History
The institution was established by American members of the YMCA after the end of World War II. Their hope was that the Yamate Gakusha would enable young men from poor, rural areas of Japan to attend universities located in Tokyo. (At the time the Yamate Gakusha was established, the monthly fee was quite low. This was because the greatest obstacle preventing rural citizens of Japan from attending universities in Tokyo was the high cost of housing). Historically, an obachan (elderly woman) served as dorm cook. However, sometime prior to the 1990s she died and was never succeeded.
Although the majority of the members of the dormitory are Japanese, in the past decade students from China, Korea, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, and the United States have cycled through the Yamate Gakusha.
The working language of the dormitory is Japanese.
The administrators of the Yamate Gakusha attempted to unilaterally shut down the dormitory's operations. However, a hunger strike was launched by the dormitory residents and a shut-down was averted.
Read more about this topic: Yamate Gakusha
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“America is, therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the Worlds history shall reveal itself. It is a land of desire for all those who are weary of the historical lumber-room of Old Europe.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (17701831)
“There is one great fact, characteristic of this our nineteenth century, a fact which no party dares deny. On the one hand, there have started into life industrial and scientific forces which no epoch of former human history had ever suspected. On the other hand, there exist symptoms of decay, far surpassing the horrors recorded of the latter times of the Roman empire. In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.”
—Karl Marx (18181883)
“... in a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps the underground aquifers flowing; it is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)