At Jinseki International School ( JINIS), thelanguage used in the classroom depends on theindividual theme and the grade level. In every class,teachers encourage students to take the initiative tolearn independently through their experiences. JINISCULTIVATING FUTURE
GLOBALTALENT
WITH JAPANESE VALUESWith the aim of fostering new types of talent to contribute to an increasingly
borderless world, Japan’s first full-boarding primary school, which offers
bilingual education, is now gaining widespread attention. Here we shed lighton the advantages of young children living together and learning in aninternational atmosphere, and the reasons why Hiroshima Prefecture hosts
pioneering initiatives that promote international education.
We are entering an era in which,as technological innovations andother changes make the world
increasingly borderless, it is
becoming ever more importantfor children to acquire a global
mindset from an early age, and,amid advancements in AI androbot technologies, to develop
creativity and an inquisitivemind. Accordingly, interest ininternational schools has beenpiqued in Japan in recent years.
Attracted by what they offer—theopportunity to learn English whileliving in Japan, an international

environment, and a curriculumthat emphasizes inquiry-basedlearning—more and more parents
are enrolling their children insuch schools. Various kinds ofinternational schools are now
opening throughout Japan: notonly branches of prestigious
European learning institutions,but also schools with uniquely“Japanese” features.
One such school is JinsekiInternational School (JINIS), which
opened in 2020 in Hiroshima
Prefecture, western Japan. The
first full-boarding primary school

in Japan, JINIS’s major trait isthat despite its being primarily
international in nature, it also
attaches importance to teaching
the Japanese language and culture.
“Understanding local culture andhistory is an extremely importantcriterion for people working on
the global stage. It is a source ofidentity and is also essential tounderstanding the culture and

SUEMATSU Minako, chairperson of JINIS,
founded the school in 2020. She said, “I wantto deliver students a kind of learning that isbased on experiences, as opposed to justoverloading them with knowledge, in a safeand open environment.” JINIS

history of other countries, which is
crucial in building good relations.
We want to nurture those seeds
during the primary school years,
when children acquire their
physical and mental foundations,by providing them with variousexperiences,” said SUEMATSU
Minako, the school’s founder andchairperson.
The classes taught at JINIS are
based on the national curriculum
guidelines of Japan, and aim
to incorporate the guidelinesof the International PrimaryCurriculum, which is widely used
in international schools aroundthe world and places priority on
an exploratory style of learningthat looks deeply into themes frommultiple perspectives. About 40%of the classes are conducted inJapanese, and importance is also
placed on hands-on classes on
elements of Japanese culture suchas the traditional tea ceremony
and calligraphy. On the lush green
grounds of the campus located on
the Jinseki Plateau, extracurricular
activities in nature are organized
after school and on weekends, suchas seasonal farming experiences
and outdoor pursuits.
It is precisely because JINIS
is a boarding school that students
can engage in such a broad
range of experiences, as it
holistically arranges curricular andextracurricular schedules, which
include weekends. “Of course,
some people think that primaryschool children are too young forboarding school. But allowing
professionals to thoroughly guideand provide children with theeducation and opportunities theyneed has arguments in its favor,”
said Suematsu, who had her own
child attend a boarding school in
Switzerland.
Many other new initiatives
in international education aresuccessfully being launched in
Hiroshima. They include the2019 opening of a public boarding
school called the Hiroshima
Global Academy—an integrated
junior/senior high school thatis International Baccalaureateaccredited—and the foundingof the Thunderbird Schoolof Global Management-ArizonaState University-Hiroshima University
Global Initiative in 2022.
RegardingherchoiceofHiroshima for the location ofJINIS, Suematsu, who was bornand raised in the prefecture,explained that “Hiroshima is like acondensed version of Japan. It has
diverse nature, from a mild ocean
to snowy mountains, and thereis easy access to both the Kansai
and Kyushu regions. At the sametime, as the site of the world’s firstA-bombing in 1945, it has a long

Top: JINIS boasts an expansive campus on
Jinseki Plateau, about a 90-minute drive from
Hiroshima City. Currently, 44 students
between the ages of six and 12 live and study
together here. JINIS
Bottom: In the dormitory, students live
together in double or triple rooms, where theylearn to adopt regular routines and become
well mannered. JINIS

history of sending messages out tothe world about the importanceof peace. Students can experience
all those various aspects. It was
only after I left my hometown
that I realized what a blessed
environment I had grown up in.”
Many students at JINIS hope toattend boarding school overseas
after graduating, but they canalso go on to middle school inJapan. “There is one student who,already knowing both English andJapanese, wants to study one morelanguage from middle school andgo on to work someday for theUnited Nations,” said Suematsu.
“There are so many future paths
available to them. It is up to theindividual student to decide which
one to follow.” Left: After school and on weekends, students canpursue a diversity of outdoor activities such as sports,
farming, and insect collecting. Field trips, which
include visiting a local temple or an art festival, are also
regularly planned. JINIS
Right: Emphasis is also placed on peace education atJINIS. In addition to regular classes, students in theupper grades take field trips to Hiroshima City,
touring such sites as the Hiroshima Peace MemorialMuseum, which recounts the history of the atomic
bomb that was dropped on the city in 1945, and theGenbaku Dome (background), the damage to which
has been symbolically preserved. JINIS