Joranjuku

About Joranjuku

Joranjuku is a school founded by the businessman Nonaka Chuta at the foot of Mt Mifune in Takeo, Takeo-machi, Takeo City, Saga Prefecture, to bring young women from northeast China (then Manchuria) to study in Japan; its school building and dormitory and its guest house, completed around 1943, were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on August 23, 1999 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The name, 如蘭塾, is read Joranjuku.

The buildings are attributed to Endo Arata, a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Takeo City). They are owned by the Seiko Scholarship Foundation and can be visited by arrangement.

Nonaka Chuta and a School for Young Women

According to Takeo City, Nonaka Chuta (1886 to 1951) was born in Kashima, Saga, went to Manchuria in 1915 and built up a trading business in Mukden (now Shenyang) into a group of companies. He wanted to return some of his success as goodwill toward China, by inviting young Chinese women to study in Japan and live among Japanese families.

When the plan was announced, several towns competed for it; Takeo, close to his home town and keen as a community, was chosen, and a school building, dormitory, sports ground and swimming pool rose on hillside land below Mt Mifune. The Seiko Scholarship Foundation dates the founding of its predecessor, the Nichiman Ikueikai, and the opening of Joranjuku to 1942.

Takeo City records that the first 30 students arrived at Takeo Station on March 29, 1943, and that the opening ceremony was held on May 3. The name expresses the hope that they would bloom like the Asian orchid, a small flower with a refined scent. A second class of 22 followed, but the students went home at the end of the war and the school closed.

The Seiko Scholarship Foundation was set up in 1952 to carry on Nonaka's scholarships, and since 1992 it has welcomed the children of former students to study in Saga (Seiko Scholarship Foundation; Takeo City).

Endo Arata's "Manchurian Girls' School"

Takeo City explains that Endo Arata (1889 to 1951) graduated from Tokyo Imperial University and joined Frank Lloyd Wright's office in 1917 to work on the Imperial Hotel. From 1935 he divided his practice between Manchuria and Japan.

Among his works was a "Manchurian girls' school" whose location and design had been lost; in 1995 it was identified as Joranjuku. Nonaka, whom he had met in Manchuria, commissioned the design in 1941 (Takeo City).

The Two Registered Buildings

Both buildings were registered as structures that have become a model of design, and Takeo City values them for their link with a noted architect.

The Joranjuku School Building and Dormitory is L-shaped, with the classroom wing and the dormitory meeting at an open entrance framed by two Wright-style piers of tuff. The Joranjuku Guest House, also called Ganshokaku, stands to the west facing north, with a Western room and Japanese rooms laid out in a row; the Agency for Cultural Affairs credits it with the dignity a guest house requires.

Visiting and Getting There

According to the Seiko Scholarship Foundation, Joranjuku was restored in 1989 and visitors can now see how the students lived and studied in the dormitory and guest house; reproductions of the students' summer and winter uniforms are on display.

Visits must be arranged in advance with the Seiko Scholarship Foundation (0954-22-2256, weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed weekends and holidays). No fees are published.

The address is 4322 Takeo, Takeo-machi. The foundation gives the walk from JR Takeo-Onsen Station as about 20 minutes, or about 1 minute from the Takeo Keirinjo stop on JR Kyushu Bus. A bronze statue of Nonaka Chuta stands in the grounds (Takeo City).