School Seals
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The six images above are the official school seals (or “badges”) for the six schools where I currently teach. I couldn’t find the seal for the branch school on Iwagi where I taught with my buddy Luke King last year, and that’s fitting since it doesn’t exist anymore. Anyway, I think these are really cool. The top row, from left to right, represent Imabari South High School, Imabari West High School, and Yuge High School. The bottom row, again from left to right, represent Omishima High School, Hakata High School, and Oshima High School. (Oshima’s is hand-drawn…aaaaw…)
These seals are really neat - they appear everywhere. They are on all of the stationery and letterhead, naturally. They are embossed on every button of the school uniforms at some schools, they are replicated in the form of gardens at some schools. (You wouldn’t know it until you climbed to the fourth floor and looked down on a garden, at which point you realize what shape it is in.) There are fountains created after them as well. I’ve even seen paperweights, manhole covers, and ventilation grills that feature these seals. In short, they are a big part of a school’s identity. And I think that they are neat pieces of design work as well.
My favorite seal above is definitely Yuge High School’s. The design elements leap out at me. The school is one of my 4 island schools, so the surf shapes surrounding the seal are pretty obvious. The zig-zag shape that forms a Superman-like triangle is actually the first kanji character in the school’s name. It’s the “yu” in Yuge. Looks like this: 弓. Stylized, obviously. But cool! You may also have noticed that in 5 out of the above 6, the kanji character 高 appears. That represents the “high” in “High School,” or the first “kou” in “koukou” (高校). I have a theory that Imabari West’s seal shape is related to their school philosophy on a very esoteric level (the kanji for firefly is used in their slogan, and the Rorschach-like blob in the middle could be a firefly…maybe…). Yeah, it’s a stretch. I dunno. Just thought I’d share. I find them interesting.