Musashino Joshigakuin

Here's a brief history of the school.

Musashino Joshigakuin
Junior High School
Senior High School

1-1-20 Shinmachi, Nishitokyo, Tokyo
TEL +81 424-68-3256

Musashino Joshigakuin is an all-girls junior and senior high school in western Tokyo.

On March 7th, 1924, the institution was first established as a school of Buddhism for girls in Honganji Temple, located in Tsukiji, Tokyo. In 1927, the education system in Japan was greatly revised, creating the current system with six years of elementary school, three years of junior high school, and three years of high school. In response to these reforms, in 1929 the school moved to the Musashino area, a rural farming community to the west of central Tokyo. In conjunction with the move to Musashino, the school changed to its current name, Musashino Joshigakuin. Over the years, Tokyo has grown in population, and the area is now in Tokyo’s western suburbs.

Junjiro Takakusu, the first principal, was widely acclaimed as a pioneer in the field of girls’ education and was internationally known as an authority on Buddhism. He established Musashino Joshigakuin with the purpose of promoting knowledge, wisdom, and determination in young girls that would lead them to executive careers later in their lives. Today, this basic tenet is still being followed by Michiake Kitani, the fourteenth principal of Musashino Joshigakuin.

In 1950, Musashino Joshigakuin expanded from primary and secondary education and created a two-year university. The following decade, in 1965, the school expanded again and the university added a four-year degree program. In 2012, Musashino University opened a new campus in Ariake, eastern Tokyo. The university has over fifteen departments, as well as graduate degree programs.

Musashino Joshigakuin High School has four study tracks: General Studies, Humanities, Science, and International Studies. Students in the Science course often elect to study medicine in college, and all students in the International Studies course study abroad their junior year of high school. Many students continue at Musashino University after finishing high school.

Today, Musashino Joshigakuin offers kindergarten, junior high school, senior high school, and university programs to over 5,500 students every year.

The Musashino campus is filled with beautiful flowers, trees, and gardens. The campus is especially beautiful in the spring, when cherry trees blossom, and the autumn, when the leaves change to rustic colors. It is a peaceful place that is conducive to student growth and learning.