Today, the primary school in Blue Pool Road, Happy Valley, has 1,500 pupils, while another 400 students are enrolled at the secondary school in Braemar Hill.

'We are at capacity,' Takeshi Komori, the administration manager, said.

Yet the Japanese community continues to grow. Last year, it was estimated at about 17,500 and the numbers increased this year by between six and seven per cent - with predictions of a continuing five to six per cent annual increase for the foreseeable future.

Even the school governors have been surprised by the rapid growth.

Plans were originally submitted for a new school last year to accommodate 800 extra students. The governors now realise they need classrooms for more than 1,000.

Fees at the Hong Kong-Japanese School - at just $1,100 a month - are cheaper than any other international school in the territory because a Japanese Government subsidy pays 80 per cent of the 87 teaching staff.

The school also has a policy of accepting any student who applies for a place, whether or not the child speaks Japanese.

'We introduced this policy three years ago,' Mr Komori said.

'Although most of our students are Japanese, or have at least one Japanese parent, there are about 10, including some Western children, who had no background at all in Japanese.' The prospect of enrolling in a school without being able to speak the classroom language may sound daunting to adults but the adaptability of young children was 'miraculous', Mr Komori said.

'They are marvellous,' he said.