Waldorf schools in Japan
Updated: July 2012
According to Daily Yomiuri, Jun 14, 2005, there are 7 Steiner schools in Japan, 2 in Kanagawa and one each in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Tochigi, Gifu and Kyoto prefectures, out of the 950 Steiner schools worldwide. Also featured in the news was a new school Ashita-no-kuni Rudolf Steiner Gakuen Primary School to open in Chiba. The schools listed below are Japanese medium schools unless stated expressly otherwise. A Japanese listing of Steiner schools is at Nihon no Shyutaina Gakko
ASHITANOKUNI STEINER GAKUEN
Website: http://www.ashitanokuni.jp
3892-1 Sakamoto, Chonana-machi, Chosei-gun, Chiba 297-0122
Ph: 81-475-463881 Fax: 81-475-463880 Email: info@ashitanokuni.jp
(THE) CHILDREN’S GARDEN (preschool and after school class) (English medium)
3-12-19 Honcho, Kichijoji, Musashino-shi, Tokyo
Phone: (0422) 20-5055) Email: tcgjapan@yahoo.com
Run by Ellen Motohashi, the school’s pedagogy and philosophy share elements from the Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia (project based approach) and any other discipline which promotes the importance of child directed, experienced based learning which enhances the development of the whole child. Rich natural experiences are emphasized and outdoor trips will be planned for as often as possible during the year. The school which opened in 2002 offers a full day English content based preschool (9:30 am – 2:30 pm) along with an after school class for English speaking children who attend facilities outside, Saturday special activity classes, and a bilingual class focusing on the creative arts. It is located in Kichijoji about 10 minutes directly west from the Kichijoji JR central exit straight down Nakamichi-dori (this street continues on from the main street which runs in front of the station past Parco). Bilingual elements in the program include bilingual storytimes/singing and will be expanded gradually.
FUJINO STEINER SCHOOL (formerly TOKYO STEINER SCHULE) (Grades 1 -9)
Website: http://www.steiner.ed.jp/ / Fujino Koutou Gakuen Website
2805-1 Fujinocho-Nagura, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-0207
Phone: 0426-86-6011 Fax: 0426-86-6030 Email: hata0130@smile.ocn.ne.jp
(Old link http://www.steiner-schule.or.jp link is obsolete, and the school has moved to Fujino, please see new website for new address)
Instruction is in Japanese. The eurythmist there (Hata-sensei) also gives adult classes. The school has been existed as a non-accredited school for delivering Waldorf education on art. Under policy of the education as art. The school has recently been accredited as a private school in Kanagawa Prefecture and thanks to the Koizumi cabinet’s deregulation program called Kozo Kaikaku Tokku the school may be established without having to own its own land and/or buildings as well as unstandardized curriculum. The school may also be able to give you info on another group trying to get a school started in Machida.
HARVEY AND MACLAUREN’S SCHOOL
Website: http://www.harvey.co.jp/maclaurin/
3-19-23-1003 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo (7 minutes from Shinagawa JR station)
Phone: 03-3473-6896 (Contact Mrs. Toku Nakashima) Fax: 03-3473-7410
The school’s mission is to provide special education and therapy in order to support children with special needs such as developmental disabilities (ADHD, PDD, LD), Autism, CP and so on. Services include motor-skill training, coordination with eye and motor-skills, speech therapy (revised ABA), movement exercises, art activities, social skill training and communication skill training. The school operates a full-time day school programme is called self-acquired applied behavioral learning/advanced applied behavioral approach, with an individual program according to original IEP plan. Individual counseling and program design will be done by Professional Occupational therapists and psychologists. Family counseling will be included in the session. The school is also well-known for its tutoring program and/or after-school program according to individual’s needs in which arts and fundamental learning activity based on Waldorf-Steiner and Montessori is also included. A small Waldorf-Steiner day school has also been opened since September 2004 by Ms. Nakagawa (with support from Ms. Nikki Sanders who was active in Steiner schools in Michigan for more than 20 years) opened for children aged 3 – 7 with an English-language curriculum only but some staff speak Japanese. The school is also accepting students with special learning needs with a specialist teacher on hand.
HIBIKINOMURA RAFAEL SCHOOL/ FOREST BAY NURSERY SCHOOL / STEINER MICHAEL COLLEGE
Website: http://www.hibikinomura.org/index.php?ミカエル・カレッジ or http://www.hibikinomura.org/
6-13 Hibikinomura-no-oka, Hokkaido 052-0001
Phone: 0142-25-6735 Fax: 0142-25-67155 Email: info@michaelcollege.org
2 schools – Rafael School and Forest Bay Nursery School are featured at the website. Contact them here for more information
KOMAZAWA PARK INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL (2 – 6 years; elementary – jr high evening programme)
Website: http://kpipk.com
4-26-17 Fukasawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158-0081
Phone/Fax: 03-5707-0979 Email: contact@kpischool.com
Begun operating in September 2000, the school incorporates the spirit and positive elements of the 3 leading educationalists of early childhood education (Montessori, Steiner, Froebel). Teacher:student ratio : one teacher, one sports trainer and one music teacher: ten children. The Evening & Saturday Elementary Programme is designed to maintain and improve the English level as well as to foster Western cultural awareness of Japanese returnees, children who want to continue learning English in Japan and half-Japanese children who attend Japanese schools. The program makes use of similar methods as many international schools when we teach students how to express their thoughts and conduct research; deliver an effective presentation; and discuss their ideas at age-appropriate levels at a high English calibre. The amount of course time devoted to doing research, creating and practiciing presentations increases as children gorw older and improve their language skills. Upon completing the Evening Junior High Program, students will have received the instruction and training to the point where they can conduct research presentations and give speeches with the presuasive power needed to convince anyone from any country, and theyll be at the same level as, if not hgher than students who attend international schools.
NASU INTERNATIONAL STEINER SCHOOL
NASU-MIFUJI-RUDOLF-STEINER-KINDERGARTEN
325 Nasumachi Takaku-Ko, Tochigi-ken, 6394-1
NIHON STEINER YOJIKYOIKU KYOKAI c/o MINAMISAWA STEINER KODOMOEN
3-17-11 Minamisawa Higashi-kurume-shi Tokyo 203-0023
Phone: 81-424729169 Fax: 81-424729170 Email: Yojikyoikukyokai@aol.com
NPO-HOJIN KYOTANABE STEINER SCHOOL
Website: http://ktsg.jp/ (new) http://school.kyotanabe-steiner.jp/ (old)
94 Minami-Hokodate, Kodo, Kyotanabe-shi, Kyoto-fu, 610-0332 (For instructions on how to get there, see access map ) Fax: 81-774-6433-34 Email
NPO HOKKAIDO STEINER SCHOOL IZUMI NO GAKKO
Website: http://hokkaido-steiner.org/index.php?FrontPage OR http://npo.hokkaido-steiner.org/
83-2 Asashinonome-machi Toyoura-cho Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 049-5411
Fax: 81-142-83-2630 Fax: 81-142-832630 Email: info@hokkaido-steiner.org
The school has been designated a free school.
NPO TOKYO KENJI-NO SCHOOL FREIE WALDORFSCHULE(Elementary – High School)
Website: www.tokyokenji-steiner.jp/ or http://www.tokyokenji-steiner.jp/32_edu4to6/329english/329english.html
6-20-27 Shibazaki-cho, Tachikawa-city, Tokyo 190-0023 Email
Phone: 042-523-7112 Fax: 042-523-7113
Tokyo Kenji School is a NPO corporation started and run by Toriyama Toshiko who has incorporated the educational ideas and cosmologies of R. Steiner and Miyazawa Kenji into the school’s original curriculum. The elementary course has eight grades, and the number of pupils in each class is limited to less than twenty. They also provide workshops for youths and teachers. The classes respect individual feelings and aim to establish the harmony of body and soul. Other teachers are trained by Toriyama after school through their discussions of the day’s lessons. In 2006, the school expanded its classes through high school grades.
NPO YOKOHAMA STEINER GAKUEN (Grades 1- 2)
Website: http://yokohama-steiner.com/
1-20, 3-chome, Kirigaoka, Midori-ku, Yokohama City, 226-0016
Phone: 81-45-922-30107 Fax: 81-45-922-3107 Email: gakuen-info@yokohama-steiner.com
PTC PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (2.5 – 6 years) (English medium)
Website: http://www.ptc-school.com/en/index.htm
5-11-5 Shimouma Setagaya-ku Tokyo, 154-0002
Phone: 03-5481-9425 Fax: 03-5481-9425 Email: info@ptc-school.com
The school is seeking to expand its grades in the next school year.
Located in Shimouma, Setagaya Ward, near Yutenji Station, it offers Steiner method instruction (explained at URL: http://www.ptc-school.com/en/attitude.htm) in a cozy kindergarten environment. School Principal Yoko Takatsuka embarked on extensive study periods in the U.S. and Germany and has become well versed in Steiner methodologies. The emphasis is on children developing confidence and getting back to nature.
RUDOLF STEINER KINDERGARTEN
3-14 Matsugaoka, Yokohama shi, Kanagawa ku 221 Phone: 045-32-33737
SOYOKAZE KINDERGARTEN
Website: http://www.soyokazeyouchien.jp/outline/
55 Kokuzodani, Osumi, Kyotanabe-City, Kyoto 610-0343
Phone: 81-77-463-0950
STEINER KINDERGARTEN MOMO (Tokyo)
Website: http://www6.plala.or.jp/steiner/top.htm
Toshimae, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Phone:03-3557-0292
A kindergarten offering a Waldorf education for children in the Nerima ward, Tokyo
STEINER KINDERGARTEN
7141-1 Yaho Kunitachi-Shi, Hoshinoko, Tokyo
WALDORF KINDERGARTEN NANOHANAEN
Website:http://www.nanohana-en.com/
2-27-7 Inakoshina, Tokyo, Mitaka-shi, 181
YAMASATO KINDERTAGESSTATTE
85-1 Yamazato-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya-Shi, Aichi Prefecture
Waldorf schools according to hearsay…
Rombini Yochien (or is it Nonbiri Youchien?) in Kanazawa Bunko (within walking distance of the JR station) By word of mouth, Rombini is a small school with about 12 kids in a class.
In Zushi: There is another Japanese Steiner preschool operated out of a residence in Zushi that is said to be excellent.
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Other related Japanese Steiner or Waldorf Related Educational websites
A more comprehensive Listing of Japanese Steiner Schools may be found at Infokids a Japanese page explaining the key precepts of a Steiner education.
Rudolf Steiner College website’s Japanese pages
ANTHROPOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN JAPAN
1-18-26-203 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0075. Phone / Fax: 03-3205-9645. Watch out for the workshops, talks and sales of materials and books that are held from time to time.
Japanese Waldorf internet resources
Infokids site includes a kindergarten list and other resources.
An interview with Michiko Koyasu who is a professor at Waseda University and who has written many books in Japanese and made a film on Waldorf Education, see Passagen’s webpage
Training seminar resources for Japanese Waldorf instructors at the Steiner college
Japanese version Waldorf FAQs, Mr Mori translates many Steiner books and qualified Waldorf Math /Biology teacher in Osaka
General Internet Resources on Waldorf education
For a typical curriculum from preschool to high school see:
URL: http://www.meadowbrookschool.com/mbscurr.html
***A good homeschooling resource that has many aspects and principles consonant with Waldorf education is Enki Education URL: http://www.enkieducation.org This resource is much highly regarded by many homeschoolers in Japan.
See also Waldorf homeschooling resource site
On Waldorf Education worldwide see Waldorf Education Resources on the Internet
Catalogues or Stores in Tokyo
Obaachan no tamate bako in Kichijoji Phone: 0422-21092
The Mercurius catalogue is the main supply catalogue for Waldorf schools here and they have distributors in many countries. Some of their things are sold through omochabako but you can order directly from them as well.
The Waldorf Resources website lists dozens of suppliers of waldorf toys, craft supplies, books, etc. Most will happily ship to Japan by sea.
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Editor’s notes: Despite the reputation of the Steiner educational philosophy, Steiner philosophy is not without its critics, who point out its unscientific methods and philosophy that allegedly has connections with the occult, see “Coming Undone – Unravelling the Truth about the Steiner School Movement“
EDUCATION IN JAPAN COMMUNITY Blog 
I’m looking to speak with a Waldorf School in Japan that might speak English. Would anyone have an suggestions? Thank you so much!