Keio Gaigo

Image: Keio Gaigo 50th Anniversary Ceremony (1992)

In August 2015, Keio Gaigo, which had played a role in the Juku's foreign language education for 73 years, closed its doors as a language school. However, its content and spirit continue today through the Research Center for Foreign Language Education's "Keio Gaigo Open Programs."

Keio Gaigo was established as an affiliate of the Keio Language Institute (now The Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies), which was founded in October 1942. At that time, language research at Keio University focused primarily on English studies. However, as the era shifted from the Second Sino-Japanese War to the Pacific War, the Keio Language Institute was established to engage in full-scale research and education of Southeast Asian languages alongside Western languages. Keio Gaigo was then set up with the aim of providing advanced foreign language education based on those research results, and on October 17 of the same year, it was authorized by Tokyo Prefecture as a school under the Miscellaneous School Ordinance of the time.

The first characteristic of this school was that it set the admission requirement as completion of the fourth year of the old-system middle school, and accepted a wide range of working adults regardless of gender, age, or occupation, based on their desire and ability. Since coeducation was not common in middle schools and above at the time, a "Female Language Institute Trainee" class was established to accept female students.

The second characteristic was that it offered a diverse range of 21 languages, including both Western and Asian languages. Japanese was established for foreigners seeking to enter Japanese schools. Furthermore, the faculty included truly world-class scholars of the time, with Junzaburo Nishiwaki serving as the first Principal of Keio Gaigo and Toshihiko Izutsu as the Vice Principal.

In 1956, it was authorized as a miscellaneous school under the newly enacted Miscellaneous School Regulations by Ministry of Education Ordinance. Subsequently, Keio Gaigo continued to fulfill its role as the Juku's foreign language education institution open to society, with enrollment peaking at 1,497 students in 1996. However, as internationalization and globalization progressed and innovations in foreign language education occurred, concrete plans for new reforms began to be considered within Keio Gaigo. As a result of many years and much discussion, an organizational merger was carried out in April 2013 with the Research Center for Foreign Language Education, which oversees the university's foreign language education and research. From October of that year, separate from Keio Gaigo's classes, the Research Center for Foreign Language Education's "Keio Gaigo Open Programs" started with the same content as Keio Gaigo. This program allowed for free institutional changes and curriculum reforms to meet social needs without being bound by miscellaneous school regulations, and Keio Gaigo stopped accepting new students at this time.

After all current students had left through graduation or other means, Keio Gaigo was abolished on August 7, 2015. Its role has been directly succeeded by the "Keio Gaigo Open Programs," which currently offers over 170 courses in 13 languages.

(Shigefumi Tada, Vice Principal of the Laboratory)