Hayashi Naohiro (41), the second-generation host of the entrepreneur reality show “Reiwa no Tora” (“Tigers of Reiwa”), sparked discussion on 5ch’s Geinosupo Sokuho+ board after posting on X (formerly Twitter) messages aimed at cram school owners and exam-taking students nationwide, arguing that “academic pedigree is justice” and that “saying pedigree or exam scores don’t matter is just lip service.” Hayashi is also known for remarks like “companies only hire from Todai, Kyodai, Waseda, and Keio,” and the story was picked up by Yahoo! News as well. The thread saw split opinions over the real relationship between academic background and hiring/promotion, the perceived hierarchy between Todai/Kyodai and Waseda/Keio, and the reality behind companies that claim to be “pedigree-blind” in hiring.
Sat, Sep 5, 7:48 PM
Hayashi Naohiro (41), the second-generation host of “Reiwa no Tora,” updated his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 12th with a message to exam-taking students nationwide.
Hayashi called out: “Cram school owners across the country, why so quiet? You run cram schools because pedigree matters, don’t you?! Say something! If you’ve got nothing to say here, just let your kids go to a bottom-tier university [Fラン, ‘F-rank,’ slang for the lowest-tier schools]. Do you know why the middle-school exam boom is heating up? Because academic pedigree is justice — it’s a measure of effort! All you cram school heads out there — speak up!”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
2AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:02
This one's actually true
30AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:14
Re: #2
They recruit tons of people from Waseda and Keio whose math hensachi (standardized test score, 50 = average) was in the 30s — so scores clearly don't matter, huh?
6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:04
Once you're in, everyone's on the same footing.
Get that mixed up and you end up with a warped mindset.
You only get to use your "new-grad ticket" once.
But that one shot is precious.
7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:04
Having too many pedigree-obsessed idiots is this country's flaw,
but that doesn't mean the caste system is going away.
8AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:04
Waseda/Keio feels embarrassing, like just a safety school for Todai rejects.
9AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:04
But most of the success stories on the Takeda Juku (a cram school chain) website are for MARCH or lower [a tier of mid-ranked private universities].
10AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:05
When Google ran a pedigree-blind hiring test, the only people left standing were from Todai and Kyodai.
12AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:07
That part's true.
Any company everyone's heard of is pretty much like that.
14AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:08
Pedigree matters enormously —
even at rock bottom you should be at Waseda, Keio, Sophia, or Science University of Tokyo.
48AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:20
Re: #14
Hey now, what second-rate high school did you go to?
Osaka's Kita High School doesn't even have Keio or Waseda on its radar lol
Graduates of second-rate high schools shouldn't even talk about pedigree, it's embarrassing lol
15AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:08
Well, these days you can make way more money as a host, a hostess club worker, or an influencer — none of which care about pedigree — than by landing a job at a top company.
16AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:08
Ah, the guy who paid Hikaru [a major Japanese YouTuber] big money to appear on his channel and got the wrong idea about himself.
17AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:09
Well obviously — since you can't tell what someone's really like, if they can at least communicate at a basic level, you go by pedigree first.
What are you even talking about.
18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:09
"No job is beneath anyone" is also just lip service — there are definitely jobs nobody wants to do.
19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:09
Re: #1
Liberal arts students at Waseda/Keio have math and physics hensachi in the 30s, so I guess that means scores really don't matter lol
20AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:10
If Waseda/Keio grads get hired, then hensachi clearly doesn't matter.
21AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:11
Can't be helped.
This is basically the standard route for commoners to climb into the upper class.
22AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:11
That still doesn't make it okay to look down on people.
23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:11
No matter how much he shouts, he can't escape the fact that the Ministry of Education called him out over this.
24AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:12
Waseda and Keio aren't that big a deal.
Most people just don't know you can get in without taking math.
25AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:13
I'm a Waseda Poli-Sci/Econ grad, and like 80% of us are Todai/Kyodai rejects.
And yes, plenty of math involved.
27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:13
Year nine of Keio University's correspondence (distance-learning) program, still enrolled!
Believe it or not, I'm finally closing in on my graduation thesis!
I'm gonna be the top of the low-pedigree world, Mr. Hayashi!
29AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:14
Lol, a president who's literally on Reiwa no Tora.
45AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:19
Re: #29
This President Hayashi is actually a really good talker, he doesn't say weird stuff.
He did screw up with the gambling thing, though.
But I like how he speaks slowly and clearly so people can follow.
He even uses "boku" [a humble first-person pronoun] for himself.
Comes across likable when you watch him.
68AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:25
Re: #45
He's already a no-go the moment he screwed up with gambling, and being on something like Reiwa no Tora already marks him as a sketchy president.
Going up in your estimation just because he says "boku" lol
33AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:15
Whenever people talk about this stuff, a lot of them lump together Todai, Kyodai, Waseda, and Keio, but isn't there a massive gap between "Todai/Kyodai" and "Waseda/Keio"? Not just in exam difficulty but in the life that follows.
If you're gonna argue everything comes down to pedigree, at least be precise about that gap.
44AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:18
Re: #33
I've heard Waseda/Keio have alumni networks that give them a leg up in job hunting.
With an F-rank university you can't even get through the door in the first place, so pedigree is basically just an entry ticket.
42AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:17
I wonder how many people the Ministry of Education itself hired from universities with a hensachi under 60.
74AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:27
Re: #42
Government offices only hire you if you pass the civil service exam in the first place.
The exam itself is administered fairly, so which school you went to matters less than it does in the private sector.
Even a student from a top school will fail if they don't study.
51AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:20
Is Japan really that much of a pedigree-obsessed society? There are plenty of high school grads living well.
62AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:23
Re: #51
Back in the day, pedigree alone was enough to secure your future.
These days it's meritocratic, so once you're in a company, if you're capable you can climb the ladder.
But with a weak academic background you can't even get into a good company in the first place, so pedigree is really about the initial screening stage.
61AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:23
Well, of course.
Ability differences show up too.
63AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:23
Re: #61
Even idiots can get into Waseda/Keio.
64AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:24
Re: #63
So anything below Waseda/Keio must be below idiot level, then.
69AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:25
Re: #64
Meaning Waseda/Keio students are average in IQ terms.
The gap is about as meaningful as having a Kanji Kentei certificate [a standardized kanji proficiency test] versus not having one.
77AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:28
Japan's faith in academic pedigree is really just collecting the strongest cards to win a card game — a lot of these people have nothing to show for what they study, or studied, in college.
It's like a Pokémon card battle.
Feels like they're still desperately playing that game even as adults.
93AnonymousSep 5, 2026 21:33
Re: #77
Try saying that to Chinese, Korean, or French people lol
They'll tell you Japan's entrance exams are soft by comparison.
I actually think Japanese education gives each student a fair number of chances to develop their own individuality, though?
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Hayashi Naohiro is known as the successor host of the entrepreneur-support show “Reiwa no Tora,” and this latest post was marked by provocative language aimed at the cram school industry and exam-taking students. The thread split over whether it’s valid to claim “pedigree is justice” based on the hiring records of major corporations, with many pointing out that a hierarchy exists even between Todai/Kyodai and Waseda/Keio, and others sarcastically noting that people who got into Waseda/Keio through math-free entrance exams prove that “hensachi doesn’t matter.” On the other hand, many argued that pedigree is nothing more than an “entry ticket” for new-graduate hiring, and that evaluation after joining a company is a separate matter — so opinion on pedigree-first thinking is far from unanimous. Worth keeping in mind, since it’s easy to lose in the back-and-forth of replies: Waseda and Keio’s entrance exam formats vary by faculty in whether math is required, which means hensachi comparisons aren’t as simple as they first appear.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinosupo Sokuho+) thread “‘Reiwa no Tora’ President Hayashi tells exam-takers: ‘Saying pedigree or hensachi don’t matter is just lip service’ / ‘They only hire from Todai, Kyodai, Waseda, Keio lol’.”
