History

The Beginning:

In the mid-1980s, the Wakakusa English Program was created by Pastor Kosuke Maki.  Mr. Maki (Enchou-sensei) was the owner and principal of Wakakusa Gakuen, one of Japan’s most well-known privately-owned schools. It was Mr. Maki’s hope that by bringing American Christian English teachers to Japan, they might make a positive contribution to Tamura city through their love for their students and the Japanese community.

It began when Mr. Maki invited Grace Fellowship Church (GFC) to send an American teacher to Japan to serve at the Wakakusa English School. GFC fulfilled this request and sent an individual who was to be the first of many English teachers recruited for the Wakakusa English Program.

Over the years, the Wakakusa English school continued to grow. As Wakakusa worked to fill the demand for English education, it became apparent that more teachers were needed.  As the number of Wakakusa English teachers continued to increase, the community began to take notice.  The municipal government approached Mr. Maki and requested that he supply Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) to teach in local junior high schools.  Mr. Maki welcomed this opportunity and by the year 2005, the Wakakusa English Program was providing full-time Christian English teachers for every public junior high school in Tamura city. There is now a team of 12 teachers who live together in Christian community.

Wakakusa-employed ALTs also teach in many of Tamura’s elementary schools.  With recent developments in the government to include English as a mandatory part of the curriculum in elementary schools, it is likely that more teachers will be needed in the coming years.