In the 1980s officials in the Alsace region sent an invitation for a Japanese school to establish itself there as a way of attracting Japanese companies to establish operations in the region. The director of the Alsace Development Agency, Andre Klein, received contacts from several Japanese educational institutions after he had asked a Nihon Keizai Shimbun reporter to write an article about a possible site for an overseas Japanese boarding school: a former convent in Kientzheim. Seijo Gakuen, the organization controlling Seijo University, accepted the offer. It wanted to establish a Japanese school in 1987 to celebrate its 70th anniversary. In 1984 negotiations to establish the school finished successfully. The school opened in April 1986. The first principal was Jokichi Moroga. After the school opened Sony decided to open a factory in Alsace. Other Japanese companies including Ricoh followed. In 1990 and 1991 the school had 180 students in grades 7 through 12. The school's enrollment declined due to a declining Japanese birthrate and a decreased economic presence of Japanese companies in France, due to the recession in Japan. On Friday February 11, 2005 the school held its final graduation ceremony, with 13 students graduating. In the school's history a total of 556 students had graduated. The European Centre for Japanese Studies in Alsace opened at the site of the former school.
During the school's lifetime, according to the Western Society for French History, the "core" of the student body consisted of children of executives working for offices of Japanese multinational companies such as Sharp Corporation and Sony in the Alsace region. In addition, some students were from Japanese families living in Paris. Other students' families lived in other places including Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, other areas in Europe, Africa, and Australia. Some students' families lived in Japan, and the families sent them to Lycée Seijo to gain experience living outside Japan. Some students' families lived elsewhere in Asia. As of 1990, about 66% of the students had families resident outside Japan while the remainder had families resident in Japan.
Student life
All of the students lived in the school dormitories. Karl Schoenberger of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the Seijo students "on the whole" were "isolated" at the school even though during athletic meetings they had some interaction with French children.
Because the school, with about 200 Japanese students and teachers at the time of opening, was located in a community of 800, the school leadership took steps to develop good relationships with the host community. Therefore the school asked its students to participate in the marathon sponsored by the village and the school held "open house" days for the local community. The school established a Japanese cultural center in nearby Colmar, which housed books and printed materials in Japan and hosted lectures about Japan and film screenings.
Notable students
The second eldest son of Tsutomu Hata, who was one of the first to graduate from this school
