Copyright © 2011 Kanda Gaigo Alumni Association(KGAA). All rights reserved.
The choice of staff for the opening of British Hills was perfect.
First of all, Director-General and Supervisor was Mr. Yuki Kawada. He was a truly nice gentleman, very strict, forthright, and direct, he would always express what he thought. Mr. Kawada was more European than Japanese in a sense and also very respectful. He had been at Mitsubishi Corporation for years and had a deep knowledge of the culture and history of Britain and Europe. When I arrived in British Hills, Mr. Kawada explained passionately the concept of British Hills.
A butler was hired to give authenticity to British Hills as being truly British. Every large household in England had butlers. Butler is a private secretary to the owner and in a sense was the administrator for the service in the house. The butler of British Hills was Peter Stanbury. He was a qualified butler who came from Ivor Spencer, the professional butlers’ Association. His main responsibility was to aid the Chairman (Ryuji Sano, present CEO of Sano Educational Foundation) and the VIPs.
Bill Brown was already there. He was publican and was responsible for Falstaff Pub. Bill was a Londoner. The pub in British Hills was more of a country pub, but he was perfectly successful in recreating a traditional London pub. Bill had the fish and chips menu and his guests were referred to as “punters” in the London accent. Bill could use the rhyming slang. “Dog and bone” is a phone, “apples and pears” are stairs. He had a strong personality, but he needed to make sure everything is under control as in a real London pub.
The gentleman who contacted me in England, Dan Simmons and his wife, Becky, were also in British Hills. Their role was education and they had been involved with Kanda Gaigo Group long before. Becky was referred to as the Iron lady. She was teaching at the Craft House. She was careful in research and had a strong will to achieve what she wanted.
And there was Moto (Motoyasu Sano, present Chairman of Sano Educational Foundation). He was to me something similar to a younger brother. We used to have such a good time together.
I didn’t meet the Chairman, Mr. Ryuji Sano until probably about a week or two before the opening. I didn’t really know him in person. The Chairman was a man to take on the responsibility of something that his parents started, that is to build an English village for students to experience what it is like to live in England and to speak in English without studying abroad. He went to England by himself and did the research on the project, and realized that project in the exact form as it was planned through the end. (3/9)