The Senior High School has
evolved from the original girls' secondary school established with Japan Women's College
in 1901. The original school grew in response to the demands of the age, and under the
educational reforms of 1948 it was divided into senior and junior high schools. At this
time the Senior High School was relocated to its present site at Nishi-Ikuta in Kawasaki,
Kanagawa Prefecture, nestled into the Tama hills forty minutes away from the crowded and
busy streets of metropolitan Tokyo. The previously purchased 73-acre Nishi-Ikuta campus, enormous by Japanese
standards, offers a beautiful natural setting throughout the changing seasons and provides
students with an ideal educational environment. When the Affiliated Junior High School
previously located in Mejiro was moved to the Nishi-Ikuta campus in 1979, new combined
school buildings were constructed for the junior and senior high schools, reducing the
distance between the two schools. We are pleased that the concept of integrated education,
as advocated by the University's founder, has continued to bear fruit.
The Senior High School is a girls' high school with eight classes per grade for
a total of 24 classes and about 1 , 100 students overall. Students are selected from a
highly-qualified pool of applicants from around the country. The educational objective at
Japan Women's University is to let the ideals of the founder permeate all of its various
schools.
Students at the Senior
High School are young women aged 15 to 18. For them this is a time of deep
self-examination, hopes for the future, and the establishment of self-identity. Students
also experience a growing interest in society and the world around them, and they are
presented with their first opportunity to decide which path they will take in the world.
It is for this reason that the educational process at the school is designed to be diverse
and responsive to the needs and choices of each student. Extra-curricular activities and
school events are also considered important elements in the building of the character of
spirited adolescents.
The school strives for an educational environment where students study hard and
actively participate in student government in this abundant natural setting. By doing so,
students are able to develop into dignified, well-rounded young women, and they discover
how to learn by themselves, think for themselves, and act for themselves, experiencing the
fruits of autonomy and Independence. In the end, it is hoped that students will grow into
capable young women who can make a wide-ranging contribution to human society.
