A night junior high school in southwestern Japan, founded by a third-generation Korean woman, celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Yoshie Yanai, 65, established the school in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture to provide education for ethnic Koreans who were unable to receive a normal education during the chaotic postwar period. Over the years, the school has not only become a place of learning for those who never attended school but also a source of emotional support for others without formal education.
Yanai was inspired to start the school when she was a student at the University of Kitakyushu. She noticed that many zainichi Korean residents, including her mother, were illiterate due to their lack of access to education during and after World War II. These residents were mostly first- and second-generation Koreans who couldn’t return to Korea or afford schooling because of their low social status after Japan’s surrender.
Yanai learned about night junior high schools through Yoji Yamada’s film “A Class to Remember.” However, there were no such public night classes in Kitakyushu at that time. In May 1994, Yanai approached her academic advisor and opened a reading and writing school for first- and second-generation Korean students based on a voluntary evening junior high school she had heard about in Osaka.
The Ano Junior High Night School is located in Kitakyushu’s Yawatanishi Ward and has welcomed over 100 students over the past three decades. Classes are held three days a week from 7 p.m., usually in locations like the local elementary school library. The teachers are retired educators and other volunteers who provide one-on-one instruction in Japanese language skills as well as other subjects they specialize in.
These types of schools are known as “voluntary evening schools” since they are not officially accredited by Japan’s Ministry of Education but operate privately. However, the ministry encourages each prefecture and designated big city to establish or operate at least one voluntary evening school.
To commemorate its 30th anniversary, around 100 people attended a ceremony held at Ano Community Center on June 29. Among them was Pae Dong Son, an 89-year-old student who expressed how learning has given her zest for life. Pae came to Japan when she was seven years old but had limited schooling due to household responsibilities. She started taking night classes with Yanai’s mother thirty years ago when she was nearing sixty years old and still unable to read Japanese properly.
The night school is not exclusive to ethnic Koreans; it also welcomes Japanese individuals like Haruna Tanaka—a thirty-year-old woman who dropped out of regular schooling—who began attending classes earlier this year. Tanaka appreciates being able to study at her own pace with teachers dedicatedly helping until she understands concepts.
Although voluntary night junior high schools cannot award diplomas like regular schools can do so legally; students at this Kitakyushu institution can continue studying there indefinitely if they wish.