Wa-Yo-Gakko Gakuin (dite aussi École Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci)

In 1937, five years after the first CND sisters arrived in Fukushima, they were asked by Bishop Marie-Joseph Lemieux, O.P. to go to Hachinohe. Sister St. Marie Damase and Sister Jeanne d’Aza answered the call. They taught piano and cooking in a school which was then called Japanese and Western Sewing School for Girls. At that time, the school was having difficulty to make ends meet. They also taught religion in the kindergarten of their parish church.

In 1938 the first two sisters were joined by 3 others: Sister St. Claire de la Providence, Sister Saint Augustine du Sauveur and Sister St. Alphonse de Valence. Where there had been only 12 students the number increased to 102 in four years.

When war broke out in 1941 the sisters were first interned in the city of Aomori but after that they were required to return to their country. After the war their school was transferred to the Ursuline Community and it continues its mission to this day, with one of its specialities being music education.

A young woman who worked with the CND sisters in Hachinohe, Anna Saito Tomi, was one of the first Japanese women to enter the CND and become a foundation stone of Maria Province, Japan. Her name in religion was Sister St. Marie Hostia.

N.B. We would like to thank the Sisters from Japan for having prepared this historical text.