The Association of Christian Schools in Japan, a nationwide grouping of Protestant-run schools in the country, has marked its centennial anniversary amid decreasing enrolment, reports Ecumenical News International.

The Christian schools' association was founded in Kyoto in 1910 by about 10 men's schools "to take actions together" against the government's 1899 order to ban religious education in the country. Many of the member schools were founded with the help of Western missions.

"Our problems today include 'internal pressures' instead of external pressures [from the government], such as the decrease of candidates for the entrance examinations, competitions with other schools, and secularisation," said the Rev. Masanobu Fukamachi, who chaired the association's board of directors from 1999 to 2003.