Naoe Naganuma, First Principal
＜1948～1964＞Naoe Naganuma, starting with Palmer's Oral Method, systematized it as the "modified direct method" and put it into practice. At the same time, he published "The Revised Standard Japanese Readers." A new school building was built in 1952 at the current location and audio-visual education was introduced.
Concepts for Japanese language education at The Naganuma School and its teaching method were developed in the 1940's. The school's founder Naoe Naganuma believed the enhancement of students' communication skills to be the most important factor in Japanese language teaching. This idea has continued to live as the basic principle in our current teaching method and learning materials throughout the many revisions and changes over the years.
Graduation ceremony, 1954. To date, more than 25,000 students from over 100 countries have graduated from The Naganuma School. History prior to the opening of the school
Naoe Naganuma's encounter with Harold E. Palmer
Naoe Naganuma, who had graduated from Tokyo Higher Commercial School (currently Hitotsubashi University), once attended a lecture by Harold E. Palmer, a British linguist visiting Japan as an English education advisor to the Japanese Ministry of Education.He was deeply impressed with Palmer's lecture, and this was the beginning of a friendship between them. Naoe Naganuma learned about Palmer's teaching method called "English Education as a Foreign Language" and adopted it to create his own Japanese teaching method. After Palmer had established an English teaching institute in the Ministry of Education, he took a post as president of the institute, and Naoe Naganuma as manager.
Later, given a recommendation by Palmer, Naganuma became an instructor of Japanese at the American Embassy.
Standard Japanese Readers
From 1931 to 34, Naoe Naganuma published the Japanese language course material, "The Standard Japanese Readers" (in seven volumes). Since then, the Readers have been used in universities and other education organizations, making the name "Naganuma Readers" famous throughout the world. Edward Seidensticker and Donald Keene, both scholars and translators of Japanese literature, used the books to study the Japanese language.Opening of the Tokyo School of the Japanese Language, 1948
In 1946, the Institute for Research in Linguistic Culture was established with the approval of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Naoe Naganuma became its president. In 1948, he established the Tokyo School of the Japanese Language as an attached organization of the Institute for Research in Linguistic Culture which was approved as a miscellaneous school by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 1949. Most students at the time were missionaries and embassy staff.History after the opening of the school
 1951 Graduation ceremony - Prince Mikasa is to the right. |
 1951 The relief engraving of the school name |
 1952 Completed construction of the Nampeidai campus |
 1952 Teaching in a class |
 1952 Year-end party |
 1962 Overnight school trip to Nikko |
 1955 |
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 1972 Graduation ceremony |
 1978 School’s 30th anniversary party |
 1982 Year-end party |
 1983 Visit to the Diet Building |
 1996 Completion of the construction on the present No.1 Building |
 1997 Free-throw competition match |
 1998 Speech and symposium at the school’s 50th anniversary |
 1998 Year-end party |
 1999 Completion of the Educational Technology Training Center (No. 2 Building) |
 2001 Graduation ceremony |
 2003 Interaction among students at the lounge |
 2006 Class at the PC room |
 2008 The best award-winning poster from the interclass poster contest |
 2008 Completion Ceremony - Slides of memory |
 2009 Drama presentation at the Completion Ceremony |
 2009 Oral presentation in the class |
The Standard Japanese Readers (1934)
