Yokote High School, Akita’s representative at the summer Koshien tournament, became the subject of a Daily Shincho article questioning whether it could really be called a “college-prep school” (shingakukou). The piece sparked a thread on 5ch’s Newsplus board where posters debated university admission records and the education gap between regions.
Comments ranged from the self-deprecating “born in Tohoku, game over” to criticism of Tokyo’s overwhelming centralization, to observations about the shrinking 18-year-old population in southern Akita — the discussion snowballed into a broader debate about the structural gap between rural and urban college-prep environments.
Daily Shincho, Aug 21
(…omitted…)
■ The exam culture is completely different
Source: dailyshincho.jp / Read the original article here
Born in Tohoku, game over.
Rolled the bad gacha. (gacha = a random-draw lottery mechanic, used here as slang for "bad luck of the draw")
Rolled the bad gacha. (gacha = a random-draw lottery mechanic, used here as slang for "bad luck of the draw")
>>6
I'm from Tohoku myself.
Hate to admit it, but that's dead on.
Extra hassles and money troubles either way.
Especially in snow country.
I'm from Tohoku myself.
Hate to admit it, but that's dead on.
Extra hassles and money troubles either way.
Especially in snow country.
>>6
Even if you're from a low-income rural family,
once your kid goes to Tokyo it's tuition plus living expenses on top.
Though honestly that's true for any rural area.
Even if you're from a low-income rural family,
once your kid goes to Tokyo it's tuition plus living expenses on top.
Though honestly that's true for any rural area.
>>6
Just being born in Japan already makes you SSSS-rank. (SSSS = the top tier in Japanese gaming rank systems, used jokingly here)
Just being born in Japan already makes you SSSS-rank. (SSSS = the top tier in Japanese gaming rank systems, used jokingly here)
I went to a public school in the sticks that called itself "college-prep,"
and I don't think there's any teacher telling a kid with Todai-level grades to go to a university in the next prefecture instead, like the article claims.
Now if we're talking MARCH, sure, that happens — "skip the private school in Tokyo, go to the nearby national university instead."
But if you've got the grades for Todai, the whole school backs you all the way,
heck, the teachers will even dig up scholarships for you.
The "don't go to Todai" story sounds made up. (Todai = University of Tokyo; MARCH = a well-known bundle of mid-tier Tokyo private universities)
and I don't think there's any teacher telling a kid with Todai-level grades to go to a university in the next prefecture instead, like the article claims.
Now if we're talking MARCH, sure, that happens — "skip the private school in Tokyo, go to the nearby national university instead."
But if you've got the grades for Todai, the whole school backs you all the way,
heck, the teachers will even dig up scholarships for you.
The "don't go to Todai" story sounds made up. (Todai = University of Tokyo; MARCH = a well-known bundle of mid-tier Tokyo private universities)
>>16
Sounds like the story is: the teacher pushed for Todai,
but the parents said "Tohoku University or nothing."
Sounds like the story is: the teacher pushed for Todai,
but the parents said "Tohoku University or nothing."
>>16
Seems like it wasn't the school's guidance, it was the parents' wishes.
At a public school in Akita (not Yokote), I had a classmate with the grades to get into Todai's med school straight out of high school, but he went to Jichi Medical University instead and became a doctor. Family circumstances. (Jichi Medical trains doctors for rural service, often tied to financial-aid obligations)
Seems like it wasn't the school's guidance, it was the parents' wishes.
At a public school in Akita (not Yokote), I had a classmate with the grades to get into Todai's med school straight out of high school, but he went to Jichi Medical University instead and became a doctor. Family circumstances. (Jichi Medical trains doctors for rural service, often tied to financial-aid obligations)
>>16
That's a perfectly respectable college-prep school by rural standards.
Calling it "self-proclaimed" college-prep is exactly the kind of thing that makes people say you don't know how the real world works.
That's a perfectly respectable college-prep school by rural standards.
Calling it "self-proclaimed" college-prep is exactly the kind of thing that makes people say you don't know how the real world works.
Tohoku University: 5 current-year admits, 2 repeaters
Hokkaido University: 2
Todai, Kyoto, Hitotsubashi: 0
Keio: 2, Waseda: 1
Isn't it a stretch to call this a college-prep school?
Hokkaido University: 2
Todai, Kyoto, Hitotsubashi: 0
Keio: 2, Waseda: 1
Isn't it a stretch to call this a college-prep school?
>>23
In any decent prefecture, even a commercial high school sends more kids to national/public universities than that.
In any decent prefecture, even a commercial high school sends more kids to national/public universities than that.
>>23
Hard to put into words, but to get to a school with better results than this one,
you'd apparently need to ride a train that only comes once an hour for about an hour and twenty minutes, then bike another 2+ km from the station.
Doing that through a heavy snow region is brutal, so even the sharp kids who'd otherwise aim for a top university end up staying local.
Hard to put into words, but to get to a school with better results than this one,
you'd apparently need to ride a train that only comes once an hour for about an hour and twenty minutes, then bike another 2+ km from the station.
Doing that through a heavy snow region is brutal, so even the sharp kids who'd otherwise aim for a top university end up staying local.
>>23
Ten years ago, this school had multiple Todai/Kyoto admits every year.
It used to send 30-40 kids to the old imperial universities like Tohoku University.
Part of the background: after the prefecture abolished school-district boundaries, kids weren't limited to schools in the southern district (previously topped by Yokote High) anymore — now they can apply prefecture-wide, so the sharper students near Akita City (north of Omagari) have shifted toward Akita High, the prefecture's top school.
Ten years ago, this school had multiple Todai/Kyoto admits every year.
It used to send 30-40 kids to the old imperial universities like Tohoku University.
Part of the background: after the prefecture abolished school-district boundaries, kids weren't limited to schools in the southern district (previously topped by Yokote High) anymore — now they can apply prefecture-wide, so the sharper students near Akita City (north of Omagari) have shifted toward Akita High, the prefecture's top school.
Honestly, Yokote High probably doesn't even send many kids to Tohoku University these days lol
Compare that to Tochiku High, another college-prep school that made it to this year's Koshien — they send 40-50 kids to Kyushu University every single year.
Compare that to Tochiku High, another college-prep school that made it to this year's Koshien — they send 40-50 kids to Kyushu University every single year.
>>47
The 16-year-old population in Kitakyushu, where Tochiku High is, is apparently around 8,411.
The 16-year-old population in Yokote, where Yokote High is, is only about 300.
So that's a more than 20x difference.
The 16-year-old population in Kitakyushu, where Tochiku High is, is apparently around 8,411.
The 16-year-old population in Yokote, where Yokote High is, is only about 300.
So that's a more than 20x difference.
>>58
Seriously, that few??
Seriously, that few??
>>58
>>79
Even adjusting for the 18-year-old population, southern Akita's admission rate to top-tier universities is clearly lower.
>>79
Even adjusting for the 18-year-old population, southern Akita's admission rate to top-tier universities is clearly lower.
[Nobel Prizes]
The "basically zero Tokyo natives" problem
Not a single winner graduated high school in Tokyo — the closest is Susumu Tonegawa, who was raised in Aichi through junior high.
The other 27 are all from local public schools.
https://asahi.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/newsplus/1634479436/
As of 2025
The "basically zero Tokyo natives" problem
Not a single winner graduated high school in Tokyo — the closest is Susumu Tonegawa, who was raised in Aichi through junior high.
The other 27 are all from local public schools.
https://asahi.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/newsplus/1634479436/
As of 2025
>>61
Akita prefecture's total births are only around 3,000 a year.
Akita prefecture's total births are only around 3,000 a year.
>>70
Wow, Akita.
I knew it was declining hard, but I didn't realize it was that bad.
Wow, Akita.
I knew it was declining hard, but I didn't realize it was that bad.
>>71
Only a tiny fraction of any population goes on to elite universities anyway, so comparing raw admission numbers doesn't really mean much — the denominators are just too different.
Only a tiny fraction of any population goes on to elite universities anyway, so comparing raw admission numbers doesn't really mean much — the denominators are just too different.
>>79
I mean, that's kind of the point of the original article though — it's not about raw numbers, it's that being born in Akita means giving up on a lot of things unless you really push through.
That's a loss for Japan as a whole.
I mean, that's kind of the point of the original article though — it's not about raw numbers, it's that being born in Akita means giving up on a lot of things unless you really push through.
That's a loss for Japan as a whole.
I don't really like saying this, but there's more than one path in life.
Still, where you go to college matters.
I've seen plenty of people who worked hard, only to end up at a mediocre school — MARCH or Nichidai-Komazawa-Senshu tier — and lock in a mediocre life.
There's so much more out there.
Winning the easy way in life isn't just about the school name. ("Nikkomasen" is another well-known tier of mid-level private universities, below MARCH)
Still, where you go to college matters.
I've seen plenty of people who worked hard, only to end up at a mediocre school — MARCH or Nichidai-Komazawa-Senshu tier — and lock in a mediocre life.
There's so much more out there.
Winning the easy way in life isn't just about the school name. ("Nikkomasen" is another well-known tier of mid-level private universities, below MARCH)
>>73
Going to Todai doesn't automatically mean you're holding a winning ticket lol
If anything, tons of people end up "losers" precisely because they went to Todai lol
Going to Todai doesn't automatically mean you're holding a winning ticket lol
If anything, tons of people end up "losers" precisely because they went to Todai lol
>>74
Exactly.
If getting into college is the goal, there's nothing left after that.
Academic pedigree only matters for genuinely elite talent and the people who've actually seen what comes after.
Competing with a huge crowd of equally- or more-talented rivals for the same finish line just burns you out for little payoff, and it's naive to think that race ends at retirement.
Yet that's exactly what city kids get put through starting from elementary school.
It's genuinely foolish.
No wonder a country full of people raised that way can't win against other nations.
Exactly.
If getting into college is the goal, there's nothing left after that.
Academic pedigree only matters for genuinely elite talent and the people who've actually seen what comes after.
Competing with a huge crowd of equally- or more-talented rivals for the same finish line just burns you out for little payoff, and it's naive to think that race ends at retirement.
Yet that's exactly what city kids get put through starting from elementary school.
It's genuinely foolish.
No wonder a country full of people raised that way can't win against other nations.
>>74
Apparently among today's Gen Z, in Doraemon, Dekisugi is the popular one, and marrying Jaiko is considered the "winning" outcome.
Nobita being the hero in the movies gets written off as political correctness. (Dekisugi and Jaiko are Doraemon characters — Dekisugi is the top student, Jaiko is Gian's plain-looking sister)
Apparently among today's Gen Z, in Doraemon, Dekisugi is the popular one, and marrying Jaiko is considered the "winning" outcome.
Nobita being the hero in the movies gets written off as political correctness. (Dekisugi and Jaiko are Doraemon characters — Dekisugi is the top student, Jaiko is Gian's plain-looking sister)
Send your kid to Tokyo and they never come back.
Go to a Tokyo university, land a job as a national civil servant or at a big company, and you become a transfer-everywhere employee who can never really come home.
From the parents' perspective, there's not one bit of upside to sending their kid to Tokyo.
Go to a Tokyo university, land a job as a national civil servant or at a big company, and you become a transfer-everywhere employee who can never really come home.
From the parents' perspective, there's not one bit of upside to sending their kid to Tokyo.
>>101
That's exactly it.
Still true today.
I had a friend from Akita whose family had a huge blowup fight over that very thing, over college.
Felt bad for them.
That's exactly it.
Still true today.
I had a friend from Akita whose family had a huge blowup fight over that very thing, over college.
Felt bad for them.
>>101
Honestly, even leaving for somewhere other than Tokyo, the odds of never coming back are high.
Sometimes people drop out and want to come home but there's no decent work waiting for them.
Either way, you have to accept that kids eventually leave the nest — otherwise it's the kid who ends up feeling trapped and miserable.
Unless the kid genuinely wants to keep living with their parents, that's a different story.
Honestly, even leaving for somewhere other than Tokyo, the odds of never coming back are high.
Sometimes people drop out and want to come home but there's no decent work waiting for them.
Either way, you have to accept that kids eventually leave the nest — otherwise it's the kid who ends up feeling trapped and miserable.
Unless the kid genuinely wants to keep living with their parents, that's a different story.
>>101
No need to go out of your way to limit your kid's future just because of that. Kids aren't their parents' property.
No need to go out of your way to limit your kid's future just because of that. Kids aren't their parents' property.
There really is a mindset out there of "if you go to the city you'll get a job, get married, and never come back, so I absolutely won't allow my kid to move to the city."
With aging and depopulation making it precious just to have kids around at all these days, that mindset seems to be getting even stronger.
With aging and depopulation making it precious just to have kids around at all these days, that mindset seems to be getting even stronger.
>>108
That's rough.
That's rough.
>>108
Not many parents actually think that way anymore lol
Most parents send their kids off even if it makes them lonely.
That kind of thinking mostly only survives among families obsessed with lineage or succession.
Not many parents actually think that way anymore lol
Most parents send their kids off even if it makes them lonely.
That kind of thinking mostly only survives among families obsessed with lineage or succession.
>>109
But that just means rural areas keep declining.
Unless rural regions have appealing jobs, Japan stays a poor country forever.
But that just means rural areas keep declining.
Unless rural regions have appealing jobs, Japan stays a poor country forever.
>>113
Japan's heading the same way as America — population concentrating only in urban centers.
The population is shrinking fast too.
It's just the tide of the times.
Japan's heading the same way as America — population concentrating only in urban centers.
The population is shrinking fast too.
It's just the tide of the times.
>>119
The thing is, America has tons of urban centers.
Japan basically only has Tokyo, right?
Meanwhile the US has LA, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York — there's always some city relatively close to home.
Japan's problem is that everything's concentrated in Tokyo alone.
Also, the reason for urban population concentration in America isn't the same as in Japan —
it's not the Japanese-style pattern of the middle class relocating purely for jobs.
The thing is, America has tons of urban centers.
Japan basically only has Tokyo, right?
Meanwhile the US has LA, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York — there's always some city relatively close to home.
Japan's problem is that everything's concentrated in Tokyo alone.
Also, the reason for urban population concentration in America isn't the same as in Japan —
it's not the Japanese-style pattern of the middle class relocating purely for jobs.
>>119
America also has plenty of elite universities outside the big cities —
Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, and so on.
Japan's elite schools are basically all in the cities.
The one exception might be Akita International University.
America also has plenty of elite universities outside the big cities —
Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, and so on.
Japan's elite schools are basically all in the cities.
The one exception might be Akita International University.
Well, rural areas can't really help their circumstances.
But what's up with Kansai's extreme obsession with national/public universities in high school and college?
Is it just being cheap about spending on education,
or just conservative herd mentality — sticking with the big safe tree?
But what's up with Kansai's extreme obsession with national/public universities in high school and college?
Is it just being cheap about spending on education,
or just conservative herd mentality — sticking with the big safe tree?
>>114
Can't be helped.
Kansai doesn't really have a private university on the level of Waseda/Keio… Yamato University maybe?
"Kankandoritsu" falls well below Kyoto U, Osaka U, and Kobe U. (Kankandoritsu = the bundle of top Kansai private universities: Kansai, Kansai Gakuin, Doshisha, Ritsumeikan)
Can't be helped.
Kansai doesn't really have a private university on the level of Waseda/Keio… Yamato University maybe?
"Kankandoritsu" falls well below Kyoto U, Osaka U, and Kobe U. (Kankandoritsu = the bundle of top Kansai private universities: Kansai, Kansai Gakuin, Doshisha, Ritsumeikan)
>>114
So that explains why you sometimes see Kansai kids ending up at places like Kushiro Public University, Tottori University of Environmental Studies, or Kitami Institute of Technology.
So that explains why you sometimes see Kansai kids ending up at places like Kushiro Public University, Tottori University of Environmental Studies, or Kitami Institute of Technology.
>>114
Since Nobel laureates have historically come from national universities, there's a strong belief in Kansai that smart kids go national and the rest go private.
Also, like people said, there's no university that bridges the gap between Kyoto U/Osaka U/Kobe U and Kankandoritsu — the closest thing is Osaka Metropolitan University, but that's way harder to get into than Doshisha, and since it went fully tuition-free a couple years ago, admission got even more competitive — it's not even a safety school anymore.
Since Nobel laureates have historically come from national universities, there's a strong belief in Kansai that smart kids go national and the rest go private.
Also, like people said, there's no university that bridges the gap between Kyoto U/Osaka U/Kobe U and Kankandoritsu — the closest thing is Osaka Metropolitan University, but that's way harder to get into than Doshisha, and since it went fully tuition-free a couple years ago, admission got even more competitive — it's not even a safety school anymore.
You don't have to kill yourself trying for Todai — Tohoku University is plenty good.
Unless you specifically want to become a bureaucrat, there's a solid chunk of people in Kansai who think Kyoto U or Osaka U is more than enough.
Unless you specifically want to become a bureaucrat, there's a solid chunk of people in Kansai who think Kyoto U or Osaka U is more than enough.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Newsplus) thread “Controversy Over Koshien Bracket: Is Akita Rep Yokote High Really a College-Prep School? Alumnus Says ‘Tokyo and Akita Are on Completely Different Playing Fields’.”
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