The IInternationalist The nternationalist
Nishimachi International School Spring/Summer Nishimachi International School Spring2020 2020Vol. Vol.6464
Matsukata House Turns 100
Head of School Karen O'Neill '78 Director of Development Philippe Eymard Marketing and Communications Manager Kacie Leviton '95 Managing editor Mayumi Nakayama ‘90 Editor Anne Papantonio Art design Akira Tomomitsu (Mashup LLC)
The Internationalist Spring/Summer 2020 Vol. 64
In This Issue...
The Internationalist, Spring/Summer 2020 vol. 64, is published by the Development Office for alumni, parents, students, faculty, and friends of Nishimachi International School.
Article contributors
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Maya D. Grade 8 Philippe Eymard Lalaka Fukuma ‘90 Kacie Leviton ‘95 Mayumi Nakayama ‘90 Karen O'Neill '78 Jan Opdahl Anne Papantonio Gyuri P. Grade 8 Reika S. Grade 9 May S. Grade 8 Hana T. Grade 9 Lee Wilson
Photography 70th Anniversary Social Participants Grade 8 Students Philippe Eymard Stephanie Hanamura Ikuko Iida Chika Hayashi ‘91 Meredith Lawson Kacie Leviton ‘95 Mayumi Nakayama ‘90 Radim Sinkora Lee Wilson Nishimachi Staff/Faculty Hi Cheese!
Nishimachi International School Development Office 2-14-7 Moto Azabu, Minato-ku Tokyo 106-0046 Japan Tel: 03-3451-5520 Fax: 03-3456-0197 E-mail: development@nishimachi.ac.jp alumni@nishimachi.ac.jp URL http://www.nishimachi.ac.jp 学校法人 西町インターナショナルスクール 〒 106-0046 東京都港区元麻布 2-14-7 渉外開発室 電話：03-3451-5520 ファックス：03-3456-0197 メール： development@nishimachi.ac.jp ウェブ： http://jp.nishimachi.ac.jp
Feature Article
I’m an Epidemiologist
Chika Hayashi ‘91 by Anne Papantonio
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Student Article
Alumni Morning Tea - Celebrating 70 Years of Nishimachi International School Maya D., Grade 8 Gyuri P., Grade 8 May S., Grade 8
May, 2020 Welcome to our Spring/Summer 2020 issue of The Internationalist! This year, we are sending it out both in hard-copy and virtual formats. In an effort to lower our carbon footprint, our students have been encouraging us to go “green” so if we don’t have your email address, please send it to us so you don’t miss an opportunity to connect with Nishimachi. Although our physical campus is presently closed, our spirit and energy remain intact. We are working hard to stay connected in a new and virtual online world. Every school day, students are busy learning through our eLearning platform, teachers are collaboratively planning and sharing lessons with children “live,” and our administrative team is busy making sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. As we head to the end of our academic year and our ninth graders prepare for their upcoming graduation, we are thinking of our entire Nishimachi community and are wishing everyone good health, wherever you may be. Do we have your email address? Please send it to us so that we can easily connect with you. It only takes a minute, so please send your details to Mayumi Nakayama in our Development Office (development@nishimachi.ac.jp). And if you ever want to chat, please send me a note. My virtual door is always open! Warm regards, Karen O’Neill Head of School koneill@nishimachi.ac.jp
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Matsukata House Turns 100
A Facelift and a Museum: The Matsukata House 100th Birthday Campaign Kicks Off at 70th Anniversary Social Philippe Eymard
Director of Development
Kacie Leviton ‘95
Marketing and Communications Manager
Table of Contents Minecraft Nishimachi High School Project ...... 9 Kirivorn Service Learning Student Article ........ 10 Nishimachi Mission Statement .......................... 20 Our eLearning Journey ....................................... 22 Outreach Scholarship Announcements ........... 24 Message from Nishimachi-Kai .......................... 26 Faces From Food Fair 2019 ............................... 28 Postmarks ............................................................ 30 Announcements .................................................. 36
I
WHO presentation on validation of the elimination of MTCT (mother-to-child transmission) .
I’m an Epidemiologist A Conversation with
Chika Hayashi ‘91 By Anne Papantonio parent of alumni, former Nishimachi Development Office Staff
n the words of Nishimachi founder Tané Matsukata, “Our ultimate goal is that every Nishimachi student learn to live harmoniously in, and contribute to, world society.” Like so many Nishimachi alumni, Chika Hayashi, class of 1991, embodies that vision. By way of background, Chika graduated from Nishimachi in 1991 and went on to ASIJ for high school. She did a bachelor’s, and then a master’s, degree in global disease epidemiology and control at Johns Hopkins University. After working in labs as a student, her first office job was with the World Bank in Washington, D.C. From there she joined the World Health Organization (WHO) for three years in Geneva, where she analyzed the cost effectiveness of interventions to prevent and treat HIV and explored how nutrition could improve maternal and child health outcomes. A year in East Timor with UNICEF followed. She returned to Geneva in 2004 to work again with the WHO, where she monitored and evaluated the global HIV response until 2017. She then moved to New York and now works for UNICEF, where she leads the team that collects, monitors, and analyzes data on nutrition around the world. Although she is currently working from home, like much of the world, she finds there is little down time in a day. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is very much all hands on deck for UNICEF, and much of her day is now spent on the disease, trying to quantify the impact it will have on the lives of children and women. Hundreds of millions of children are already malnourished, and even more may be pushed over the edge. Better data can support governments, UNICEF offices, and emergency operations around the world. The Nishimachi Years We talked about Chika’s years at Nishimachi, how they influenced her decision to pursue a career in social action and how they put her on the trajectory to where she is today. Chika was born in Tokyo, her father Japanese, her mother Taiwanese. Many of her mother’s friends were non-Japanese, whose children went to international schools, and it seemed natural to send Chika and her sister to Nishimachi. She remembers the words of the school song,
Scaling up HIV testing in Kenya in 2004 while with the WHO.
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“Let There Be Peace on Earth,” which she and her classmates sang for ten years. Tané Matsukata was still alive at the time, and she would address the student body at school assemblies, impressing upon the students the fact that they were all global citizens. They were in an extraordinary situation at Nishimachi, Chika says, with students coming from all over the world. Her classmates, regardless of their backgrounds, were her extended family. She believes that, although everyone has natural bias, Nishimachi students have an advantage in that they are able to look beyond. Now that she has been living in Europe and in the U.S. for the past twenty-five years, and visiting many lowerincome countries, she realizes that they lived in a bubble during those years at Nishimachi. She works with international colleagues from various corners of the globe, most of whom did not attend international schools. Not everyone is able to shed their preconceptions, but Nishimachi, as a microcosm of the greater world, better prepares its students. Nishimachi enabled her to be at ease almost anywhere. “I feel very comfortable talking to anyone in an international context. A lot of people at the UN say it’s an adjustment working with so many international people, but I feel right at home.” Chika thinks she must have first heard about the UN at Nishimachi, and, though she had only a vague sense of what was involved, she thought she might want to be part of it. She also remembers vividly a commercial that aired in Japan showing severely malnourished children— and how shocked she was. A summer during high school at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, where she took international relations classes, further spurred her on to seek a career in an international organization. She started in pre-med as an international relations major at Johns Hopkins University. After taking an introductory course in international public health, she decided that this was what she really wanted to do. Public health brought everything together, the possibility of working on the issues that attracted her to medicine as well as a potential career at the UN. She chose global disease epidemiology and control as her specialty because she is a quantitative person, and “epidemiology involves applying quantitative skills to the study of the spread of diseases.”
With her sister, Rika ‘92, and niece, Juna, at UNICEF in New York.
Chika completed her master’s at Johns Hopkins and went on to spend the next twenty years with international organizations, the World Bank, the WHO, and UNICEF. UNICEF in New York Chika moved to New York City with UNICEF three years ago, where she leads a team that monitors child nutrition globally. “We are facing a double burden of malnutrition, with hundreds of millions of children around the world without enough food and nutrition, while, at the same time, the number of children who are overweight is increasing.” Although infectious diseases are still a major problem in developing countries, the dynamic is shifting. More people are surviving them, and many people are now living with untreated chronic diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases). Nutrition and diet play a significant role in those. At UNICEF Chika has been developing global
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UN safety and security training for staff who are to be deployed at short notice to volatile and dangerous areas of the world.
Chika at the Taj Mahal. A third grade project was to draw a landmark. She chose the Taj Mahal and always wanted to visit.
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reports and guidance on indicators that can help monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)—the set of goals the UN, the international community, and individual countries have agreed to strive to meet by 2030. Nutrition is in SDG number 2—zero hunger by 2030. She also works on new areas for data collection. UNICEF traditionally collected data on healthy eating (whether children were getting enough to eat, and from which food groups) for many years. However, given the growing obesity epidemic, Chika is introducing unhealthy eating to this framework to monitor diet—tracking the consumption of sweetened beverages and junk food in children around the world. COVID-19 and Nutrition I asked Chika about the coronavirus, which is front and center for every citizen on this planet, in light of her expertise in infectious diseases. At the WHO her work centered on HIV, where she monitored mother to child transmission and established criteria to certify that mother to child transmission of HIV, in a given country, was “under control.” If they were preventing the spread of HIV in the population, if they had testing, if they were treating, if they had a specific health care and data system in place, and if the number of cases fell under a specified threshold, then the disease was no longer considered a public health problem. She explained that when talking of an epidemic and a pandemic, the flip side is eradication, meaning the disease is gone from the planet (like small pox). The step before eradication is elimination, when the disease has been eliminated from a specific region of the world. But it is not eradicated. That is where polio is now—eliminated in many places but circulating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example. That brings us to the coronavirus. At the peak of the global pandemic, control, elimination, and eradication, appear a long way off. Certain characteristics make diseases especially difficult to eradicate: there are cases where the disease shows no symptoms or can live in a nonhuman host, and there are no vaccines or treatment. “What is really scary about COVID-19 is that we don’t know—we actually don’t have a lot of information about it yet. What worries me is
that we are seeing younger people in New York definitely getting seriously ill, and we are starting to see conditions even in children now which may be associated with COVID-19. Of course we’re worried about immuno-compromised people, those with pre-existing conditions, or those who are over sixty-five, but the fact that some younger people who seem generally healthy are getting very severe forms of the disease is worrisome. Fortunately, we are learning more about COVID-19 at a record pace.” Chika worries too about the millions of people unemployed as a result of the pandemic. The U.S. government is at least taking steps to get some financial aid out to help those who have lost jobs or businesses. In developing countries, governments do not always have the resources and structures to do that. “People talk about overcrowded refugee camps, but at least many camps are organized, and governments, the UN, and other agencies are providing soap and water and other support. We have people in very crowded conditions elsewhere who can’t do physical distancing, and we don’t know what measures their governments are going to put in place and for how long. “New York implemented a stay-at-home policy for non-essential work. In developing countries, many people are day workers, and their jobs cannot be done from home. If they can’t go to work, we could end up with hundreds of millions, even a billion people, out of jobs. So we have to look carefully at the secondary consequences of protective measures to reduce COVID transmission and at the same time implement plans to counteract any potential negative consequences.” Chika is particularly concerned with child nutrition vis-à-vis the coronavirus. First and foremost, people are going to be more susceptible to the virus in food-insecure areas through multiple pathways: their immune systems are weaker to begin with because they’re malnourished and many live in poor households with less resilience when crisis hits. “We’ll potentially have more orphans; more people without jobs; closed markets; a disrupted food supply; and prices will increase. That leads to food-insecure households. We already have high levels of food insecurity in many countries, and we’re going to have more. People won’t be
eating enough. Here in the U.S. it’s often about the quality of meals, but the real issue for millions around the world is not having enough to eat. And there won’t always be financial assistance for those families.” While many of the models public health experts cite focus on COVID-19 numbers (number of cases, number of deaths), UNICEF and others are currently working through their country offices, and with governments, to determine what systems or policies can be put in place to mitigate some of the secondary effects. It is not one size fits all, so Chika and her colleagues have to think about what makes sense in different settings, to quantify the problems and to come up with interventions and policies that will help support, and protect, the most vulnerable children. Supplies are a big issue globally (as they are in the U.S.). For developing countries the needs are much more pronounced. For the last few weeks, UNICEF and others are mobilizing to send PPE (personal protective equipment) to developing countries. It will not be enough. “Many hospitals will not have ventilators and do not have enough experience in using and maintaining them. COVID-19 has laid bare the inequities in health care not only within countries, but across countries.” The Power of Communication: A Nishimachi Legacy In terms of other earlier outbreaks, Chika thinks there are definitely lessons to be learned from Ebola, as well as from HIV. In the earlier days of the latter epidemic, things really went out of control because there were so many unknowns. We are at that stage for COVID-19. “We don’t have the total picture on how COVID spreads, on a person’s prognosis once infected, and on treatment strategies. There is a lot of misinformation we have to correct on COVID so communication is, and will be, important.” UNICEF and the WHO are looking at the transmission of the virus through breast milk, which was an issue with HIV. Women did not know whether or not the disease could be transmitted through breast milk so they would just stop breastfeeding their babies, which created other problems. In some parts of the world, a child’s chance of survival is higher if that child
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Rika ’92 and Chika (with a Saint Bernard dog), skiing in the Swiss Alps (a skill they learned at Nishimachi).
gets breast milk containing maternal antibodies and nutrition than if they are fed formula, which is expensive and unsafe when clean water is not available. Communicating the correct information in a way that resonates with the audience is critical. Another important lesson gleaned from Chika’s experience with HIV relates to human rights. HIV came with a lot of discrimination. “It’s different from COVID. I do think if we don’t look at human rights and equality, we won’t be able to mitigate it. If people are scared and think they have COVID—let’s say they’re an illegal immigrant in the U.S.—they won’t go to a hospital. When you’re trying to mitigate the spread of an infectious agent or disease, you need to put in place measures where you treat everyone equally and reduce discrimination, in other words, reduce any barriers to access or risk-reduction behaviors.” That is where communication within a community comes in. “It worked for HIV, it worked for Ebola, and I think it’s going to work for COVID.” Especially in developing countries. “We have to bring in communities to get the right information communicated. If we are talking about an illegal immigrant population, we have to be sure that people speak to each other and can say, ‘Listen, we can trust them, we’re going to get tested and treated so we don’t spread this virus.’ Clear communication is needed to spread the word on social protection measures so that it reaches those who need it.” Herein lies the difference between a public health approach to an epidemic or pandemic, where one looks for the best outcome for the population, and an individual medical approach, where health professionals do everything they can to treat an individual patient. At the end of the day, Chika says “you go to
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school to study infectious disease epidemiology, and it looks as if solutions might lie in models and numbers. That’s the easy part. I’ve learned it’s really about understanding communities. We can’t do it the old way anymore—where development experts go in to a country, and say, this is what you have to do.” Ebola is a good example. “The solution to mitigating it came from the communities affected. We did that by involving the community, realizing that the solution isn’t always what we think, but what they want.” When there is a vaccine, when it is understood how the virus works, we will find solutions. The UN’s role is to translate that science into something that can be scaled up and delivered. “We have to put funding back in some of the basic science. Without that, you can’t do much.” And for Fun? “I love to eat!” Chika says she definitely eats out a lot (or used to before the coronavirus). She has been working so much that she has not had time to explore New York as much as she had hoped, and that is something she definitely wants to do more of. She also likes to watch tennis and ski, thanks to all the practice from Nishimachi skip trips. Now that restaurants are closed and she stays at home, she has online happy hours, chats, and movie and game nights with friends. She cooks more. She thinks of starting a blog on the food she has eaten all over the world but never got around to setting up. “I really hope when the coronavirus is over we can have a little Nishimachi reunion in New York because there are quite a few of us here or in the surrounding area.” Looking ahead to the future, Chika says she is open. She wouldn’t mind going back to a country or a regional office. She thinks she will always work in data, setting up information systems and preparing global reports and advocating for areas needing improvement. “I am convinced more and more that while solving the science is important, we need to pay more attention to improving communication to better translate the science so that people understand what needs to be done. It’s not as easy as it seems.”
Minecraft Nishimachi High School Project
D
espite the pandemic, the Nishimachi high school project has continued unabated. We wanted to find an original way to give our learners an active voice in the project. This was proving difficult under the emergency lockdown until we touted the idea of a campusdesign project using the education version of Minecraft. Minecraft’s longevity as a popular platform among children is astounding, and it remains a largely untapped resource in terms of its potential for applications in collaborative projectbased learning. A project brief to design a future-ready campus was presented to a mixed group of grade five and six learners. They jumped at the opportunity. Our ever-resourceful IT team then managed to install and set up our own Minecraft Edu server remotely. With everything in place, the team of eleven learners jumped straight in. Progress was rapid, with the buildings, layout, and sports facilities completed within days.
Lee Wilson
Director of Digital Learning
As the project develops, the group will be checking in with our digital staff every few days to summarize progress and justify their design decisions. They are already working on a vlog, which will see them use an array of digital tools to capture in-app videos, add commentary from a number of members of the group, and publish via their own YouTube channel. Projects like this give learners the opportunity to develop the skills the OECD identified as essential for the future: creative thinking, problem-solving, empathy, responsibility, and collaboration (OECD, 2018). Add to that the digital skills necessary to create and publish original content, and it is clear that our focus on digital integration at Nishimachi will have benefits across the curriculum. References “Education 2030: The Future of Education and Skills. Position paper,” OECD, 2018. http://www. oecd.org/education/2030/E2030%20Position%20 Paper%20(05.04.2018).pdf.
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R Kirivorn Nishimachi Community Service
ecently, I had the privilege of going to Cambodia with my grade. Going to Cambodia on a school trip is one of the most amazing and cool things I’ve ever done, and I had my friends with me to experience it. We were able to observe other ways of life in Cambodia, different from what we see every day in Japan. We didn’t just see different lifestyles, but we were able to taste different foods, experience a different culture, and breathe different air.
My Cambodian Experience
We got to visit and play with the kids at Bright Futures. Bright Futures is an organizationcreated by a former Nishimachi parent that gives scholarships to extraordinary children in Cambodia. Before my grade left for Cambodia,
Reika S., Grade 9
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we planned out several activities to enjoy with the students there. Their ages ranged from 5 - 18. We bought the materials we needed in Japan and hoped the kids would like what we had in store for them. When we got there, everyone greeted us with smiles and waves, especially the smaller kids. They just came running towards us and started to play with us in an instant. Everyone was so energetic and full of love. This was also true for the kids at Kirivorn. Since sixth grade, we’ve hosted dances, done activities at the food fair, and many other things to help raise money for this school. Finally being able to see where all the money and hard work went was so wonderful and such a great experience. Compared to Bright Futures, Kirivorn was much bigger. Their campus was much bigger and had many more students. We visited them on two separate days. My group and I were responsible for planning and playing with the fourth graders (on the first day) and the kindergartners (on the second day). The fourth graders knew some basic English so we were able to play board games, Jenga, and other board/card games. Even though there was a language barrier, it was easy to get along and play with them. On the other hand, getting the kindergartners to do what we wanted them to was harder. But that was to be expected. So we planned activities that required less explanation and more “watch and learn.” We brought packets of clay for everyone to make clay sculptures with and coloring books for them to draw in. We also brought stickers, sparkly pipe cleaners, and balloons. We let them do whatever they wanted with the materials we brought. They all went wild with the balloons and stickers, and the room was instantly filled with laughter and color. That feeling of making people laugh and have fun is something I’ll never forget. It really is a
good feeling. The kindergartners were impossible to control. So we thought, just as long as they had fun (and were safe), it was okay. I learned so much over this trip. I learned about the culture in Cambodia, I learned their language, and I also learned about myself and my grade. I especially enjoyed learning Khmer (the Cambodian language). We had a teacher that came to Nishimachi prior to the trip. She taught us basic words such as “hello,” which is “Chum reap sour” in Khmer and how to introduce ourselves. “Knyom chmou Reika” means “My name is Reika.” My favorite phrase that I learned in Khmer is “ta bon tub tuk no ai ner,” which means “Where’s the bathroom?” It took so long for my grade to pronounce this correctly, and it was really funny to hear everyone try. When I got back home, I realized how lucky I am to be able to live in Tokyo, Japan. I also realized how lucky I am to be able to receive a high level of education from an expensive school, to be able to breathe in fresh/clean air, drink clean water, and to have a safe environment. In Japan I didn’t have to worry about getting food poisoning or eating the wrong foods. On the other hand, in Cambodia, I was constantly worrying. I kept on asking myself questions like: should I eat this? Or, Is that man going to rob me? I realized how much I’ve been taking for granted. Even the little things that I thought were obvious and given, such as fresh air and clean water, are things that people in other places struggle to get. I could see that the world wasn’t just this bottle I lived in, it was way out there with different cultures, societies, and different stages of growth. This trip helped me to see things differently and, though it might not seem as much, the ways I think about third-world countries and the people who live in them have changed.
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グローバル市民になる ための第一歩
観光客であることの意味を変えました。各国を訪れて、多く の観光客を見るとき、私は誰もが休暇で自分自身の楽しみの ためにここにいるのだと考えていました。しかし、この旅
行とCS氏により、観光客や別の国に入国する外国人の義務
は、訪れた国の文化や生活スタイルも理解することであると 考えるようになりました。カンボジアの首都、プノンペンで みかける人たちは、遠い田舎の方からバイクで来て商売をし ているのだとCS氏はバスの中で私たちに説明しました。中
国の政府や投資家によりカジノやマンションなど、カンボジ ア人の平均年収では、あっても意味がないようなビルが勢い
Hana T., Grade 9
を止めずに建てられていました。貧しいカンボジアは、中国 から莫大な援助を受けた結果、中国に支配されているようで す。カンボジアが抱える様々な政治的問題はカンボジア人た
私
ちの生活に影響し、貧困に陥ったカンボジア人たちは、その
ならないことを理解していたつもりでした。しかし、カン
した。路上で遊んでいる小さな子供たちは大人なしでお互い
人」ではなかったことに気づきました。私が「良い人」であ
の生活を送るために必死で働いているという事実に気づかさ
は以前から自分は「良い人」だと思っていまし
サイクルから抜け出せなくなっているのです。バスから降り
な世界的な問題に触れてきました。そして私は自
いる人々の背景にある苦労を見るように私達に促しました。
た。西町インターナショナルスクールでさまざま
て街を歩いている時、CS氏は、私たちの目の前に存在して
分が非常に幸運で恵まれているという事実を認識しなければ
建設作業員は工事をするにはあまりに心細い靴を履いていま
ボジアの人々との交流で、自分は、思っていたほどの「良い
を世話しています。道を歩いていると、人々はただただ普通
りたいと感じたのは、社会から「思いやりがある」、または
れました。
での経験から、これが無責任な考え方であることに気づきま
私はそれまでずっと、自分自身が楽しむことだけに思いが集
ら、「良いグローバル市民」でいることが最も重要であると
深いところまで見ようとする思慮深い観光客でありたいと思
ル市民」でいることは、世界中の人々に責任と敬意を払うこ
対して敬意を示すことができるのだと考えます。
「正しい」と思われたかったからでした。しかしカンボジア した。「良い人」になることが重要であるという私の考えか
中していました。今後、再び旅行するときには、物事のより
いう考えに変わりました。今、私の中では、「良いグローバ
うようになりました。そうすることで、私はその国の人々に
とを意味します。
「オークン」。クメール語で「ありがとう」です。学校で教
CS氏という私たちのツアーガイドに出会い、最も本物と思
わったクメール語の単語がぎっしり詰まったノートブックを
ボジアについて、大勢の人に知らせることができることに
クを肌身離さず持ち歩きました。同じ言語を話さない人との
えるような笑顔を見せられました。彼は、彼の愛するカン
用意し、私はカンボジアへ旅立ちました。旅行中ノートブッ
とても興奮していたのだと思います。CS氏は、私にとって
コミュニケーションが心配だったからです。学校では、言
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語の壁を破ることなど簡単だと宣言した私でしたが、いざ現
ずに自己中心的になってしまいますが、カンボジアでの経験
を使う機会を何度も逃しました。しかし、旅行中何度も言っ
るようになったと思います。その行動とは勉強に励み、未知
場に行くと、自分の発音に自信を持てず、クメール語の単語 たクメール語の単語が一つありました。それが「オークン」 なのです。 Bright FuturesとKirivorn Schoolで子供たちと
遊ぶとき、私は繰り返し「オークン」と言いました。誰かに
感謝する必要がない状況でも、私は微笑みながら言いまし た。この一言は子供たちを笑顔にし、私たちの間の言語の
厚い壁を破りました。 子供たちや他のカンボジア人から受
により、自分が取るべき選択肢や行動を理解することができ の世界への好奇心を持ち続けることだと思います。更に私は カンボジア人が持つお互いを見守り助け合う心を思い出しな がら自分も家族や友達の助けになることをしたいです。どの ような行動を取るべきかを選択する時、誰のために今それを するのかということを考えるようにします。
け取った返事はさまざまでしたが、いつも笑顔で返してく
カンボジアの人々と実際に会い、関係を築くことで、グロ
今まで私は、何をするにも何かすごいことをして感謝の気持
うになりました。この経験の後、私は「グローバル市民」
れました。
ちを示さなければいけないというようなプレッシャーを感じ ていたように思います。しかし、カンボジアに行ったこと
で、私は大きな行動を通して感謝を示したからといって、そ れは、人々に言葉で感謝を伝えるのをやめてしまう理由には ならないことに気づきました。たった一言の「オークン」
で、心を繋ぐことができるのです。これも私がこのトリップ から教えられたことの一つです。
カンボジアで印象に残ったのは、CS氏と過ごした時間でし た。CS氏がバスでカンボジアについて話し始めると、彼の 自国への情熱を感じ取ることができました。特にトゥール
スレン虐殺博物館や空気汚染がひどかったシアヌークビルを 訪れた時、彼の心の痛みが想像できました。カンボジア滞在 の最終日、バスでプノンペン空港に向かった時、CS氏が西
町の生徒に話してくれたことを一生忘れることはないでしょ う。それはお互いに寄り添うことの大切さと、自分たちの生 活がいかに特権的であるかを認識し理解することを忘れない ようにという内容でした。日本のような先進国に住んでいる と、本当に大切なことが何かを見失いがちです。私は気づか
ーバルな問題に対してより個人的なアプローチができるよ でいることとは、「個人として行動し、社会に貢献するこ と」として再定義しました。正直に言って、以前の私は、 たとえ私が何かをしたとしても、世界やBright Futuresや
Kirivorn Schoolの子供たちの生活に何か大きな変化をもた
らすとは思っていなかった、いつも行動することを避けてい ました。しかし、カンボジアに行き、子どもたちと個人的に 繋がることで、私は個人的なレベルで世界的な問題に目を向 けるようになりました。これからは広い世界についての幅広 い知識を身につけて、自分の生き方に結びつけていきたいと 考えるようになりました。そのことが自分の身近な人たちに も影響を与えられるように。たとえ私の行動によって、貧困 の深刻さや私たちに与えられた特権について理解してくれる 人がたった一人でしかなかったとしても、それは価値あるこ とだと信じることができます。なぜなら、私が今できる最小 限のことは、恵まれない状況に住んでいる人々を尊重する意 識だと思うからです。私の進歩もささやかなものでしかなか ったかもしれませんが、それは貴重な種であると私は今確信 しています。
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n December 10th, 2019, Nishimachi eighth graders organized and hosted a morning tea for Nishimachi alumni to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the school. Our plan in hosting the morning tea was to be able to make connections with each other, understand what students over the years have felt was important about their time at Nishimachi, and celebrate the school’s history.
Alumni Morning Tea
Celebrating 70 years of Nishimachi International School Maya D., Gyuri P., and Mary S., Grade 8
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Planning and Enjoying the Morning Tea The eighth graders planned the morning tea by separating into planning groups which made it simple for us to arrange the day. We named committees for activities, decorations, the masters of ceremonies, interviews with alumni, and invitations. The students decided on the committee they wanted to join and started working on the event. On the day of the morning tea, we separated again into small groups to greet the alumni, and, in the meeting rooms of Matsukata House, we served a selection of drinks and snacks. After all of the alumni had arrived and had a chance to chat with each other, we started our planned activities We separated into different groups, with at least one alumnus and a few eighth graders in each group. We had prepared some games for each group to compete in. We played ‘Finish the Lyrics’, and then we played a game of Kahoot!, based on the school’s history and student life at Nishimachi. After that, we interviewed the Alumni in our groups and took them on a campus tour. While we were doing the school campus tour, we learned a lot of new things that we never knew before, for example, that there used to be a jungle
gym next to the sandpit, and that the surface of the courtyard was asphalt and could be pretty dangerous at times! Overall, the morning went well, and we were able to learn new things about Nishimachi through the interview experience. Interviews: Time to Talk and Learn from Each Other Interview questions were prepared by the eighth graders, and during the morning we sat down with alumni to gain an understanding of the kind of experiences they had at Nishimachi. Some of the questions included: How does it feel being back at Nishimachi? What was Tané Matsukata like? and What did you learn at Nishimachi? The majority of interviewees felt very nostalgic about coming back to Nishimachi. They felt as if Nishimachi was their second home, and they thought of us all as one big family. Their perspectives on, and memories of Tané Matsukata varied, including one alumnus remembering that “Tané Matsukata was a very stern lady”. To the alumni, Tané Matsukata was a very strong lady who always valued her students. At Nishimachi they learned important social skills which were useful when they went on to other schools. These skills made former students feel that they were more flexible when it came to adapting to new environments. For the grade eight students, hosting the morning tea meant we also learned how to connect with new people and take ownership of our project. Learning Through Doing: Making Connections The eighth graders arranged the alumni morning
tea as a way to connect and interact with others. We shared experiences, perspectives, and thoughts in connection with the school and the close-knit community. As part of this advisory project, we were able to connect with alumni and learn more about how Nishimachi has changed. One of the alumni mentioned that “bigger isn’t always better.’’ That made us realize that the close-knit community we have is something unique and special about Nishimachi International School. There are a few common things that the alumni talked about relating to their experiences at Nishimachi International School. Many of them mentioned the benefits of being involved in the Nishimachi community and creating bridges to communicate with students from other international schools. Playing on one of the Vikings sports teams was one of these common ways of connecting with others. Additionally, other alumni mentioned how having a close-knit community benefited them because they were able to become close friends with everyone in the school. The morning tea experience gave us all a chance to pursue challenges and broaden our experience in and understanding of interacting with others. We were all able to learn something new about the school we come to every day.
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A Facelift and a Museum: The Matsukata House The Matsukata House Turns 100 100th Birthday Campaign Kicks Off at 70th Anniversary Social Kacie Leviton ‘95,
Marketing and Communications Manager
Philippe Eymard,
Director of Development and Alumni Relations
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n February 14, we were thrilled to welcome over 250 guests to the Ushiba Memorial Gymnasium to celebrate Nishimachi’s 70th anniversary.
The gym, which was decorated with beautiful flowers donated by current parents Lien Do and Paddy Hogan, was filled with the smiling faces of alumni, former and current parents, and former and current faculty and staff. Everyone sipped on wine generously donated by alumna Kotoe Shirakawa ‘00 and beer subsidized by Baird Brewery, and enjoyed the delicious food provided by our long-time caterers/school lunch provider Kiwi Kitchen, followed by cake that was donated by Nishimachi-Kai. Our head of school, Karen O’Neill, honored “Nurse
Nancy” Tsurumaki, Philippe Eymard, and Kazuhiko Hotta, all of whom will be retiring after twenty, twenty-three, and thirty-seven years, respectively, of dedicated service. She went on to speak about the importance of remembering our past, focusing on the present, and looking to the future. Our school has come a long way since opening its doors in 1949 to just four students. Today, we have just under 470 students who are weaving their memories into the next 70 years of our school’s history.
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As many alumni know, there has been one constant in Nishimachi’s 70 years, and that is the Matsukata House, home to generations of students and witness to decades of growth and change. Did you know that our beloved Matsukata House turns 100 next year? She is doing just fine for the most part, but we all know that anything that makes it to 100 needs a little bit of extra support. We are asking the Nishimachi community for its help in protecting this enduring symbol that lies at the heart of many a fond Nishimachi memory. The goal is to repaint the exterior and refurbish the interior of the building, thus adding years and new vitality to an already long life. Additionally, we plan to create a museum within its walls that will allow us to preserve our school’s history and to share it with others.
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Director of Development Philippe Eymard kicked off the “Matsukata House 100th Campaign” at the school’s 70th anniversary celebration by personally making the first donation of one hundred 100 yens (i.e.,10,000 yen), which he dramatically dropped into the donation box. Many guests followed suit, and the total donations received on February 14 totaled a whopping 1.1 million yen, for which Nishimachi extends its sincere gratitude. Our target is 20 million yen. We are living in uncertain times, facing unprecedented challenges, Nishimachi students have been distance-learning since March 2, and the timing is still uncertain as to when things can return to “normal.” The very good news is that our campus still stands—and will for generations to come. With this in mind, we would like to invite our entire Nishimachi-Kai to be a part of this very
©TOMURO Atelier +Kenichi Nakamura and Associates
meaningful campaign. Please know that every “100” counts. Further, if you have any objects relating to the history of the school that you would like to see displayed in the Matsukata House museum, please drop us a line at development@nishimachi. ac.jp. We received the first item for the collection on the evening of the 70th anniversary social: the 1980 junior high boys’ “A” Team Basketball Tournament trophy, brought home by David Robinson, Henrik Gistren, Larry Spiwak, Jeff Zavattero, the Paton twins, and so many more. This was the very first trophy any sports team at Nishimachi had ever won. Also on display will be the 1980 spring season junior high girls’ “A” Team Basketball Tournament trophy!
Nishimachi is a non-profit gakko-hojin, and tuition covers teacher and staff salaries, keeps the lights on, and provides the best education for our students. Special projects such as preserving the Matsukata House require additional funding. https://www.nishimachi.ac.jp/giving/ways-ofgiving The Matsukata House 100 Campaign has a goal of 20 million yen and will run through June of 2021.
Photo by Toshiharu Kitajima
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A Strong Philosophy Is the Foundation for a Strong Mission Karen O’Neill ‘78, Head of School
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ané Matsukata’s mission to educate Japanese and expatriate students to be international and independent thinkers is embodied in her well-known quote, “To share, to live and learn together and yet keep a special identity... that is Nishimachi.” She also believed Nishimachi students should be given the opportunity to learn a second language so they would develop an international perspective, grow beyond a single culture, and live harmoniously in, and contribute to, world society. Still relevant in the world we live in today, and more than seven decades later, a Nishimachi education strives to bring young minds together under one international umbrella in order to build lines of communication and understanding. Tané’s hope was that through education, the next generation would learn to live in peace, and never again would we see the horrors of World War II. This hope led to a vision of a school that would teach Japanese children the English language and Western culture, and teach foreign children the Japanese language and culture. When she opened
1949
1966
Nishimachi School was Founded with Tané Matsukata’s Founding Philosophy
We change our name to Nishimachi International School
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the doors of our school in 1949, I wonder if she had known that our school would still, all these years later, be living out her hopes and dreams? Over the years, our school has developed in many ways. Physical changes are evident and numerous, such as new buildings, the addition of the main gate, and a bit of color added to our playground. However, where we have seen the most change is through our understanding of how best to teach and learn. Gone are the days where teachers stand at blackboards and desks are lined up in rows. Our classrooms are now filled with furniture designed to offer students movement and flexibility. Technology is intertwined in everything we do and is something we now depend on, even more so with our current campus closure during the worldwide pandemic. As we continue to look towards our future, including our planned high school expansion, it is time to reflect on where we began, where we are today and where we want to go. Our school’s foundation is built on Tané’s philosophy, but did you know that as a school, Nishimachi has never had an official mission statement. Let’s explore how things have evolved over these 70 years. In 1949 we began with four students. English
1986 Nishimachi is Accredited by WASC Western Association of School and Colleges
1997 Student Learning Expectations and Updated School Philosophy: Statement of Multiculturalism
was taught as a foreign language, and our school was called Nishimachi School. By the mid-1950s we had one hundred students, and the number grew to more than 200 a decade later as students from many different countries enrolled. Junior high school level education was added in 1963 and has since evolved into our middle school with its own unique traditions and student responsibilities. As the demographics of our school broadened, by 1966, we decided to change our name to Nishimachi International School. In 1986, we became accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), a US West Coast accreditation body. Over the ensuing decade of the ’90s, the school updated its school philosophy and instituted Student Learning Expectations (SLEs). By 2006 we were also accredited by CIS, the Council for International Schools. School Philosophy: Statement of Multiculturalism Nishimachi believes that education should promote the well-rounded development of individuals through the cultivation of their intellectual, creative, personal, social, and physical abilities. The school is committed to educating both Japanese and foreign students to be international and independent thinkers. We believe that learning a second language provides the opportunity to grow beyond a single culture. We believe that classroom and co-curricular activities should foster sensitivity to, and respect for, individual talents as well as differences. We believe that every student must learn to function both as an individual and as part of a group. Our ultimate goal is that every Nishimachi student learns to live harmoniously in,
2006
2016
WASC: Western Association of School & College and CIS: Council of International Schools Joint Accreditation
Work Begins on the Mission & Vision of Our School Today
and contribute to, world society. In 2016, following a successful CIS/WASC reaccreditation, we took the recommendations of the report to develop the 2017-2021 strategic plan. A consultant was retained to help launch this effort, and students, staff, parents, and our Nishimachi-Kai community had the opportunity to contribute their ideas and thoughts through a community-wide survey. We also held a workshop/focus group where over a hundred parents attended. From the ensuing work over the past four years, Nishimachi Learner Expectations were born, and a new school-wide mission statement was articulated. We share it here for your feedback. Mission: Develop learners and leaders who know, care, and take action, to bring value to others and to make a positive impact on the world. Together with our founder’s philosophy, this mission statement embodies our work to prepare students for their future. As we begin our reaccreditation cycle this month, we will continue to reach out to all members of our wider community as we add in conversations about our high school visioning process. You will hear from us asking for your opinion through online surveys. We thank you in advance for your input and welcome your feedback.
2019
2020
Nishimachi Learners Expectations & High School Visioning Begins
CIS/WASC Reaccredidation Process Begins & Community input on School Mission & Vision
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Our eLearning Journey through the Global Pandemic Lee Wilson
Director of Digital Learning
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s I write this article, we are some eight weeks into our eLearning journey and in great shape. Like many people in my role in schools across the international education sector, I am a member of various digital learning-focussed professional learning networks; Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Google groups, and specialists forums. Each contributor has their own story to tell about how their school, and community, has coped during this unprecedented challenge. There are many positive stories: schools that have used an array of tools and approaches to provide a meaningfully personalized education for their learners. Sadly, there are many schools that, for a variety of reasons, have been unable to meet the complex challenge of this hugely disruptive move to entirely online learning. I’d like to explore some of the key reasons why we have maintained our composure and remain a strong learning community. Like all schools in Tokyo, we had very little warning before having to close our campus. We did, however, have sufficient time to conduct a limited trial to make sure everybody could access the tools we intended to use to communicate; Google Hangouts Chat and Google Hangouts Meet. The fact that this trial went smoothly can be attributed to a number of factors, one being a faculty already very familiar with G-Suite for Education and education technology in general. This really was our trump card and can in
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part be traced back to the work done to implement the Nishimachi Digital Learning Plan in June 2019. This focussed attention on the development of digital tools to extend and enhance learning at the school. It led to a significant improvement in our capacity to use a range of digital tools and devices along with an atmosphere that encourages trial and innovation. Building on that foundation, we now have a continued focus on leveraging technology where it is most impactful. We have used the SAMR Model as a guide. This model lays out a framework for the use of technology in learning where impact is greatest (Puentedura 2012). I believe these factors put us on a positive track from the beginning and gave everyone in our community the confidence to start teaching online on a solid footing and with little warning. Zoom has become perhaps the most important tool for communication during this pandemic. As we settled into our eLearning program and garnered feedback from our community, we quickly realized that textual communication is far less effective than face-to-face contact for a whole host of reasons, not least of which is the deeper social-emotional connection made possible by seeing familiar faces on a platform like Zoom. After comparing the performance and tools in Google Hangouts Meet with Zoom, we amended our plans to make use of Zoom’s more advanced and learning friendly features. Zoom
hasn’t been without controversy, but the fact that digital citizenship is integrated into our whole school curriculum and forms a major part of our digital learning plan means that we have escaped the kinds of issues faced by schools in other countries. Communication alone doesn’t make for a personalized and rigorous online learning experience; for that you need a Learning Management System (LMS). Seesaw and Google Classroom
LMSs are both fully embedded into our curriculum. These platforms are absolutely essential for a number of reasons including; course structure and organization, task setting, work submission, feedback, and portfolio curation. No school should be without an LMS, and I believe that effective LMS use, combined with the meaningful and deep social connections made possible by Zoom, is another reason why our eLearning program has been and continues to be a success. It is clear
from discussions in my professional learning networks that those schools that did not have a fully embedded LMS at the start of the pandemic have fared far less well than those that did. Lourens et al. (2015) point to the need for social, cognitive, and teaching presence to fully exploit an LMS. Having explored the tasks, feedback discussions, and engagement in both Seesaw and Google Classroom, combined with Zoom, I can see our faculty has been adept at creating the climate necessary for all three essential ingredients for LMS-facilitated learning to flourish. Our journey into the eLearning unknown hasn’t been without its challenges. We started with
ambitious expectations and a desire to provide a full-time schedule. As the reality of a whole learning community moving online hit home, we realized early on that regular feedback from learners, parents, and teachers would be necessary to ensure our program, while rigorous, was also appropriate. The first change to our schedule was to tone down the amount of technologyled learning, leaving room for offline learning and more physical, practical activities. Our specialist teachers
have been instrumental in adapting our approach to provide physical and creative challenges away from screens. Having worked together as a whole community, we have far more balance in terms of screen time, social and emotional focus, and academic demands, in our current program. The continued positive feedback from our learners stands as a testament to the hard work of everyone involved. As pandemic coverage in the media begins to focus on life after Covid-19, there will be significant discussions in the education sector about what the future of schools, and learning, will look like. This unprecedented use of educational technology has tested the capacity of different platforms, the depth of the content available, and the ability for users to exploit the opportunities technology affords twenty-first century learning. I don’t doubt that after some in-depth analysis of the role technology has played in these events, we’ll see a more measured use of devices and digital resources. After all, technology is just one tool in the classroom to be used when it’s really needed. I believe we will also see the development of new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in LMSs. The implementation of real-time reporting, AI-curated personalized pathways through learning, and more creative forms of assessment will all be accelerated too. Ultimately, though, there will be a renewed focus on suitability and usability in the design of digital
resources and a recognition that technology will not replace the teacher, but it will support them in their drive to provide the best possible outcomes for their learners. What I can say as a self-confessed futurist is that some of the beliefs I held about the increasing role of technology in education I harbored at the start of February no longer hold much water. I no longer see teachers being replaced by AI and robots some time in the medium term. I definitely don’t foresee rows upon rows of silent children plugged into laptops either. If anything, it is now abundantly clear that the three-way relationship between teacher, learner, and parent is absolutely essential for a child’s holistic growth and development. As far back as 2000, Aiken et al. (2000) urged caution in the deployment of advanced educational technology, in this case AI, as there is potential to impede the kind of social learning we now know is so incredibly important for all children. The future of technology is going to be a very exciting space, and with thousands of newly fearless teachers and learners possessing a whole range of new skills and experiences, the possibilities are endless. References Aiken, Robert M., and Richard G. Epstein. 2000. “Ethical guidelines for AI in Education: Starting a conversation.” International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education 11: 163-176. Louwrens, Nathaniel, and Maggie Hartnett. 2015 “Student and Teacher Perceptions of Online Student Engagement in an Online Middle School.” Journal of Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning 19.1: 27-44. Puentedura, R. R. (2012). Building upon SAMR. Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/ rrpweblog/archives/2012/09/03/ BuildingUponSAMR.pdf. May, 6, 2014.
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Outreach Scholarship Program
7th Annual Outreach Scholarship Walk-a-thon/Run-a-thon November 16, 2019 Jan Opdahl
Walkathon Co-Chair Parent of Alumni
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hat a beautiful autumn morning November 16 was for the seventh annual walkathon to benefit Nishimachi’s Outreach Scholarship program. With the completed National Stadium standing tall in the background, 327 participants walked or ran around Meiji Jingu Gaien, sporting the blue t-shirts designed by our very own firstgrader Ichika K. Nishimachi’s head of school, Karen O’Neill, with her dog, Suki, joined in on the fun as students, parents, alumni, and friends made multiple laps around Jingu Gaien for a worthy cause. Many thanks go to the sponsors, volunteers, and participants whose support makes this event materialize every year and, most importantly, helps fund the Outreach Scholarship program, which is key to diversifying our student body. We raised over one million yen this year! See you at next year’s walkathon on November 21, 2020.
Cancelled 中止のお知らせ Unfortunately, due to health concerns of the Coronavirus, we have canceled this year’s golf tournament. You can still support the Outreach Scholarship Program by going to our giving page. 5月に予定していましたアウトリーチゴルフトーナメントは新型
コロナウイルスの感染が拡大している状況を踏まえた上で、 皆 様の健康を第一に考慮し、 中止することといたしました。
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Food Fair 2019 Lalaka (Ogawa) Fukuma ‘90
Vice Chair, Nishimachi-Kai
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ood Fair 2019 managed to pull through and see success in the end, sending a wave of pleasant surprise across the Nishimachi community, despite facing two major obstacles— first, a postponement from mid-October to late November because of Typhoon Hagibis, one of the most powerful typhoons to hit Japan in decades, and then the cold, heavy rain that fell on the day. Neither the Nishimachi-Kai café nor the falafel booth was an exception to the day’s successful
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outcome, with many dedicated alumni and alumni parents helping out in, and visiting, our café, which opened in a new spot this year—on the first floor of the new Green Building facing the street outside the main gate. We also sold our new, original Nishimachi-Kai stainless steel water bottle, which was a hit. On behalf of the Nishimachi-Kai board, I would like to express my profound gratitude to all the donors and volunteers (listed below) who kept up the school spirt and contributed importantly to the event’s success in spite of the challenging circumstances: Cheerio Company (soft drink donation); Makiko (Takayama) Saito ‘87 (wine); Nahomi Aiko; Yukari Fackler; Eriko Fukuyama ’96; Fergus Gifford ’02; Fred Gifford ’03; Ricky
Higa ’94; Momoka Kataoka ’90; Izuru Kato ’90; Wendy Kobayashi; Olga Krajenbrink; Stephanie Lee; Risa Mackey; Cathy Noyes; Aki Ohtaka ’12; Emi Omata ’02; Kit Pancoast; Austin Powell; Chikako Sato; Hiroko Shiraishi; Kotoe ’00 and Tomo Shirakawa; Chikako Shumway; Junko Sumiya ’83; Mako Tomita ’86; Mayu Watanabe Langevin; and Yuko Yamada ’90.
Walkathon 2019
I would also like to thank the following individuals who signed up to help but couldn’t make it because of the change in dates: Go and Kaoru Abekawa; Sarah Brauer ‘16; Chris Hathaway ’90; Matthew Joseff ’85; Kazuho Kawaguchi ’97; Mirei McKinnon ’16; Rie Tanaka; and Mayu Watanabe ’18. As always, we were able to witness the true Nishimachi spirit in the smiles of those who came by despite the rain. So, thanks once again to the many active supporters of Nishimachi and Nishimachi-Kai. Our mission is “To keep founder Tané Matsukata’s vision for the school alive; and to provide an opportunity for alumni to reconnect and engage with the Nishimachi International School community.” We are able to pursue this important mission thanks to the generosity of people like you.
Mayumi Nakayama ‘90 Development and Alumni Office Assistant
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he Nishimachi Outreach Walkathon 2019 was blessed with wonderful weather this past November. Seven alumni and fifteen parents of alumni took part in this event, which supports the school’s Outreach Scholarship program. Every year we are seeing the participation of more parents of alumni for the walk around the Meiji Jingu Gaien loop. Food Fair has always provided an important opportunity for parents of alumni to socialize, but Outreach Walkathon is quickly becoming another occasion on which they can get together and enjoy each other’s company in a nice outdoor setting. (For a full report
on this year’s walkathon, please see p. 24.) It was a pleasure to see Nishimachi head of school Karen O’Neill ‘78 with her cute dog, Suki, walking with participants. We look forward to more alumni and parents of alumni joining us in future Outreach Walkathons! Alumni and Parents of Alumni, Outreach Walkathon 2019 Mitsuyo Brauer; Emily Downey; Lalaka Fukuma ‘90; Noriko Igarashi; Ikuko Iida; Hiromi Ito; Kiki JiangYamaguchi ‘87; Naomi Kabira; Yukari Kamibayashi; Tomio Kurihara; Kacie Leviton ‘95; Mayumi Nakayama ‘90; Karen O’Neill ‘78; Jan Opdahl; Eriko Seki ‘11; Shigetaka and Yukiko Seki; Brian Takei; Toyoko Tasaki ‘83; Fumie Watanabe; Dan Weiss; Saori Yamaguchi
2020 Nishimachi-Kai Annual Alumni BBQ – CANCELLED The Nishimachi-Kai Board has decided to cancel this year’s June BBQ, given the current worldwide situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to seeing everyone again when the time is ripe to safely host this event, sometime in the future. In the meantime, we hope that everyone stays safe and well. Spring/Summer 2020 Vol. 64
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Faces from Food Fair 2019
Were you at Food Fair 2019, but you don’t find yourself here? For Food Fair 2020, stop by the Nishimachi-Kai Café and we will be glad to take a quick photo of you with your group! Spring/Summer 2020 Vol. 64
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Former Faculty and Staff
Jonica Bushman 9/17/2019 Even though my tenure at Nishimachi was only one year, the mission and vision of this school have always remained in my heart. It was a wonderful year. I still hear occasionally from some of the great kids—now adults—I taught here. It is so nice to see all the changes and the still thriving school. Jonica with her husband, James Barbara Ferrans 11/29/2019
Ms. Ferrans was at Nishimachi to help support the admissions team.
Alumni
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Here she is with Nishimachi’s assistant admissions officer, Maiko Ina. Chris Kozak 1/17/2020
Mr. Kozak stopped by Nishimachi to say “hello” to former colleagues. He was delighted to see grade nine advisor, and MS humanities teacher, Andrew Deane. David Priest 4/3/2020
1967
Stephanie Farrior stephanie.farrior@gmail.com
1969
Mari (Otagawa) Parker mari.parker2@gmail.com
Bruce Moran moranb@saccounty.net
Fumiko (Saneyoshi) NishinoFriedewald fnf55@hotmail.com
Leslie (Zyto) Celentano LeslieZCelentano@gmail.com
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the chance to meet up for dinner and a lot of reminiscing. I think we were both surprised to still have so many clear memories from twentyfive years ago. Sara Tye 3/21/2020
Sara and her partner, Valentin Alexandru, welcomed their first child, Charlotte Victoria Alexandru, on January 13, 2020, which is the same date as Sara’s birthday. Congratulations, Sara and Valentin.
1970
Class of 1969, 1970, and 1971 Joint 50th Reunion October, 21-23, 2020 Contact Leslie Celentano ‘69, Marla Petal ‘69, Mark Melnick ‘70, or Keiko Tanaka ‘71 for more info.
1972
Judith (Almstadt) Guyer judithguyer@mac.com
1973
Akiko Tanaka atanaka@mail1.meijigakuin.ac.jp
Marla Petal mpetal@imagins.com
Beryl (Horn) Hosack Berylhosack@gmail.com
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Mark and Lisa Melnick markmelnick0204@yahoo.com
Arthur Balfour abalfour@cvvmaxsgarage.com
Ann (Sado) Honjo atoz.sado@gmail.com
1966
K
It was a lovely surprise to see Yhu Kuni ‘94 in Hong Kong. We took
1968 1963
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50th
1974
Paul Anderson anderson@asialeverage.com
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1975
Jesse Astalos jesse.astalos@gmail.com
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1976
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spend our summers in Norway and the rest of our time in California. It’s like a dream. We never thought this could actually happen. And we fondly remember our special time at Nishimachi, where this journey started.
Galit (Platek) Fuhrer galit@emjoi.com
1977
Lynn Astalos lynnastalos@gmail.com Lynn Astalos 1/11/2020 In our seventh grade class photo with Dorothy Risser, Anne is in the back row, fourth from the right. I am in the front row, first one on the left.
1978
Deborah Krisher-Steele debbie@cambodiaschools.com We wanted to share a moment with our friends at Nishimachi. Anne Bache-Mathiesen and I met at Nishimachi in third grade. I remember playing a king and queen game on the swings with Anne. I don’t remember the objective of the game. All I remember is that I wanted to be king when Anne was the queen. Our homeroom teacher was John Brentnall. We remember doing the maypole dance that year, but then did it again in fifth grade because Mr. Brentnall changed classes that year. After seventh grade, Anne’s family moved to Thailand, and my family moved to Yokohama, then to the U.S. in 1976. Anne and I started writing letters to each other.
4/28/2020 Pictured in the photo are John Hsu, Debbie, Rosalind Wouters, Annamarie Massa, Elaine Thommasson, Mamo Hailemariam, Kimi Hotta, Meg Higuchi, and Fumiko Konoye. MaryJane Alexander and Rieko and Kaeko Okawa had to leave the meeting early as did Penny Chang so they are not pictured. Members of the class of 1978 who were all in fifth grade together at Nishimachi recently had a virtual reunion on Zoom. We signed in from all over. From Tokyo we had Fumiko Konoye, Megumi Higuchi Sano,
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Debbie Krisher-Steele, and Kimi Hotta; from California, Annamarie Massa, Rieko Okawa Mendez, and Kaeko Okawa Shipley; from Vancouver, B.C., MaryJane Alexander; from Maryland, Rosalind Wouters McCarthy; from Virginia, Elaine Thomasson Stottlemyer, Penny Chang, and Mamo Hailemariam; and from Hong Kong, John Hsu. We got caught up on the remarkable lives we’ve all had since grade five and Nishimachi. We were thrilled to see Mamo, whose father worked for the Ethiopian Embassy, and whom many of us hadn’t seen since he and his family had to abruptly leave in the middle of the school year because of a political coup in Ethiopia and the civil war that ensued. After his family returned to Ethiopia, the family faced hardship, and at one point Mamo’s father was jailed as a political prisoner. Mamo is now a U.S. citizen working in the IT field in Virginia. We all remembered our fifth grade teachers that year, Mr. Brentnall and Mr. Gleason, very fondly. It was wonderful to reminisce about Nishimachi and to share how much we felt our teachers, even as far back as fifth grade, had such a strong and positive impact on us.
1979
Galen Flint galenflint@gmail.com Hanako Muto bluesky_blueocean@fd6.so-net. ne.jp
We wrote letters to each other well into college. One year the letters stopped arriving, probably because we had both moved so many times. Decades passed, and life happened. We both raised families and traveled the world. Seven years ago we finally found each other online. Anne was living in a town called Moss on an island in southern Norway. I was in California. Fortynine years after we met in Japan, we are finally married. We plan to
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Tanya (Nebenzal) Rude tanyapete@earthlink.net
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1981
Tony Gillion tgillion@puredew.co.nz
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Hara, and Carolyn Numata; front row, from left: Nina Marini, Akiko Matsuura, Matthew Joseff, and Haruko Kawai Kohno.
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Andy Hill jandy.hill@gmail.com
1986
Makiko (Hara) Tomita makikotomita@gmail.com
5/17/2020 The class of 1986 now has a Facebook group! They held a Zoom reunion and will be looking forward to having more online reunions! https://www.facebook.com/ groups/271986963830924/
1987
Seth Gilbert 12/15/2019
Nir Platek nir.platek@gmail.com
1982
Osamu Francis osamu_francis@hotmail.com Henry Buddy Marini buddymarini@gmail.com
1983
Nancy Hashima nhashima68@gmail.com Gioia Marini marinigioia@yahoo.com
Alexander Nalevanko alex_nalevanko@yahoo.com
1984
1988
Robert Sharp robert@robertsharp.com
1985
Nobumichi Hara nobumhara@gmail.com
35th
Frederik (Riko) van Santen Rikovansanten@gmail.com
Maki Suzuki makilisasuzuki@gmail.com Audrey McAvoy audreymcavoy@gmail.com Toshi Kato 12/10/2019
Haruko Kohno 1/7/2020
We had a lovely post-Christmas lunch here in Tokyo. We were always a tight-knit group, and this photo should suffice to show that nothing has changed after almost four decades. We were also able to FaceTime Jenny Watt during our lunch. Back row, from left: Nobu Hara, Taichu Jiang Sho, Yoko Mita
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The Internationalist
Toshi was at invited by the grade eight students to attend their alumni morning tea in December. (For more about this tea, please see pg. 1415.) He is pictured here with Nishimachi admissions manager Kiki Jiang-Yamaguchi ‘87 and Nishimachi development officer Mayumi Nakayama ‘90.
1989
Danya (Norris) Clark danyanorris@hotmail.com
In December 2019, I visited Tokyo again with my wife, Julieta. Of course, I made time to see my new/ old best friend Mayumi Nakayama ‘90 and her daughter, Erica. The picture captures our happiness (no thanks to a photobomb by a very inconsiderate Godzilla). On this trip I also headed south to Osaka for some takoyaki. I had an amazing time and miss my old home already.
1990
30th
William Hammell william.hammell@gmail.com Akiko Popiel akikopopiel@hotmail.com
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Nina Humphreys 3/21/2020
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1991
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This is Deebo, Ayako’s chihuahua, sporting some school spirit.
Donna Willoughby
Karen Mu 2/17/2020
1992
Emma Tamaoki genki09@me.com Nina and her two children were in Brisbane, Australia, recently. Her children attended a school there for one term, and they had a fantastic experience attending a bilingual program in both English and Japanese. Nina was able to meet up with her classmate Saori (Tani) Whitely while there. Mayumi Nakayama 2/14/2020
Five of us from the class of 1990 attended Nishimachi’s 70th anniversary social on Valentine’s Day. Some of us had not seen Shizue Sharp since elementary school, so it was great to see her back. From left: Ryoji Kubo, Hanako (Suzuki) Kubo, Shizue Sharp, myself, and Lalaka (Ogawa) Fukuma
One day as I was on my way home from a concert by subway, I heard a familiar voice coming from nearby. It was my classmate Chris Hathaway talking to his parents. How often does that happen, you run into a classmate by chance in a big city like Tokyo? What a great surprise and pleasure.
Kenji Chikada kenji_fc@hotmail.com Mika Tamura mikatamura@hotmail.com
1993
Cordelia Crockett cordyny@hotmail.com Monica Arias m_arias00@hotmail.com Mia-Margaret Laabs mmlaabs@gmail.com Ayako Hirose 1/6/2020
Karen and her husband, Jonas, with their two children, visited Nishimachi. Karen’s husband is an uncle of Lukas Edman ‘22. What a small world.
1994
Alison (Todd-Smith) Garen alison.garen@gmail.com 4/25/2020 The class of 1994 had a zoom reunion, hosted by Yuka de Visser.
Attention Nishimachi Alumni Just like you, your classmates are always wondering what you have been up to. Write your class reps or write to us directly. We would love to hear from you!
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Regina Sieber regina.sieber@gmail.com
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2007
Akiko Watanabe akikooo24@gmail.com
Andrew Blanshard Lilian Wouters lilian.wouters@gmail.com
2008
1997
Eric Vandenbrink eric.vandenbrink@gmail.com Andrew Schrag ansdy@hotmail.com
Sarah Haber sarahmachiko_jp@yahoo.com
2002
Vicky Fang victoria_jwp_fang@hotmail.com
2003
1998
Ellie Opdahl 4/2/2020
2004
Kanho (Hirotaka) Son hirotaka.son@gmail.com
Alyssa Smith aizumi.smith@gmail.com
1999
2005
Lina Takahashi
Hikaru Yamagishi hikaru.y@gmail.com
Maiko Nakarai nakarai@post.harvard.edu
15th
Tomoko Aratake arataket@gmail.com
20th
Leo Ikenaga 10/14/2019
Hakuryu Shimizu ’01 5/8/2020 Hakuryu (or as some Outreach In Concert! participants might remember him, Haku Anubiz from the Yalla Family) and his wife, Ayano, welcomed their first child, a son, on May 8. Congratulations, Haku and Ayano!
2009 2010
2001
Hilary Papantonio papa441@gmail.com
Here is a photo of a happy couple, Ellie and her fiancé, Timothy Boycott. He is from Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). They met at Vassar College and are currently living in Williamsburg, Virginia. Congratulations, Ellie and Tim.
Mai Hahne mai_hahne@hotmail.com
Reimi Okuyama ro7n@virginia.edu
The Internationalist
Moeko Nakada moeko93@yahoo.com
Kayla Cahoon kaylacahoon@yahoo.com
Michelle James michellejames@gmail.com
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Jennifer Blagg jblagg90@gmail.com
1996
Harukako Ikeura haruikeura@hotmail.com
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25th
Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton kacie_r@hotmail.com
2000
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Leo Ikenaga performed with the Japanese taiko group KODO at Nishimachi as a part of its 70th anniversary celebration. Everyone who had the chance to see their performance absolutely loved it. Leo appears here with Sophie L., daughter of Nishimachi marketing and communications manager Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton ‘95.
10th
Katherine Whatley whatleykatherine@yahoo.com
2011
Deidre (Narumi) Hsu deidre_hsu@mac.com Vitaly Banov vit.ban@hotmail.com
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Koa Kellenberger 1/10/2020
Cynthia Uruma urumacindy3@gmail.com
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2019
Takeo Kawasaki takeoalexkawasaki@gmail.com
Miriam Weiss miriam.k.weiss@gmail.com
Mantaro Kurihara mantaro.kurihara01@gmail.com
Ani Mohanagopal 2/17/2020
Anthony Greenall-Ota 1/2/2020 Anthony is currently attending Sydney Grammar School.
Koa visited Nishimachi with classmate Justin Leung.
2017 Ani and his classmate Kai von Rentzell stopped by Nishimachi for its 70th anniversary assembly.
2013
Mia Moran miafrancesmoran@gmail.com
2020
Sydney Chao 2/20/2020
Casey Reidenbach 1/6/2020
India Whatley flwcceo@gmail.com Kim Hahne kimhahne98@gmail.com
2014
Sally Maeda sally.maeda1999@gmail.com Ma’ayan Nahmani maimainahmani@gmail.com
2015
Paula Heile paula.heile@gmail.com
5th
Ayana Nakamichi ayanamazhar@gmail.com Maya Platek platekmaya@gmail.com
2016
Ryone Ohmae ryone.omae@gmail.com Josephine Greenall-Ota 1/14/2020 Josephine is currently attending the University of Sydney, Australia, and studying applied medical science and international relations.
His mother writes: Some of the class of 2017 got together at our house in Tokyo with their siblings and parents in December 2019. Standing, from left: Casey Reidenbach, Rina Takaoka, Minori Kawakami, Bella Salathe, Ian Donahue, Alex Emerson, and Ellie Shefts (all from the class of 2017); seated, from left: Jacqueline Emerson ‘19; Ellie Reidenbach ‘19; Casey and Ellie’s brother, Tyler; Miki Takaoka ‘20; and Mia Pryor ‘19. Ellie Shefts and Mia Pryor were visiting all the way from Australia.
2018
Kakehiro Koike kakehirok18@gmail.com
I’m so happy to be back at Nishimachi after so long. It feels as if I never left. Thank you so much for having me back. Here’s Sydney Chao with her father.
2021
Skylar Schwartz 12/4/2019
Skylar’s mother, Holly, stopped by Nishimachi to say “hello.” She is pictured here with Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton ‘95 and Maiko Ina.
Renge Shirai rengeicel@gmail.com
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The Matsukata House 100th Birthday Campaign
A Facelift and a Museum A campaign to refurbish the Matsukata House and to create a museum within its walls to showcase the school’s history was kicked off at the school’s 70th anniversary celebration on February 14, 2020. The campaign runs through June of 2021, and our goal is to raise 20 million yen. Donations received thus far total 1.6 million yen. Detailed information can be found in this issue of The Internationalist and at https://www.nishimachi.ac.jp/giving/ways-of-giving Nishimachi is a non-profit gakko-hojin, and tuition covers teacher and staff salaries, keeps the lights on, and provides the best education for our students. Special projects such as preserving the Matsukata House require additional funding.
Photo by Toshiharu Kitajima
Nishimachi Annual Fund Nishimachi International School inspires many of us, students and parents alike, with its dedication to educating responsible world citizens. Your continued support of Nishimachi is greatly appreciated. Support the Nishimachi Annual Fund. < http://www.nishimachi.ac.jp/gift >
Did You Know That Nishimachi Has An Outreach Scholarship Program, The Goal Of Which Is To Promote Diversity At The School? Please contact us if you know of a student who might qualify or if you would like to make contributions to enhance the program. (Office of Admissions / Development Office) < admissions@nishimachi.ac.jp -or- development@nishimachi.ac.jp >
Nishimachi International School www.nishimachi.ac.jp development@nishimachi.ac.jp
