Welcome!

The Diablo Nippongo Gakuen is a member organization of the Diablo Japanese American Club (JA Club). Founded in 1926 as the Concord Japanese Language Institute, the Diablo Nippongo Gakuen (Japanese School) has a long tradition of teaching the Japanese language and culture to interested school-aged children in the East Bay.  We are a cooperative school, run and managed by an all-volunteer board. Parent participation is essential to our continued vitality and success.  

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All families in the Gakuen are required to become members of the JA Club. 

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A fundamental, key difference about the Gakuen is that we have a more relaxed atmosphere for kids to learn, and hold quarterly school-wide cultural events to expose the students to more than just the language. 

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Classes

We currently offer 6 classes for K-12 children and accept classroom-ready Pre-K children on a case by case basis.  Classes are held on Saturdays between September and May from 8:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

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Details about the curriculum can be found here.

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Required Parent Participation

In order to effectively operate the school, parents must take part in the following:

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1. Toban (3 times per year)

Toban Duty is a critical part of your family's participation with the Gakuen as it enables our teachers to focus on their classrooms and it provides safety for our kids during school and recess. Toban Duty consists of setting up the classrooms, making copies for teachers, cleaning up the facilities after lessons are completed for the day, being responsible for emergency procedures to ensure the safety of all students, and other duties supporting the Gakuen as determined by Gakuen board members. All parents are responsible for knowing and carrying out these duties.

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2. Event Participaton

Parents are expected to support and participate in the activities of their assigned Event Group, comprised of the Cultural Events as well as two critical JA Club events, the Annual Holiday Party and Summer Festival.  For the Summer Festival, parents are required to help with Festival booth duty as well as assisting with setup and preparation.  This is the largest fundraiser for the JA Club that provides the facilities for the school.  In addition, it is a great opportunity to get to know other families in the JA community.  

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3. General Membership Meetings 

General Membership Meetings are held three times during the academic year. All Gakuen members are required to attend and to present their suggestions for the operation of the Gakuen. These meetings are held on school days, while the classes are in session in September, January, and May.