Nada High School

Nada High School
灘高等学校
Information
TypePrivate
Motto精力善用
自他共栄[1]
Established1927
HeadmasterMasakazu Kaiho
Enrollment220 per grade (180 are from Nada Junior High School, the affiliate school of Nada High School)

Nada High School (Japanese: 灘高等学校), is private, college-preparatory, boys school located in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, providing six years of education combining junior and senior high school levels.[2] Founded in 1927,[3] it's frequently cited and ranked as the best high school in all of Japan.[4][5][6] Graduates often make up the majority of admissions to Japan's most prestigious universities, like the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.[7][8] The school's alumni include Nobel laureates in Chemistry Ryōji Noyori,[9] novelist Shūsaku Endō,[10] and politician Yasutoshi Nishimura.[11]

Nada High School offers courses a range of electives. In addition, the school offers a concentration program in Judo. The Judo class during freshman year are intended to commemorate the founder of the school, Kanō Jigorō.

Nada High School also offers a range of extracurricular activities, including interscholastic teams in sports, academic clubs, and student-run publications.[12][13] The school is known for encouraging a liberal educational space, student autonomy.[14][15]

Establishment

The School was found as Nada Middle School by the sake producers of Nada-Gogō, Kanō Jiroemon (Kiku-Masamune, now Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.), Kanō Jihē (Hakutsuru, now Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Company Limited), and Yamamura Tazaemon (Sakuramasamune, now Sakuramasamune Company, Limited).[16]

Kanō Jigorō, father of Judo born in this Kano family in the town of Mikage (now within Higashinada-ku, Kobe), also helped establish Nada Middle High School. In 1928 he gave a speech to first batch students at Nada Middle School.[17]

Ranking and reputation

Nada ranks number one amongst high schools in Japan.[4]

Nada High School is well known for its severe entrance examination.[4][14] Every year, Nada High School receives over 150 applications for 40 class positions. A considerable number of students from Hokkaido to Kyushu attempt Nada's entrance examination to see how they are.[14]

Nada High School completes the national curriculum by junior year. The last year is devoted to intense review and preparation for the university entrance exam.[14][18] Nada High School sends a large number of its students to University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and top-tier medical school.[7]

Nada high school excels especially in science. Students of Nada High School often receive Gold Medals for International Science Olympiad. In total they have won over forty gold medals in international science olympiads.[19][20]

There are no school uniforms and no rules regarding possessions.[14]

Nada Junior High School

Nada Junior High School is the affiliate school of Nada High School. It has 180 students per grade, and these students go Nada High School unconditionally after they graduate Nada Junior High School.

Nada Junior High School is known as well as Nada High School for its severe entrance exam. Every year, Nada Junior High School receives more than 700 applications.

The curriculum of Nada Junior High School is continuous to that of Nada High School, and students of Nada Junior High School are usually taught by the same teachers for 6 years from their entrance of Nada Junior High School to their graduation of Nada High School.

Nada High School and Nada Junior High School are located in the same site and share many facilities. Many of club activities are for both high school students and junior high school students, and the student government is also unified. So it can be said that students from Nada Junior High School go to the same school for 6 years.

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ^ History|Nada High School(in Japanese)
  2. ^ Nada Junior and Senior High School
  3. ^ "灘中学校・灘高等学校". www.nada.ac.jp. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  4. ^ a b c http://momotaro.boy.jp/html/zennkokuhennsati.html [1] ranking of Japan High Schools
  5. ^ "灘高校(兵庫県)の情報(偏差値・口コミなど)". みんなの高校情報 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  6. ^ "全国の高校偏差値ランキング 2026年度最新版|みんなの高校情報". みんなの高校情報 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  7. ^ a b "令和4年度 大学合格状況" (PDF). 灘中学校・灘高等学校 (in Japanese). 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  8. ^ "灘高等学校(兵庫)進学校ファイル". 全国高校進学実績ランキング (in Japanese). 2025-09-07. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  9. ^ "Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2001". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  10. ^ "Hopes for Kobe gained through the Great East Japan Earthquake by eight high school students who were born after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: Eight students from Nada Senior High School". 世界に知ってほしい、新しい神戸をつくっている73人の話. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  11. ^ "西村やすとし オフィシャルサイト". www.yasutoshi.jp. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  12. ^ http://www.nada.ac.jp/club.htm Nada's extracurricular activities
  13. ^ Kobe Rugby Information, Nada High School
  14. ^ a b c d e Okano, Tsuchiya, "Education in Contemporary Japan", Cambridge, 1999 (ISBN 0521626862 )
  15. ^ "Nada Senior High School". Yasui Architects & Engineers (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  16. ^ Company History|菊正宗 - Kiku-Masamune
  17. ^ Kano Jigoro, father of Judo
  18. ^ Rohlen, "Japan's High Schools", University of California Press, 1983 (ISBN 0520048636 )
  19. ^ http://www.imojp.org/laureler/imo/record_imo.html Archived 2015-04-01 at the Wayback Machine record of Japanese students in International Mathematical Olympiad
  20. ^ http://www.phys-challenge.jp/ipho.html record of Japanese students in International Physics Olympiad

34°43′9.1″N 135°16′6.3″E / 34.719194°N 135.268417°E / 34.719194; 135.268417