Lycée Konan

The Lycée Konan de Touraine-France (フランス甲南学園トゥレーヌ, Furansu Kōnan Gakuen Turēnu), previously the Lycée-Collège Konan de Touraine (トゥレーヌ甲南学園高等部・中等部, Turēnu Kōnan Gakuen Kōtōbu Chūtōbu), was a Japanese international high school located in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France, near Tours.[1]

Lycée Konan
フランス甲南学園トゥレーヌ
Former main building of the school
Address
57-63 Rue de la Gaudiniere

37540 Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire

France
Coordinates47.4145°N 0.6547°E / 47.4145; 0.6547
Information
TypePrivate high school
Opened1991
Closed2013
Websitet-konan.jp

The school, in the Bechellerie neighbourhood,[2] was dependent on the Konan Foundation (甲南学園 Konan Gakuen), which operates Konan University, and therefore was an overseas branch of a Japanese private school, or a Shiritsu zaigai kyoiku shisetsu (私立在外教育施設).[3] The school, which had both junior high school and senior high school departments, had over 600 students. The 5,000-square-metre (54,000 sq ft) school building was located on a 12,000-square-metre (130,000 sq ft) plot of land. The school also maintained an 800-square-metre (8,600 sq ft) dojo.[2]

During the school's existence, some students were from Japanese families living in Paris.[4] At the time of closing the school's director was Osamu Yokoyama (横山 理 Yokoyama Osamu). As of 2012 the school's operating budget exceeded 3 million euros annually.[2]

History

The school opened in 1991. Yokoyama said that the school was created to accommodate children of Japanese business executives stationed in Europe. Yokoyama said that the president of the Konan Foundation chose to station the school in France because he wanted to give the students the dream as taught by Descartes and because he was a Francophile.[2] As of 1991 the school had 240 Japanese students. In its English classes and extracurricular classes such as music and sports, the school also served 320 French students, and the Japanese and French students intermingled in these special classes.[5]

Due to an economic crisis in Japan, the number of students at the school decreased. In 2010 the foundation decided to close the school and entered negotiations with the commune of Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire on what to do with the land. In 2012 the school announced it was closing effective Spring 2013. Yokoyama said that the school was closing due to economic reasons. The commune acquired the property for 1.5 million euros, and the school donated its dojo to the city. On Tuesday 23 October 2012 the député-maire (a mayor who is also a member of the National Assembly of France) of the commune, Philippe Briand, signed the deed to the facility.[2]

Student life

The school maintained separate dormitories for boys and girls and the dormitories had dedicated house parents.[6]

See also

French international schools in Japan:

References
  1. Home page. Lycée Konan de Touraine-France. Retrieved on 2 January 2014. "57-63 Rue de la Gaudiniere 37540 Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France"
  2. Denis, Pascal. "Lycée Konan : la fin d'un " rêve "" (Archive). La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest. 25 October 2012. Retrieved on 2 January 2014. " Le 31 mars prochain, le proviseur Osamu Yokoyama remettra aux élus de la commune les clefs de l'établissement implanté depuis 1991 dans le quartier de la Bechellerie (à deux pas des villégiatures d'Anatole France et d'Henry Bergson)." and "Durant vingt-deux ans, plus de 600 adolescents japonais ont fréquenté ce collège-lycée dépendant de la Fondation Konan de Kobé (qui gère par ailleurs une université de 9.000 étudiants). Ils ne sont plus aujourd'hui que 19 élèves de terminale qui achèveront leur scolarité le 8 février 2013." and "Pour 1,5 M€, la ville s'est portée acquéreur d'un bâtiment de 5.000 m2 sur une emprise foncière de 12.000 m2." and "Quoi qu'il en soit, l'esprit de Konan continuera de souffler sur la commune puisque les Japonais lui ont fait don de leur dojo de 800 m2 et une association culturelle est en projet pour entretenir les liens qui ont été tissés depuis vingt-deux ans."
  3. "過去に指定・認定していた在外教育施設" (Archive). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Retrieved on March 1, 2015.
  4. Conte-Helm, Marie. The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters (Bloomsbury Academic Collections). A&C Black, December 17, 2013. ISBN 978-1-78093-980-3, 9781780939803., p. 85.
  5. Rutman, Jessica. "At Home Abroad." Look Japan, Volume 37, Issues 421-432. Look Japan, Limited, 1991. p. 42. "[...]another, for Japanese students wishing to mix with their French peers, is Lycée Konan, a branch of Konan Gakuen of Kobe. At the international school opened in Saint Cyr sur Loire last year, Japanese students numbered 240, and they joined 320 French students for such extracurricular activities as music and sports, as well as for English classes."
  6. "寮生活." Lycée Konan. 13 February 2010. Retrieved on 3 January 2014.

Further reading
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