Lin Kobayashi explains that in the high school that she attended in Canada, in the early 1990s, there were 86 different nationalities represented in her year alone. Needless to say, Japan has no schools that could compete in terms of diversity, even today. But, if the 36-year-old Tokyo native gets her way, that situation might be about to change.
Kobayashi is part of a small but well-connected group of people working toward the establishment of a fully residential, international senior high school in the mountain-top resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. At present, they are finalizing the purchase of a suitable plot of land and are hoping to open what will be called the International School of Asia, Karuizawa, in 2013.
"One key difference to the usual Japanese schools will be that the new school will offer the International Baccalaureate," Kobayashi told The Japan Times late last month. "All the classes will be held in English."