In 1921, Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan, was built as the original Jiyu Gakuen Girls’ School by the renowned American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright and his assistant, Arata Endo. The couple who founded Jiyu Gakuen who worked as publishers of Fujin-no-Tomo, Yoshikazu and Motoko Hani, were friends of Endo, and consulted with him concerning building school facilities. As Endo was Wright’s assistant in building the Imperial Hotel at that time, he introduced Wright to the Hanis. Impressed by the Hanis’ educational philosophy, Wright designed Jiyu Gakuen with respect to their wish to “nurture magnificent thinking in the shell of a simple structure.”

As in the original Imperial Hotel, which was constructed at roughly the same time as Jiyu Gakuen, the Hall and the Dining Hall are in the center of the building with classrooms lined up on each side symmetrically. The architectural style known as the “Prairie School” design represents the characteristics of Wright’s First Golden Age, which is known for features such as low ceilings, emphasis on the horizontal, and use of geometric windows. Myonichikan has been used for various activities for graduates since the school relocated to a larger campus in 1934.

However, in the late 1960s, leaky roofs, deteriorating walls, and leaning pillars made ageing of the building quite evident. Because it was the original Jiyu Gakuen building, one of the few Wright buildings in Japan, an increasing number of graduates and architects voiced their desire to preserve it. However, when considering the high costs of repair and maintenance, school officials could not come to a consensus. After debating the situation for nearly 10 years, a decision was finalized to preserve the building in 1997. In May of the same year, the building was designated as an Important Cultural Property. Restoration work took place from March 1999 to September 2001, and in May 2001, the facility was reopened to the public. Since then, the facility has been used not only for tours, but also for weddings, concerts, classes, and community education and public lectures, functioning as a cultural asset and a public facility at the same time.

The founder of Jiyu Gakuen, Motoko Hani was born in Hachinohe City in Aomori Prefecture in 1873 and died in 1957. As a child, Motoko was rather awkward. Yet, she was diligent, and was determined to keep working until she understood things perfectly, which led to her philosophy for Jiyu Gakuen’s education.

After moving to Tokyo in 1889, Motoko learned the basics of magazine editing while studying. In 1892, she returned to Hachinohe, became a teacher, and had a brief unsuccessful marriage. After her divorce, she returned to Tokyo, to begin a new chapter in her life. She was employed as a proofreader at Hochi Shimbun, a leading daily newspaper, and became the first ever female newspaper journalist in Japan.

Yoshikazu Hani was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture in Mitajirimura which is now called Hofu City. After studying Chinese Classics, he went to Tokyo and joined the Hochi Shimbun as a political journalist. In 1903, the Hanis first published, “Katei-no-Tomo,” a women’s magazine inspired by themes from their new married life. Several years later, they became independent and founded the “Fujin-no-Tomo-sha” publishing company. Through their magazine, they were able to give wisdom and courage to women trapped into old traditions and customs to manage their lives with the resourcefulness available to them.

With the Hanis’ vision that, “improving the home improves society,” they questioned education focused on cramming knowledge into students, and founded Jiyu Gakuen in 1921 to realize a new style of education. They introduced a completely new philosophy of education by requiring students to do things like preparing their own meals, as a way of being connected to their daily lives in a broader sense.

The Restoration Process
In this room, we will explain a number of items related to the restoration process of the cultural architecture. The Myonichikan restoration work consisted of three principles:

The first principle is “Preservation of Cultural Value.”
─By reusing flooring materials as much as possible, and using techniques from the time period to plaster ceilings and walls, cultural value may be preserved.

The second principle is “Reinforcing Buildings to Enhance Endurance.”
─Renovation of cultural assets should take place about once every 100 years. Until the next major renovation, in order to maintain the facilities, some places were reinforced with steal frames. Also, as this building is vulnerable to leaks, measures are being implemented to deal with rain water and humidity damage in places that are usually unseen to preserve building integrity.

The third principle is “Improving Facilities for Utilization”
─Previously, there was no lighting in this room, so it was far from bright. In order for the general public to use school facilities built during the early 20th century, improvements had to be made for use during mid-summer, mid-winter, and at night. With permission from the Agency for Cultural Affairs, we are installing air conditioning and lighting, and are modernizing the lavatories.

Please take a look at the flooring in this room. Roughly two thirds of the way from the back is original flooring. As most of the original flooring was quite damaged, even after gathering the usable flooring pieces from all of the classrooms, this is all we could salvage. The reason most of the flooring was so damaged is due to the floor having been at the ground level. Floors at the ground level were fine in the Chicago suburbs where Wright built his original designed houses and the climate is generally dryer. But in Japan, where the climate is damp and wet, this was not ideal. Also, when we removed the plaster during renovation, we discovered that the rhombus window on the north was not a part of the original plan, since the diagonal brace inside the wall was found to have been severed in order to install the window. It is said that the window was added due to a request from a school official to increase light in the classrooms.

One of the main principles of education according to the Hanis was to have all the students share a warm homemade meal together. For this reason the school was built with the dining hall as a central place: a feature unusual for school buildings at that time. Then, there were large geometric windows on the east and west, and a terrace outside. However, as the number of students increased, the dining hall could no longer accommodate them, so around 1923, Arata Endo added three more small dining rooms. According to the Cultural Property repair guidelines, the areas remodeled should be returned to their original state, but they never were. However, construction began in 1921, and by 1927, it was finished with a new auditorium as well. Since the auditorium did not exist in 1921, it would also have had to be demolished along with the return back to the one dining hall. Therefore, 1927 was designated to be the year determining standards for renovations.

Concerning the light supports hanging from the ceiling, Wright had no intention to install such fixtures. In the original plan, wires entered the room only at the four corners. However, it is said that during construction, Wright visited the site and concluded that the ceiling was too high, and the following day, he handed Endo a lighting plan.

The old rectangular tables and chairs that were in the east and west small dining rooms were made for this dining hall. In order to raise funds for building the furniture, the students performed a play at the Imperial Hotel, and with the money, asked Endo to build the furniture. In order to stay within their limited budget and create quality furniture, they ordered standard cuts of lumber materials from the provider.

Presently, the square tables and chairs in the center are being used. After completing renovation, referring to the style of the original tables and chairs, new ones were made with modern features appropriate for use at weddings and soon.

This lounge hall was once a place for worship where students read the Bible and sang hymns together. Today it is used for wedding ceremonies, concerts, and public lectures.

When going through the low ceiling entrance to the Hall, people anticipate reaching a natural and bright atmosphere enhanced by the windows. When they finally reach the place where the ceiling grows to its highest, there is a great sense of freedom and endless space.

The windows are impressively symbolic of the Myonichikan. After working on designing the stained glass windows, Wright used only clapboards and crosspieces to achieve simple and low cost architecture. Wright persisted on geometrical design. Before the restoration work, the design was adapted to be more practical. Windows were divided into upper and lower parts so that they could be easily opened. Based on the restoration principle, windows were restored to their original design to allow people to more vividly understand the history.

The mural on the wall was created by the students in 1931 to commemorate the school’s 10th anniversary. The theme of the mural is, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light . . .,” , a verse taken from Exodus 13 in the Old Testament, which is written in Hebrew, and is also part of the Jiyu Gakuen school anthem. Although the reason cannot be verified, this wall painting was once covered by plaster perhaps due to fear of the oppression by the government against Christianity during the war. However, this painting was discovered during the restoration work and the students at the time worked to restore it to its original state.

It is not known who designed this hexagonal chair or when it was desined, but we assume it may be either Wright or Endo as it is strikingly similar to a peacock chair from the original Imperial Hotel, which was designed by Wright.

In the Hall and the Dining Hall, there are fireplaces back to back. Wright believed that when “people gather around the fire, it creates a commonly shared place of peace,” so he designed fireplaces in the residences he worked on. Oya stone, used also for the Imperial Hotel, was used by Wright extensively in his architecture in Japan. The fireplace, built firmly with a coarse feel and the taste of Oya stone, did not need to be touched even in the restoration work.

With the walls still unfinished and the window panes not yet installed, on April 15, 1921, an entrance ceremony was held in this room, which was the only one free of scaffolding. In the middle of January, the Hanis met Wright through Endo and asked Wright to do the planning. Later that month, Wright visited the site, and construction commenced on March 15th. The week after the entrance ceremony he started working on the classroom next to this room (presently called “Taliesin”), and then the classrooms on the west wing and the central building were completed in June 1922. On July 22 of the same year, Wright returned to the States after being dismissed from his work. Since then, Arata Endo was in charge of the classrooms on the east wing and the structure took on a “U” shape in September, 1925.

Presently we are using this room as a PR room for Jiyu Gakuen in Higashikurume by exhibiting the school life there through pictoral panels and pamphlets. Jiyu Gakuen has a 25-acre campus that is abundant in nature and provides continuous education from kindergarten and elementary school through the college. For junior high and high school, the girls and boys are educated separately. The girls department’s dining hall,

gymnasium, and auditorium as well as the elementary school dining hall and the boys department’s gymnasium were built by Arata Endo when the school was relocated in 1934. These five buildings are still in use while being designated as historical buildings by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The auditorium was built in 1927. Previously, the lounge hall was used as the assembly hall for gatherings such as worship services. However, as the number of students increased, the lounge hall became too small to hold everyone, so the auditorium was built with the help of the parents’ donations. As Wright had departed from Japan, the auditorium was designed by Wright’s co-worker, Arata Endo.

According to Endo’s writing, the structure of the auditorium was called “sanmai oroshi” a design with small roofs less prone to disasters and economically more efficient.　This room can be used in multiple ways with the lower center floor and the balconies.　Closing the folding doors creates a separate room in the back. Presently this is used for occasions such as wedding ceremonies, concerts, lectures and fashion shows.

After the school relocated to the suburbs of Tokyo in 1934, various activities by graduates were begun in Myonichikan. As Jiyu Gakuen had emphasized art education, we established the Jiyu Gakuen Institute for Art and Craft studies after some graduates studied art and crafts extensively in Europe as well as in Japan. Their textiles were exhibited at the Paris Expo at that time.

Also, the Jiyu Gakuen Consumer’s Cooperative was started as a forerunner of organizations such as co-op and co-purchase groups. The need for such a service was great after the war when clothes and daily necessities were scarce. There were a lot of women involved in these kinds of activities and the Fujin-no-Tomo-sha publishing company, and for these women, a Cooking Study Group was started which produced half cooked food.Later this group started the study of sweets after ordering recipes from France. Nowadays, their homemade cookies are introduced in magazines and are so popular that they get sold out before the week is over. This shop also functions as a museum shop selling products designed by Wright or related books along with numerous products created from various activities. Please make sure you take a look.