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The story
Nippon TV announced the 16 schools advancing to the finals of the “46th National High School Quiz Championship,” sparking discussion on 5ch’s Geinou/Sports Breaking News+ board ahead of the broadcast on the night of September 21. Threads covered reactions to the show’s production choices, including the new collaboration stage with SixTONES, the fact that every Saitama Prefecture school was knocked out in the qualifying rounds leaving zero schools from northern Kanto, a rundown of notable alumni from competing schools like Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari and Asahikawa Higashi, and the show’s shift over the years from physical challenges to knowledge-focused questions. The thread’s main draw was the split opinion over the show’s question style and its use of celebrity talent.
Oricon
2026-09-21 16:45
The “46th National High School Quiz Championship,” often called the quiz world’s Koshien, airs today, the 21st, from 7:00 PM to 9:54 PM on the Nippon TV network. Ahead of the broadcast, the 16 schools that fought through fiercely contested final regional qualifiers to reach the finals have been decided.
Source: oricon.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Sick of it — even the commercials are wall-to-wall Johnny's talent.
Just chant 'soiya soiya soiya' and then hit them with a ( ﾟдﾟ)ﾊｯ! (a startled-gasp emoticon) — clear it on vibes alone, I guess?
Not long ago it was taken over by [producer] Akimoto instead — there was even a round where it felt like success hinged on whether Nogizaka46 did well, not the actual contestants.
Do kosen students even compete in the high school baseball tournament?
Because it got bumped from its Friday slot, then bumped from Tuesday too.
It's a technical kosen (college of technology) — the kind that competes in robot contests.
I panicked for a second too, thinking 'wait, Niihama Technical?'
Forget just Saitama — zero schools from northern Kanto, period.
They lost in the qualifying round before the nationals — Omiya, Sakae Higashi, and Waseda Honjo all got knocked out.
Rinko Sasaki (manga artist), Takeshi Terasawa,
Kazuhiro Fujita, Shigeki Kanahira (TBS news anchor)
Miyagi Prefectural Sendai Dai-Ni
Toru Tamagawa
Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari
Kei Tanaka, Rena Yamazaki, Narumi Takahashi, Marcus Tanaka Tulio, Aiko Kaito,
Asami Mizukami, Chisato Kaiho
Showa Gakuin Shuei
Shimiken
Asahikawa Higashi
Haruka Kitaguchi (javelin gold medalist)
Viktor Starffin (dropped out)
Kyosuke Maruta (dropped out)
Because the fangirls actually support the sponsors — the male fans get completely ignored, though.
Even Saitama schools like Urawa, Kasukabe, and Keio Shiki couldn't make the cut.
It works because it lands with the sponsors — the contestants couldn't care less.
Like when an elite school trips over some garbage question and falls in the qualifiers.
They've been trial-and-erroring it every year — went hardcore-difficult at one point, turned into basically a craft-project contest at another, and lately it's settled into a middle-school-level quiz show.
Ratings were actually good back then — the next year they dropped that approach and it completely bombed.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
“The National High School Quiz Championship” is a long-running show that began in 1983. It once made its name with physical obstacle-course races and outdoor challenges, but in recent years has shifted toward knowledge-focused questions, with the number of participating schools cut back significantly — a change the thread references directly, noting that “the running-around-town segments are gone” and it’s “become middle-school level.” The absence of Saitama schools stems from the fact that heavyweight contenders like Omiya, Sakae Higashi, and Waseda Honjo were eliminated in the qualifying round before the national finals; since the competition isn’t a one-representative-per-prefecture format, regions with a cluster of strong schools can end up shut out entirely. Comments about the relationship between sponsors/the network and the Johnny’s agency (including SixTONES) are general remarks about the show’s production choices, not attacks on any individual — that distinction is worth keeping in mind. The alumni listed for each school are drawn from publicly available biographical information, not definitive claims made within the thread.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[4ch] ‘High School Quiz Championship’ National Finalists Announced — New ‘Golden SixTONES’ Collab Stage / List of Participating Schools.”
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