American missionaries, military personnel and expatriate businesspeople started to relocate to Nagoya, creating the need for schools with English-based curriculum.
The Nagoya TV Tower was completed in 1954, and was considered by many to be a symbol of post-war growth and development of Nagoya and the first of its kind in Japan. Although analogue TV broadcasts came to an end in 2011, it is still considered to be one of the iconic symbols of Nagoya. Little known fact...the Nagoya TV tower was destroyed (in movies!) twice....first by Godzilla in the 1964 "Mothra vs. Godzilla" movie (the same year NIS opened!), and then again by Battra in the 1992 remake of that movie, "Godzilla vs. Mothra".
The Nagoya American School, which was located within the US Occupation Forces living compound near Fushimi that is now known as Shirakawa Park (which also includes Nagoya City Art Museum and Nagoya City Science Museum) closed in 1958 when the land was returned to Nagoya.
Lockheed's school in Gifu closes, leaving the Apostolic Christian Academy (ACA) as the only schooling option for English-speaking families in the Nagoya region.
After the closing of the Nagoya American School and the Gifu Lockheed School, the Apostolic Christian Academy (ACA) was the only remaining option for English-speaking families in Nagoya. The school was operating out of a home, in Chikusa-ku, and capacity was becoming a concern. Tensions also began to mount between parents regarding the mission and vision of the school.
Some of the parents of the new NIS PTA found two allies in their dream to create a new school. Dr. David Smith, who had come to Nagoya as the Director of the Nagoya American Cultural Center devoted much time and energy in meeting with parents and key leaders in business and government. In addition, Aichi Governor Mikine Kuwabara strongly supported the idea of having an international school in Nagoya. Here, Smith and Kuwabara meet to discuss the potential new school.
One week after the Beatle's third hit, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," reached number one on the UK charts and three weeks after the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the first Board of Directors meeting for NIS took place. Soon, they were looking for potential sites to build their dream for a school.
The US State Department continued its enthusiastic support and dispatched Paul Luebke from the Office of Overseas Schools to nurture the fledgling NIS.
NIS was nothing more than an idea shared by a group of parents at the beginning of 1964. Arlene Kelly, one of the PTA parents described it, there "were no teachers, no money, no building, no equipment, no supplies, nothing!" However, due to the efforts of Dr. David Smith, support began to pour in from groups such as the United States State Department, various mission boards and denominations, and leading figures in the Nagoya and prefectural governments. His efforts resulted in both the Aichi Governor, Mikine Kuwabara and Nagoya Mayor, Kiyoshi Sugito pledging their support.
Since NIS had no land or place to build a school, Nanzan allowed NIS to use one of their old, vacated buildings in Showa-ku while searching. After help from the community, the building was transformed into the new Nagoya International School with an opening ceremony on September 8, 1964. There were 84 students representing five nationalities and 12 staff members representing three nationalities.
