Our Scrapbook

This "sukurappu-bukku" is compiled from photographs by students and faculty from eight colleges in the United States, England and New Zealand who traveled to Japan for two weeks in June of 2004 as guests of Technos International College and the Tanaka Foundation. Our visit included an introduction to Japan through explorations of Tokyo, Matsumoto, Midori-no-Mono, Takayama and Kamakura, and the opportunity to meet and work with students and faculty at Technos International College in Tokyo. If you would like to re-trace our steps, simply navigate by location through the photos on the left.

Technos International School & the Tanaka Foundation

In 1959, Professor Juichi Tanaka, the Founder and President of Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan sent his sons to Tokyo to open a vocational training school. Their first school was a training program for television technicians, an important contribution to post-war reconstruction and communication. Over the next years, the innovative Tanaka Ikueikai Educational Trust grew to include programs in computer science, engineering, art, language study, tourism and hospitality. The Tanakas' mission was to establish a modern pedagogical framework with special relevance to a new generation of students and Japan's position internationally.

By the late 1980's, the Tanaka Foundation schools were highly regarded for contributions to vocational education and the prominence of their graduates in technical and professional positions. In 1991, all schools were brought together in a single instutution, Technos International College, housed in a handsome modern campus in suburban Tokyo.

In the 1990's, focus of the Tanaka Trust widened to include affiliations with ten universities, colleges and technical institutions in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand. Among the prizes and programs offered by the Trust, Technos International Week--now in its 18th year--invites students and faculty from affiliated institutions to visit Japan for two weeks to experience the culture firsthand and to participate with students and faculty at Technos International College.

With Gratitude

Our 2004 group thanks the faculty and students of Technos who shared their lives and school with us for this wonderful fortnight. We thank particularly Dr. Tanaka, guiding light of the Tanaka Educational Trust; Stephen Fleming, head of the Technos International Program and our meticulous guide; and Kazuyo Koide, tireless organizer of the program at Technos International College.

Our Group

Auckland University of Technology
Dr. Patsy Paxton, Michael Antonievich, Elizabeth Kwon, Caroline Muller, Peter Thornton

Bates College
Dr. Judy Head, Joshua Harris, Chelsea Tryder

Carleton College
Prof. John Schott, Kelly Monroy, Alisa Sanchez

Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Prof. Linda Robertson, Adam Chaput, Crystal Garniere

Hope College
Prof. Richard Ray, Jr., Jeff Mulder, Erin Wickens

Illinois Wesleyan University
Prof. Curtis Trout, Jodie Daquilanea, Sara Novak

Lake Forest College
Prof. W. Rand Smith, Rebecca Bride, Mark Sweet

McKendree College
Prof. Duane Olson, Becky Tadlock, Mark Wonnacott

Pembroke College Oxford
Prof. Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Adam Kybird, Timothy Riley, Anne-Marie Sim, Ajika Singanayagam

Trinity College
Prof. Pablo Delano, Abigail Garrity, Kristen Hayashi

This Sukurappu-bukku was built and edited by John Schott with photo contributions from Pablo Delano, Josh Harris, Judy Head, Kelly Monroy, Caroline Muller, Robert Ray, Linda Robertson, John Schott, and Curtis Trout.