Dr. Saburo Shochi Profile
Born in 1906 (100 years old) Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Medicine,
Honorary Doctor of Philosophy and Poet
Educational Background: Completed Hiroshima Teaching Academy, Completed
Hiroshima Graduate Teaching Academy, Completed Hiroshima Liberal Arts and
Science University (Psychology), Completed Kyushu University School of
Medicine
Career Background :Teacher at elementary school, girls school and teaching
academy, Professor at Fukuoka Teaching Academy, Honorary professor at Fukuoka
Education University, Professor and president of Daegu Polytechnic College
Graduate Scool in Korea (Since 1970), Honorary professor and adviser of
Changchung University Special Education Research Institute in China (Since
2002)
| 1954: |
Both of his sons suffered from cerebral palsy at age
one and became mentally challenged. Opened a Japan’s first
school for mentally challenged children called “Shiinomi Gakuen” at
his own expense to provide an educational facility for his sons and
other mentally challenged children. |
| 1955: |
A book “Shiinomi Gakuen” became a best seller. A movie “Shiinomi
Gakuen” was released in Japan. Later, it became popular in
United States of America, England and Russia and touched many people’s
hearts. |
| 1956: |
With Dr. Shochi’s school as a start, schools for handicapped
children opened in Tokyo and Osaka. Since then educational facilities
for mentally challenged children has been opened in various places
in Japan. Currently, there are 700 schools for handicapped children
and 30,000 schools that offer a special class for handicapped children
in Japan that provide opportunities for all the handicapped children
to receive education. |
| 1963: |
As the overseas researcher of the Japanese Ministry of Education,
he spent three months to visit the facilities for handicapped children,
universities, and research institutes in Europe and the United States
of America, and gave lectures on the present condition of education
for handicapped children in Japan and the educational methods at
Shiinomi Gakuen. |
| 1964: |
He attended International Psychology Academy held in Moscow as
a representative from the Psychological Society of Japan. He also
visited other eastern European countries. |
| 1979: |
He opened a facility for mentally challenged toddlers (between
age 3 and 6) and started teaching them. |
| 2003: |
He established “The Educational Society for 3 Year Olds”,
and opened and operated “Parent and Child Toymaking Class”.
This class is most suitable for educating infants/toddlers at home
which is often being overlooked by the modern education. This program
brings out child’s sensitivity and intelligence, improves communication
and bond between parent and child. Our goal is to promote the worldwide
spread of the most effective educational program for infants and
toddlers. This program was perfected invented and perfected by Dr.
Shochi through his eighty years of teaching experience in the field.
He also started a support program for underprivileged students in
Korea by setting up “Schochi Scholarship Society” and
donated three hundred twenty thousand dollars to Daegu Polytechnic
College in Korea. |
| 2004: |
Backed by JICA and in cooperation with Changchun University in
China, he established a special class for handicapped children “Shiinomi
Class” and donated a school bus “The Shiinomi Class”.
He continues to support in educating two million mentally challenged
children and developing teachers for these children. On a television
program “Challenge against aging” produced by NHK, one
of Japan’s major broadcasting company, the physiologists who
specialize in the brain examined Dr. Schochi’s and concluded
that his brain was that of thirty years old. He also is in good physical
condition and does most of the activities of daily living by himself
except preparation of meals. He writes letters and books by himself
too. One of the purposes of his trip to Europe and U.S.A is to meet
the brain physiologists and medical experts who specialize in study
of longevity. |
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