SHOKEI GAKUIN UNIVERSITY

Outline of The University

Founding Spirit

The roots of Shokei go back to 1892 in the steady missionary activities in Japan of a group of women missionaries by the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. They started a private boarding school which was later developed into Shokei Jogakkai (Shokei Christian Girls’ School) in September, 1892. Shokei Gakuin has been devoted to educating people who can refine their inner self and walk together with others, based on the spirit of Christianity.

Origin of School Name

In 1892, the name Shokei was taken from a passage in Chuyo, a volume from the book called Reiki, a collection of sayings about etiquette and morality written by Confucian scholars in ancient China. It was Mr. Toyotaro Kubodera, a teacher of Japanese language to the missionaries, who suggested the name.

According to Michiaki Kanno, a Japanese scholar of Chuyo, the passage was explained as follows: When you put on golden brocaded clothes, you should put on a plain garment (uchikake) over the beautiful wear. This is because it would be inappropriate to show off this bright garment. In this manner, the ancients under Confucianism used to be so modest as to avoid adornment. They thought, therefore, that wise people, in all humility, should study solely in order to build themselves up, not to show off the results to other people. This is the reason why Kubodera felt that there were similarities to Christianity.

Ms. Annie Buzzell, another founder of the school, took the spirit of these words and found a passage in the Bible, which explains the founding spirit of the school. She agreed to the name Shokei and selected the Bible passage from the New Testament: "Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be that of the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God's sight." (1 Peter 3: 3-4 NIV)

School Emblem

In 1902, the school emblem was originally made for Shokei Jogakuin (Shokei Girls' School) by setting the Chinese character 「絅」 (outer garment) in the middle of a Japanese plum blossom. The plum blossom was chosen because it is considered to be a symbol of Japanese womanly character, which comes into bloom and emits a fragrance after transcending a frigid climate. Upon the establishment of Shokei Women’s Junior College in 1950, the emblem was made by putting 「大学」(college / university) on the upper left part of the original emblem.