Fukuoka Prefectural Shuyukan High School
Overview. Founded as a Han school in 1784, Edo period, Shuyukan is one of the oldest high schools in Japan with a history of over 200 years. After the Meiji Restoration, it was transformed into an English vocational school where all subjects were taught in English. Today, it is considered to be among the elite schools in Japan with a number of graduates continuing their studies at prestigious universities in Japan. The name "Shuyu" was taken from a passage in "The Charge to Prince Weizi" from Shangshu, a history text from ancient China. The school  logo "Rokkosei" (Six-Light-Star) is a reference to a poem by Shu Shunsui (1600–1682), and is shaped after the North Star. Just as the North Star remains in the same position, consistently pointing towards the North, the "Rokkosei" serves as a pilot star that will guide the students throughout their lives towards a certain direction with unwavering faith. History. Historical context. During the Edo period, Kuroda clan became the feudal lord of Chikuzen Province, what is now the Fukuoka Prefecture. The first lord Kuroda Nagamasa strongly believed in the power of both pen and the sword, and encouraged young  samurais in his domain to diligently engage not only in military arts but also in literary arts. Nagamasa had a keen interest in a wide range of topics. At a time when Oriental disciplines like Confucian philosophy, Chinese literature and classical Japanese were the mainstream subjects for study, he extended his attention to Occidental philosophy as well, including the Christian bible. Because of the Kuroda family's continuous enthusiasm in adopting scholarly insights under their rule, Kuroda-han flourished in a variety of academic fields, producing scholars from Confucian philosophy and classical Japanese, to Chinese herbology, agriculture, and medicine. When  Kuroda Naritaka (younger brother of Tokugawa Ienari, the eleventh "shōgun" of the Tokugawa shogunate) became the 9th lord of Kuroda-han at a young age in 1783, the advisory board summoned two renowned scholars of the domain, Takeda Sadayoshi and Kamei Nanmei, to each build a school in order to pass on their forbearers’ scholastic ambition to the future generation. Han-school years. In 1784, Takeda and Kamei each founded their han-schools and named it Shuyukan and Kantokan respectively. Due to the two schools’ location, Shuyukan was also called the Eastern-academy ("Higashi Gakumon Keikojo"), and Kantokan the Western -academy ("Nishi Gakumon Keikojo"). Kantokan was burnt down during a fire in 1798, and Shuyukan subsequently became the only han-school remaining. The 11th lord Nagahiro Kuroda was especially concerned with the education of his people throughout his life, and was particularly attentive to new cultures arriving from the Occident. With such pedagogical emphasis and interest in the West, he sent off many gifted samurais from Shuyukan to study at cosmopolitan cities in Japan and abroad, among whom was Kentaro Kaneko, a young han-samurai at the time, who continued his studies at Harvard University and later became one of  the drafters of Meiji Constitution. With the waves of social change during the Meiji Restoration period, however, educational reform was underway. Because han-schools were limited to elite students from privileged samurai families, they were to be abolished for a more democratic school system open for all. Shuyukan was closed down in 1871, and thus was the end of its years as a han-school. Reopening, the war to present. In 1885, Lord Nagahiro Kuroda and Kentaro Kaneko appealed to Fukuoka prefecture for the reopening of Shuyukan as a prefectural school. On May 30, Fukuoka prefecture ordered the establishment of  Fukuoka Prefectural Shuyukan as an English vocational school to produce English specialists. All classes were taught in English, and students studied Anglophone literature, Euro-American history, and Science using English-American textbooks. In 1897, Natsume Sōseki visited Shuyukan to observe the classes, as he was good friends with the first headmaster, Aritaka Kumamoto. On March 1936, alumnus Kōki Hirota was appointed the prime minister of Japan. The same year, another graduate Tetsuo Hamuro won the gold medal in 200 meter breaststroke at the Berlin Olympics. Two years later, youths from Hitler-Jugend visited the Shuyukan campus and interacted with students . As the war deepened, only the freshmen were attending classes in 1944, as upperclassmen had been recruited for military services. The school was severely damaged with the Fukuoka Air Raids in the following year, and soon after, the war ended on August 15, 1945. Classes resumed in September under serious shortage of essentials and textbooks; the biology club and Rugby team resumed their activities in October. During this post-war period, school reform was executed in order to fully democratize the Japanese educational system. In 1949, Shuyukan was renamed Fukuoka Prefectural Shuyukan Senior High School. Under the occupation of GHQ  who strongly discouraged any form of tradition that hinted the legacy of Japan's feudal and militant past, even to keep the name "Shuyukan" was impossible without the extraordinary efforts of its alumni. This year the school admitted its first batch of female students in the incoming freshmen, and Shuyukan thus became a public co-educational high school that it is today. School life. Academics. Currently there are no vocational courses; education is limited to regular college preparatory courses. In the second year, students choose between Liberal Arts and Science tracks. In addition, there are Advanced Liberal Arts, Advanced Science , and Pre-Medicine classes for advanced students. School events. Shuyu Cultural Festival and Shuyu Athletic Meet are the two biggest events at Shuyukan. These activities are operated by student-run executive committees. Starting a few weeks before the events, classes are shortened to four 40-minute periods, and the students are allowed to use all afternoon for event preparation. Anthem. Shuyukan Kanka Uniform. Boys wear a black gakuran, with Rokkosei carved on the button. Girls wear the sailor outfit, with Rokkosei embroidered on the back. All students must wear the school badge on the collar. Notable alumni. The large number  of notable alumni are called "Shuyu Range".