It was founded in 1972, opening with 19 students at the primary level. The school's website stated that it is "perhaps the oldest Japanese boarding school in Europe.". The school is an affiliated educational institution of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai and shares its name with Rikkyo University, Tokyo. Initially the school used the Pallinghurst House, a building constructed in 1902, as its classrooms, dining hall, dormitories, chapel, and staff room. In 1973 the school's middle school opened. In 1975 the Ministry of Education of Japan approved Rikkyo School as an overseas school. Afterwards the school opened its high school division. At that time the school educated students in ages 10 through 18. Toshio Iwasaki of the Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry wrote that this school was the first Japanese high school outside Japan to open. It was the only Japanese high school outside Japan until the 1986 opening of the Lycée Seijo in France.
Facilities
Many modern facilities were built after the school was founded. Firstly, the "new wing" of the male dormitory next to the girl's dorm "main building", and the "new hall" where all the students and faculty take all the meals were built. This is a large hall that is used as an auditorium where play and concerts are held. The classroom building was constructed in two parts with 20 ordinary classrooms, other martial arts grounds, chapels, etc.- The administrative building is a modern building with glass, teachers' staff rooms, nursery schools and libraries. The "science experiment building" boasting modern facilities has also been established in recent years. Sports facilities are also expanded/maintained. First, "gymnasium" boasting the size of three tennis courts was completed, followed by an all-weather type track and field stadium of 400 meters official size. Besides this, three soccer grounds and eight tennis courts have been rebuilt recently. Twenty network computers are lined up in the administrative building and students can browse the Internet and exchange e-mail at any time. The music building consists of the main music room and eight exercise rooms, and there are also a variety of instruments that can be borrowed to students. The school has a total of five grand pianos and six upright pianos and also has a practice environment-
