year regular course where both generaland homemaking subjects were taught equally. Another one was 2-year senka, where more
homemaking subjects, especially sewing were taught. The third one was kateika, the 1-year
advanced course for graduates of the regular course, where more sewing skills were taught.

The school started with 13 students. Although thegraduates of primary schools could enroll, there were moresenior girls than new primary school graduates. A lot of students
were from areas far from Mito, some were from outside of thisprefecture. There was a dormitory on the school’s premises. The
girls and the principal’s family shared the building, andeveryone seemed to enjoy living and studying together.
○The Name of “Taisei”

One dormitory room “plum room”

The name of Taisei comes from the word “shutaisei” used by Mencius, a famous Chinese
philosopher. Mencius described Confucius, the greatest philosopher in China, as “shutaisei,”meaning “ a man of great virtues.” The founders wished their school to be a desirable environment
where girls could cultivate their characters, refine their skills and grow up to be virtuous women.

○The School Crest of Taisei
The Taisei crest of a five-petaled flower called apink ( lat. Dianthus ) dates back to June 1912. Since
ancient times in Japan, this flower has symbolized abeautiful Japanese lady or an adorable child. One of theschool founders and the first principal, Mr. Saburo
Nugkaga hoped his students would become respectable andeducated young ladies with the help of their teachers.
The crest's original design, depicting the simple
outline of a five-petaled pink whose shape was similar to
the kanji character “tai” and the character “sei” inside it,
has been reshaped according to some revisions of school
system.
○The School Color
Green, symbolizing freshness and growth, was chosen
as the school color of Taisei in 1919 and has been adopted forthe color of the school crest.
○The New School Building
Gradually the number of students increased and theyneeded more classrooms. New school buildings wereconstructed in 1912, 1916, and 1919.

Students infront of school building in 1918

II. Mito Taisei Girls’ School (1920 - 1929 )○The Change of School System
During the World War I, the war industry was quite active and Japanese industry shiftedfrom light to heavy. Owing to such business boom, the number of parents who wanted theirdaughters to continue their education in general subjects grew.
Then Taisei girls’ sewing school went through system change. The new school, Mito Taisei
Girls’ School, offered 3-year honka, the regular course, 2-year senka, the sewing course, 1-year
kenkyuka, the teacher-training course, and 1-year kateika, the advanced sewing course.

All teachers were extremely dedicated and devoted to thier students.
One of the teachers was Ms. Fuyu Toyoda, the former teacher at Tokyo
Women’s College of Education (the present Ochanomizu Women’s University )and the first nursery teacher in this country. She dedicated the latter half of herlife to girls’ education.
○The First School Uniform
For 15 years after the school foundation, students wore what they liked.
Ms. Fuyu Toyoda
School uniform was adopted in 1924. It consisted of a navy blue kimono, a haori( a kind of jacket worn over kimono ), a hakama ( a kind of long pleated skirt ) in students’ favorite
color (wine color was popular at the time), and black short boots. Most students sow their own
uniform by themselves. Their sewing skills seemed to be quite excellent.

Students before the uniform was adopted

Students on a school trip in the first school uniform○School Excursion
In 1921, the school excursion was introduced.
Freshmen and sophomores visited Mt.Tsukuba, Oarai
beach, or Sukegawa beach by train on a one-day trip.
Third-grade students went to Matsushima in Miyagi
prefecture on a two-day trip.
School trip to Matsushima in 1926
○School Building Extension
In the1920’s, the number of students kept increasing.
In 1924, the school rented a neighbor’s house and used as a
kitchen for students. In 1926, an extension was built and theschool building area now took up to be 6, 561 square meters.
Unfortunately the whole area burnt down in an air raid in 1945
during the WWII.

○School Anthem, School Motto
In March 1929, the school anthem was born. The words
were written by Mr. Hikojiro Kaneko, a professor at Tokyo
school building in 1926
College of Education ( the present Tsukuba University ), and an
editor of a textbook of Japanese adopted at Taisei. He was a friend of the principal Nukaga. The
music was composed by Mr. Eiichi Hagiwara, a professor at Tokyo Music college (the present
Tokyo University of the Arts ) , a friend of Mr. Kaneko’s.
The words clearly express the aim of our school; the students here, surrounded by beautiful
nature, have to study hard to become virtuous women, in close cooperation with classmates, always
having a “sincere, frugal, and diligent” heart.

“Sincere, frugal, diligent” were adopted to be
the school motto. Later as the time changed, thesecond ‘frugal’ was replaced by ‘cooperation.’1
To become wise supporters for our enlightened
leaderwe will succeed the historical heroins’ spirits
filled with their eternally remarkable achievements
and will together attend to our studies
2
In the rich and beautiful nature of Tokiwa region
a noble pine tree stands as the paragon of grace
we will honor it as a shining example of wise
women
and will together attend to our studies

School Anthem in a school album in 1934
One student wrote the words in calligraphy for the album.

3
The path of sincerity , cooperation, diligence,
we will keep treading with the pledge to mature virtously
and will together attend to our studies○New School Uniform
In 1928, the new western-style uniform was adopted. It consisted of a sailor-collared jacket
and a pleated skirt. The jacket was in navy blue for winter and white for summer. The navy blue
necktie had two diagonal white lines. The students in kateika, the advanced sewing course, madethe uniform for all students.
III. Taisei Girls’ High School (1929 - 1939 )○Social Situation
In the midst of the depression after the World War I, the Kanto Earthquake hit Tokyo,
the capital of Japan, in 1923. In addition, the financial crisis followed. In such a situation, thegovernment emphasized the importance of education evenmore. Since the promulgation of Girls’
Education Law in 1899, more and more girls and their parents hoped for more advanced education
for girls.

○ Taisei Girls’ High School
In 1929, Mito Taisei Girls’ school opened Taisei Girls’ High School ( Taisei Koto Jogakko )with a 4 year- coursed honka ( regular course ), and a 1-year hoshuka ( additional course for to-beteachers ). Taisei Girls’ High School offered more general subjects which now added up to 2/3 ofthe all the classes taught weekly, this change made it closer t the school system for boys. In the firstyear, 40 girls enrolled after passing the entrance examination. At first, the number of students was200, and 7 years later it increased to 400, furthermore, and 10 years after, it went up to 600.
Teachers were in great demand , and so a lot of new bright teachers helped students maketheir dreams come true. Some students later became specialists, such as doctors, dentists,
pharmacists, teachers, which were quite prestigious jobs especially for women of that time. Others
developed their physical abilities and played active parts in some athletic meets, volleyballtuornaments or track-and-field meets, for instance.
○School Building Extension
With the increase of students and courses, the schoolbought a lot ( 2,053 m2 ) and built a new 2-storied building
for the high school and a gymnasium in 1931. The
telephones and school bells were installed. School groundwere enlarged in 1935, and in order to accomodate
increasing students, some more buildings were added until
1943, just before the fierce battles were repeated in the endof the WW II.
Students enjoyed brand-new
facilities such as well equipped housekeeping study rooms, and the music roomwith a grand piano.

○The 25th anniversary
The 25th anniversary ceremony was held at the gym on
February 28th, 1932. The congratulatory addresses were made by
the Minister of Education, Ichiro Hatoyama, the prefectural
governor, and the mayor of Mito city. The representatives ofteachers and students also made speechs and some teachers of
distinguished achievements were honored. The ceremony wasclosed with the school anthem sung by all students.
After the ceremony the new school buildings were shown toguests and students sewing works were exhibited. Next year, aframed work of calligraphy done by the Minister of Education waspresented to the school and displayed in the new manner room.
○The school flag
On December 23, 1933 the royal prince (the present
emperor ) was born. In order to commemorate his birth, teachersand students had talked and decided to design the school flag. Everyone donated to the cause for aperiod of three months and commissioned one to an authentic flag maker in Kyoto. On January 18th
next year, a flag ceremony was held with the shinto priest from Mito Hachimangu shrine. The
school flag would be raised at various school events until the early 1980s. The present school flag is
a gift from the graduates in 1986.

○The school events
Students would go on walks to the water gate over the Naka river, or to Oarai beach, Mt.
Tsukuba by train. In June 1932, senior students took part in the 1st united tour for junior highschools of Ibaraki. More than 800 school girls from 5 public schools and a private school, Taisei,
traveled around Nagoya, Toba, Nara, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagano in 8 days. It seemed like a tightscheduled trip. The tour would be held every year until 1941.
Sports days were held at the school ground in 1937 and 1938. From 1940 to 1942 at theprefectural Suifu ground, the united sports festivals for junior high schools were held and students
participated together with boys’ school students. In 1943, Taisei individually held sports day there.
In 1932, basketball class tuornament was held and one of junior classes won. The
tuornament seemed to be held twice every year.
The exhibitions of students’ works were shown to soldiers and bereaved families around the1930s. In 1940, the exhibition was hosted to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Taisei. It was
the last one before the end of WWII.

United sports festival in Suifu ground 1940

United tour in Nara 1930s○The students’ council
The next year of school foundation, 1910, thestudents’ council was organised and the bulletin named“Nadeshiko” was first issued. It has been reporting
various school news ever since. Around 1925, theThe bulletin “Nadeshiko” before WWII
magazine club was in charge of the bulletin which was
published twice a year, in July and December. The issue
in 1932 described the 25th anniversary ceremony in thedetail with some photos.
Besides the magazine club, a several clubs suchas a movie club, a lecture club, a gardening club, an aidclub, a club responsible for students’ meeetings, and an
accounting club were formed. The movie club had aprojector and would often show 9.5mm, 16mm, or 35mm
movies. The gardening club would order good-quality
flower seeds to a famous retailer in Tokyo and take careof the flower beds on the school premises. In 1934, agreenhouse with a big heater was built and various
flowers were planted there.
The summer training lodge “Nadeshiko house”

An athletic club also started their activities in 1930. Girls
would do track and field, swim, play basketball, volleyball,tennis and table tennis. Next year in May, the prefectural sports
association was founded and it started to hold sports meets forjunior high school students. Every student in Taisei athletic clubtrained hard to win in the sports meets. In July, Taisei opened asummer house “Nadeshiko house” in Oarai beach as a training
lodge. Some students, the members of the track and field cluband volleyball club would run to the 10km distance between theschool and the lodge as practice. Some students won prizes in
the meets, and advanced to the Meiji Jingu Shrine Meet, where
the winners from 7 prefectures in Kanto area would take part in.
Taisei volleyball team in 1940
In the1940’s, Taisei track-and-field and volleyball clubs became theregular teams in the meet.
○Prizes for excellent students
The students who excelled here in both theirstudies and sports were awarded memorial prizes.
One student received a belt buckle with the school
crest, another one a lacquer brush case made ofpaulownia wood. The best student in Ibarki
prefecture in 1939, Ishi Hiratsuka, won theprefectural governor prize and was awarded a small
A certificate and the memorial prize - a belt buckle
dressing table.
IV. During the war time (1940 - 1945 )○The Social Situation
Since the Manchurian Incident in 1931, theeducation of Japan had been gradually influenced
by wars. After Sino-Japanese War in 1937, theinfluences grew stronger and all resources, fromnatural to human, were utilised with the sole
purpose of winning the consecutive wars.
National mobilization Law in 1938 severely
limited civilians’ lives and mandated students’labour. According the notification by the Ministryof Education made In 1941. students engage in
agriculture. In 1943. all subjects’ textbooks were Sewing buttons on soldiers’ uniforms in 1938
replaced by one nationally censored textbook, inwhich patriotism was strongly emphasised. At thesame time, every junior high school student had towork in war plants. Even school buildings were
utilised as such plants. In May, 1945, all theregular classes were dismissed in every juniorhigh school so that students could devote to work.
Elementary school students were evacuated toTea picking at school farmland in 1939
rural regions and separated from their families.

○School Situation in Taisei
During that time, school events in Taisei were colored with national war system. The year
albums show various war time activities such as morning service dedicated to worshiping the royalfamily, cleaning shrines, sewing soldiers’ uniforms, farmwork, house keeping in the war bereaved
people’ homes. Visit of the members of the royal family or soldiers from allied countries were often
seen during that time. In 1938, the delegates from
Germany, the young Nazis, toured around Japan andthey payed the visit to Mito. Some of Taisei’s excellent
students joined the welcome events at the Kairaku
Park. They were all aimed to encourage patriotism
among both young and elderly Japanese. In 1941.
Taisei was presented with the letter of appreciationfrom the then Military Minister, Hideki Tojo, who was
executed upon the ruling of the International Military
Tribunal for the Far East after WWII.
Welcome ceremony for a royal lady in 1934

Welcome event for young Nazis in 1938

An appreciation letter from Tojo in 1941

○School lives in Taisei
Until 1941, students could often enjoy their school lives as before. They could join theunited students’ tours around Kyoto, school excursions to Kashima shrine or Katori shrine by train,
movie watching at the downtown theater.
The 30th anniversary ceremony was held in 1940, when the 2600th national anniversary wascelebrated. The history book of Taisei 30th was made, memorial service was offered and students’works were exhibited.

Making a line in fromt of a theatre in 1940

30th school anniversary in 1940

○Transition of students’ number
After the foundation of Taisei Girls’ high school in 1929, the number of students in both theGirls’ school and the Girls’ high school increased every year.
In 1941, the number of graduates of the Girls’ school for 32 years was 3,122. While theGirls’ high school for 12 years was 398.
Students came to school from all over Ibaraki prefecture, some were from Fukushima,
Tochigi, and farther areas. There were a lot of students lodging near the school or in the school
dormitory.

Mito Taisei Girlsʼ school in March 1941
freshmansophomoresinior

total

class

students

class

students

class

students

class

students

honka

3

115

2

84

2

92

7

291

senka

2

90

2

90

4

180

kaseika

1

16

1

16

total

6

221

12

487

4

174

2

92

Taisei Girlsʼ High school in March 1941
freshmansophomorejuiniorsinior

total

class

students

class

students

class

students

class

students

class

students

honka

3

165

2

110

2

110

2

98

9

483

total

3

165

2

110

2

110

2

98

9

483

○The uniform in those days
During the war time, people were obliged to be frugal
and showy styles were strictly controlled. In 1940, Kokuminfuku, the national clothing for men, was introduced and thenext year, Hyojun-fuku, the national clothing for women.
Hyojun-fuku was a navy-blue belted jacket with a small collar.
In 1942, clothing goods were rationed and students had to
manage with the rationed clothes or secondhand ones for theirschool uniform. Owing to the lack of goods, the freshmen’sskirts had no pleats and later all students wore work pants
reformed from other clothes. They also lacked shoes so mostof them wore geta, traditional wooden sandals with V-shape
Some students were in Hyojun-fuku & geta
straps.
○The school war plant
As the war condition became worse, in May 1944, students were sent to war plants in
Hitachi or katsuta, the neighboring cities famous for machine industry. At first, they could study at
school once a week, but later, they had to commute to the plants everyday. In August, for fear of the
air raids, war plants were evacuated to schools nearby, and any rooms in Taisei, containing corridors
or entrance hall, were occupied with machines. Each girl worked all days manufacturing weapons,from machine guns to bullets, with a tag of “volunteer corps” on herarm, a piece of cloth showing her name, grade, address and blood typeon the chest part of her jacket, a bag containing a stuffed hood andmeager first aid medicines on her back.
In summer 1945, all ceilings were taken away and desks andchairs were moved to safer regions. All important documents were
entrusted to teachers and students whose houses were in rural areas far
from central Mito, which was under the risk of air raids.
In those days Japan lacked nurses, then Taisei started training
students to become nurses according to the decree of the prefectural
government.
Students with an arm tag○The air raid
At the midnight of August 2nd 1945, the central area of Mito was hit by a terrible air raid
and a lot of people suffered under allied bombing. About 300 people were killed and most buildings
were burnt down. Taisei also lost all the 5 school buildings, more than 3,000 square meters, except astone warehouse and stone walls. Teachers and students
living at the dormitory on the school premises were
fortunately safe because they had evacuated to the bank ofNaka river.
After the fire was brought under control, teachers
started cleaning rubble and ashes away. It was reallydisappointing that the only building that withstood thebombing, warehouse, could not protect the things insidebecause of the intense heat which caused everything burn.
Alumnae address books, school albums, a grand piano, and A stone warehouse which survived
other valuables were all lost. Students helped their teachers
well. While all were working hard to restore the school and keep it secure, the war at last ended on
August 15th.
Before the traffic system was restored, some branch schools were operated by parents in theoutskirts of Mito. Students from the same area gathered at one of the student’s house and enjoyedtalking and studying.
In April 1946, a humble office and a principal’s house were built beside the warehouse andin time, small dormitory rooms for several students were also built. But school buildings were still
not completed yet. So students would go to the temporary school complex, the former barracks ofthe 37th unit.
○Life at the temporary school
All the classes and activities were given at the former barracks, the present Ibaraki
University premises. Some other schools which also lost their buildings from the air raids stayed, so
a lot of students of Mito junior high school ( the present Mito First High School ) , Ibaraki girls’
high school ( the present Mito Second High School ), Mito girls’ high school ( the present Mito
Third High School ), gathered there. Most of the students walked from Mito station toward the siteand some rode bicycles along bumpy roads from Ibaraki town, Naka town or Ishitsuka village
which often took more than 1 hour.
Makeshift facilities such as those with broken windows, no ceilings, humble floorboards
would often be stressful on the students there. Without desks or chairs, each student sat directly on
the floor and studied using a small board hung from the neck with a string. Some students could nottake their lunch because of the lack of food. The clothing situation was also poor. Many students
would wear trousers which were made from fathers’ old trousers. Some students had bags made

from mothers’ sash belts. Teachers would also wear used soldiers’ clothes so it was hard to tellwhether they were man or woman.
Then in November 1946, the Showa emperor visited Mito and observed the temporary
school to encourage students. They exhibited their hand works and told their school lives to theemperor.