video artwork by Andy Yamada '02 (gift)
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Welcome to Keio Academy of New York
I am very pleased that Keio Gijuku invited me to go back to New York; back in the 1980s, I spent three years at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York where I concentrated on imbibing the new wave of continental philosophy and completing my own Ph.D. dissertation on American Renaissance writers.
After coming back to Tokyo, I joined the Faculty of Letters in 1989 and started teaching American Literature and Critical Theory. Thus, since 1990 I have directed more than 400 BA theses, more than 40 MA theses, and more than 20 Ph.D. dissertations. In 2017 I also established Keio University’s Association for American Studies, with a view to promoting transpacific cultural studies. What I studied in the United States undoubtedly made a difference to my own history of academic research and pedagogy cultivated at Keio University.
In retrospect, Fukuzawa Yukichi sensei, the founding father of Keio Gijuku and modern Japan, was a transpacific intellectual from the beginning. He visited the United States of America twice, in 1860 and 1867 and purchased a copy of Webster’s English Dictionary, presumably A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the English Language (1856). Making use of the dictionary, Fukuzawa became the first translator of Thomas Jefferson’s drafted text “The Declaration of Independence” (1776) and invited to Keio Gijuku a number of North American scholars from Harvard University such as Rev. Arthur May Knapp and especially Professor Thomas Sergeant Perry, the great-nephew of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, who served as the first teacher of Anglo-American literature at Keio University. It is remarkable that Fukuzawa tactfully incorporated the American vision of democracy into Japanese culture. Therefore, If I am permitted to inspire youngbloods to empower the heritage of transpacific cultural transactions at Keio Academy of New York, I would be very pleased.
Dr. Takayuki Tatsumi
Headmaster of Keio Academy of New York
Professor Emeritus of Keio University
Admissions
Welcome
Since its establishment in 1990, Keio Academy of New York has accepted students from thirty different countries. Information sessions are held in the US and Japan as well as other major cities. There are three admission periods in every admission year. Applicants may apply up to three times.
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Programs
Curriculum
The curriculum is based on both the American and Japanese systems. Classes are taught mainly in English, but Japanese is compulsory for all. It is School policy that English must be spoken throughout the day. Teachers encourage students to participate in class and cultivate independent thinking. Debating and public speaking are an important part of the curriculum, as is the study of citizenship. Learn More
Academic Extension
For Senior Academic Extension (Grades 11&12), regular additional academic courses in literature, history, technology and science are held for all year groups in order to broaden their thinking and academic experience. These are taught outside the standard timetable. For Junior Academic Extension (Grades 9&10), These courses consist of passages for reading and discussion in English in small groups. Learn More
Art & Music
A Saturday morning program for Juniors (Grades 9 and 10) ensures that there is plenty of opportunity for students to learn about and experience the performing arts. Concerts and plays are performed as part of this program. Sunday trips into New York City are arranged as an extension to this program. Learn More
Lecture Series
The Keio spirit as represented by Fukuzawa Yukichi has, since its beginning, championed the concept of Transpacific Studies. The transnational context in the 21st century makes the transpacific imperative more realistic. We should not only imbibe western ideas but also digest them and create our own “voice” in the tricultural milieu consisting of American, Japanese, and Keio cultures. Learn More
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