Liceo Mexicano Japonés

Liceo Mexicano Japonés () is a Japanese school based in the Pedregal neighborhood of the Álvaro Obregón borough in the southern part of Mexico City."At the Liceo: Where Two Cultures Meet." Mexico Journal (Information). Demos, Desarrollo de Medios S.A. de C.V., 1989. p. 22. "In southernmost Mexico City, nestled within the upscale neighborhood of the Jardines del Pedre- gal, is the private campus of the exclusive Liceo Mexicano Japones. In Japan, it is believed to be the best school in Mexico because Mexico because President Salinas' two sons and daughter attend classes there. Headmaster Arturo Zentella prefers to refrain from making such a boast, but he does admit that "it is a school that[...]""Inicio." Liceo Mexicano Japonés. Retrieved on January 21, 2014. "Camino a Santa Teresa No. 1500, Col. Jardines del Pedregal C.P. 01900 México D.F.""DELEGACIÓN ÁLVARO OBREGÓN DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE JURÍDICA Y DE GOBIERNO DIRECCIÓN DE GOBIERNO UNIDAD DEPARTAMENTAL DE LICENCIAS, GIROS MERCANTILES Y ESPECTÁCULOS PÚBLICOS." () Álvaro Obregón, D.F. p. 7/7. Retrieved on January 21, 2014. "LICEO MEXICANO JAPONES, A.C. JARDINES DEL PEDREGAL CAMINO A SANTA TERESA Num Ext. 1500 LICEO MEXICANO JAPONES JARDINES DEL PEDREGAL CAMINO A SANTA TERESA Num Ext. 1500"

The school was founded and chaired by Japanese-Mexican businessman Carlos Kasuga Osaka, who also founded and directed Yakult Mexico.García, Jerry. Looking Like the Enemy: Japanese Mexicans, the Mexican State, and US Hegemony, 1897-1945. University of Arizona Press. February 27, 2014. , 9780816530250. p. 195. "[...]who provided that quote, was born in Mexico to Japanese parents who immigrated in the 1930s. Carlos is the founder and president of the Japanese Mexican School, director general of Yakult, which produces a probiotic health care product, and president of the Pan American Nikkei Association."Valls, Julio. "Carlos Kasuga, el líder detrás de Yakult." Forbes Mexico. July 6, 2013. Retrieved on December 25, 2013. "Es expresidente de diversas asociaciones e instancias, como la Asociación Mexicana Japonesa, del Comité de las Celebraciones del 90 Aniversario de la Migración Japonesa a México, de la Asociación Panamericana Nikkei, de la Federación Panamericana de la Leche, y presidió y fundó el Liceo Mexicano Japonés."

María Dolores Mónica Palma Mora, author of , wrote that the school is a "central institution in the life" of the Japanese Mexican group.Palma Mora, María Dolores Mónica. De tierras extrañas: un estudio sobre las inmigración en México, 1950–1990. Secretariat of the Interior of Mexico (SEGOB), Instituto Nacional de Migración, Centro de Estudios Migratorios, 2006. , 9789680301713. p. 318: "El Liceo Mexicano Japonés es una institución central en la vida del grupo, ya que en ella se forman sus hijos. Se fundó en septiembre de 1974, a raíz de la visita a México, por esa fecha, del primer ministro de Japón (Kakuei Tanaka). La escuela, sin embargo, no empezó a funcionar hasta el 2 de septiembre de 1977, y fue inaugurada por el secretario de Educación Pública de ese tiempo, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo. Se construyó con las aportaciones de miembros de la comunidad, de empresas japonesas establecidas en el país, y del gobierno de Japón (que aportó 300 mil yenes), El gobierno de México, [...]" (See search page, "Porfirio+Muñoz+Ledo" See second view ,Obituaries, The Oregonian February 4, 2005.グランマと私—アメリカで認知症老人と暮らす Amazon.com. Retrieved on July 18, 2014. the author of the master's thesis "The Japanese Immigrant Community in Mexico Its History and Present" at the California State University, Los Angeles, stated that Japanese parents chose the school because they wanted to "maintain their ethnic identity and pride, to implant a spiritual heritage that they claim is the basis for success, and to establish close ties with other Nikkei children who live in distant areas."Masterson, p. 214-215.Watanabe, p. 151. "The Nikkei parents send their children here to maintain their ethnic identity and pride, to implant a spiritual heritage that they claim is the basis for success, and to establish close ties with other Nikkei children who live in distant areas."

Since 1983 many Nikkei and Japanese came to the school to study its management techniques and problems.Watanabe, p. 165 (footnote no. 19): "The Liceo is considered so unique that many people come to see it from Japan and other Nikkei communities in the world in order to study the management and the problems encountered." The is the first transnational educational institution among the Nikkei community.Kikumura-Yano, Akemi. Encyclopedia of Japanese descendants in the Americas: an illustrated history of the Nikkei. AltaMira Press, 2002. , 9780759101494. p. 218 (View #2). "Beginning in 1974, the Japanese Mexican School (Liceo Mexicano Japones, A.C.) merged five Nikkei-run schools and a preparatory school for the children of temporary residents and thereby became the first transnational educational venture of its first kind in the history of any Nikkei community. Accredited by the governments of Mexico and Japan, the school formally opened its doors in September 1977, offering regular classes, based on a Mexican curriculum, taught in Spanish for first grade through the fifth year of secondary school, [...]" - See search page

History Over one decade of organizational activity occurred before the school's opening.Masterson, p. 214. The merger process forming the school began in 1974. It was a merger of a preparatory school, and three of Mexico City's four part-time Japanese schools.Watanabe, p. 149-150. "It originated in 1977 by absorbing three out of four existing part-time Japanese schools."

The proposals to build the school were controversial in the Mexico City Nikkei community, and Watanabe stated that the school's importance and that of the Asocación Mexicana Japonesa "is indicated by the fact that the establishment and management of them has been the source of much strife among the community members".Watanabe, p. 146-147. p. 146: "One is Nichiboku Kyokai, or Asocacion Mexicana Japonesa, and the other is the Japanese school, the Liceo Mexicano Japones. The importance[page ends]" p. 147: "of these two institutions is indicated by the fact that the establishment and management of them has been the source of much strife among the community members". Because of this, about 12 police officers protected the July 1967 annual general meeting to protect it from rioting, and the general meeting had received threats of violence.Watanabe, p. 164. Footnote 11: "The antagonism between the two groups which had opposing opinions for establishing a new school became so intense that their annual general meeting in July, 1967, was threatened with violence. A dozen or so policemen were brought in to prepare for a possible riot (Idaka 1977:38)."" Watanabe stated that after the Liceo Mexicano Japones was completed, "the antagonism subsided and unity in the community seems to prevail at present".Watanabe, p. 147. "Opposing stances divided the community into two antagonistic groups for nearly two decades, and once police were called into prevent violence at a community meeting. With gradual improvement of Nichoboku Kyokai and the completion of the Liceo, the antagonism subsided and unity in the community seems to prevail at present. Still, these two institutions are the object of constant concern among community members."

The founding of the school occurred after a visit to Mexico by Prime Minister of Japan Kakuei Tanaka. The Government of Japan donated 300 million yen to finance the school's construction in 1975. Tanaka later placed the school's first stone.Nathal, Janett. "Entre dos mundos." Diario Reforma. November 19, 2009. p. 24. Available at Informe Académico, Gale Group, Document ID: GALE|A212211605 "Hace 35 años, durante la visita a México del ex Primer Ministro de Japón, Kakuei Tanaka, surgió la idea de crear una institución en la que japoneses y mexicanos pudieran aprender de ambas culturas y realizar un intercambio educativo; dos años después, se colocó la primera piedra del Liceo Mexicano Japonés en el País, y el 23 de septiembre de 1977 fue inaugurado de forma oficial.[...]1975 Japón dona 300 millones de yenes para el fondo de construcción del colegio[...]1984 El ex Primer Ministro, Takeo Fukuda, visitó la escuela y, el mismo año, se inaugura la preparatoria" The school, inaugurated by President of Mexico Luis Echeverría,Morrison, Manuel Rosen. Architecture. BPR Publishers, January 1, 2005. , 9789681867805. p. 290. English text: "1977 JAPANESE LYCEUM, Mexico City Commissioned by the Japanese government, and inaugurated by Mexican President Luis Echeverria Alvarez" - Spanish text: "1977 LICEO JAPONÉS, Ciudad de México. Comisionado por el gobierno japonés e inaugurado por el presidente mexicano Luis Echeverría Álvarez." and by Secretary of Education of Mexico Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, opened in September 1977. The governments of Japan and Mexico accredited the school. The Nisei in Mexico were the primary party who had the school built because they wanted their children to have the Japanese cultural heritage.Masterson, p. 266. In 1984 the high school was inaugurated. Takeo Fukuda, the Prime Minister of Japan, visited the school that year.

The school, which covered kindergarten through secondary school, eventually gained over 1,000 students, including Mexicans, Nikkeijin, children of Japanese business owners resident in Mexico, and children of Japanese diplomats.

Daniel M. Masterson, author of The Japanese in Latin America, wrote that it "became one of the most prestigious schools" in Mexico. According to the Mexico Journal, because President of Mexico Carlos Salinas de Gortari sent his children to the school, people within Japan perceived the Liceo Mexicano Japonés as being the best school in Mexico. Salinas said that he sent the children to the school because the Japanese culture has an emphasis on design and discipline. At the time the Mexican government was expanding trade with Japan,Miller, Marjorie. "Japanese Cautious About Investing Heavily in Mexico." Los Angeles Times. September 4, 1989. Retrieved on April 5, 2014. "The Harvard-educated Salinas has his two children in the Japanese-Mexican Lycee, a school that he has said he selected for the Japanese emphasis on discipline and design."Palma, Víctor Kerber. "SUSHI CON TORTILLA: LAS RELACIONES ENTRE MÉXICO Y JAPÓN, 1995-2000" (Archive). Foro Internacional, El Colegio De Mexico. Vol. 41, No. 4 (166) (Oct. - Dec., 2001), pp. 861-877. Available at JSTOR, Available at ResearchGate: Cited page: p. 866 (El Presidente Ninja): "Pero el arribo de Carlos Salinas de Gortari al poder cambió la visión oficial. Sus programas de modernización se inspiraban en buen grado en el fenómeno del desarrollo asiático, teniendo a Japón como el eje de un nuevo esquema de cooperación a largo plazo en el orden mundial. La japonofilia del presidente Salinas se expresaba en muchos sentidos. Sus hijos fueron inscritos en el Liceo Mexicano Japonés;[...]La Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial (Secofi) cobró entonces una importancia equivalente a la del MITI de Japón en detrimento de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores como huésped de las misiones empresiarles japonesas." and Japanese influence was increasing in Mexico.Villegas, Francisco Gil. "Opciones de política exterior: México entre el Pacífico y el Atlántico" () Foro Internacional, El Colegio De Mexico. Vol. 29, No. 2 (114) (Oct. - Dec., 1988), pp. 263-288.