Nihongo Center Foundation, Inc. - Makati City, Philippines

The transfer of the Embassy of Japan from Makati to its new chancery in Roxas Boulevard brought an end to the 28-year existence of the Nihongo Gakko (Japanese Language School). Since its establishment in 1969, the Japan Information and Cultural Center (JICC) supervised the Nihongo Gakko. It grew from a one-classroom affair to what had become one of the major facilities for Japanese language training in the Philippines. By March 1997 when the Makati classes had to be suspended due to the transfer of the Embassy, the JICC-Nihongo Gakko had taught over 16,000 students with an average of 600 students enrolled each year.