MITO -- New vocational schools are being readied to teach omotenashi hospitality to foreign students at former elementary schools in Kasumigaura, Ibaraki Prefecture, that were shut down in March 2016.
The new vocational schools will accept mainly foreign students who have graduated from Japanese-language schools. The plan is to foster human resources for such jobs as hotel staff and cooks, to offer omotenashi hospitality based on the spirit of wa (harmony) in the field of tourism, which is in the process of internationalizing.
One of the two vocational schools will open at the former Saga Elementary School next spring at the earliest, after approval is obtained from the Ibaraki prefectural government and renovations are completed.
The plan to open the two new vocational schools is being promoted by Nippon Academy, a Maebashi-based educational corporation, which operates a Japanese-language school and other facilities, and Nippon Omotenashi College in the city, where students learn the hotel and ryokan inn business.
Nippon Academy is in discussions with the Kasumigaura city government to promote the plan. The Kasumigaura East campus, which the academy seeks to open at the former Saga Elementary School in April next year, will be a sister school of its Nippon Omotenashi College. It plans to establish a hospitality department with an admissions quota of 80 students and offer a two-year boarding school course.
At this campus, students will be able to learn the skills required for such hotel jobs as reception desk staffer and other customer services, as well as housekeeping. They will also train to become instructors.
Kasumigaura West campus, which is scheduled to open at the former Ushiwata Elementary School in April 2020, will foster future cooks and other staff.
"We want to contribute to the vitalization and internationalization of the city of Kasumigaura and turn out the human resources needed in a new age, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics," a Nippon Academy official said.
An official of the Kasumigaura city government had high expectations for the opening of the two vocational schools, saying: "Areas near Lake Kasumigaura are abundant in tourism resources. We may be able to cooperate [with the academy] in the field of tourism as well."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
