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explaining Japanese highschool with mha.

Read to the end for the actual mha part.

There are 4 types of high schools in Japan: private, public, technical college, and national schools, all requiring exams to enter high school. We’ll discuss the differences between them, which is which, and more.

There are 2 exams. The practical exam, and a written test typically consisting of the main 5 subjects: Japanese, math, science, English, and social studies. Private schools have custom-made tests to enter their school, and some private school tests only consist of 3 subjects. Almost all of them always consist of English and Japanese. Most add math as their 3rd subject, but some schools leave the 3rd subject as an option between the remaining math, science, and social

Private schools in Japan are the same as in the West; they operate outside of government funding and were founded by someone a while ago. To get money without help from government funding, they typically cost a lot to attend. Putting aside the cost of lessons alone, things like uniforms, club activities, and textbooks all cost a ridiculous amount of money to pay for the school.

Public schools, or 県立 (kenritsu) in Japanese, are much cheaper than private schools. Receiving government funds to operate lowers the prices significantly. To get into a public school, you still have to take the exam, and each prefecture has its own exam. It occurs on the same day, and everybody takes the same tests. Each test is 45 minutes; cheating means an immediate 0 points. Though they are public schools, public schools can offer a wide range of courses, from general studies to nursing, woodworking, mechanical degrees, graphic design, electrician, plumbing, and more. So despite being the most basic school, they’re not to be underestimated.

Technical colleges are a mix of high school and college, lasting up to 5 years for the main course, or plus 2 years for the advanced course, totaling seven years, whereas a typical high school lasts 3 years. The reason these schools take so long to graduate from is that they offer courses that include college curriculum and degrees. If you choose the longer, more difficult courses that the school offers. Technical colleges receive large amounts of government funding and are usually heavily focused on science and math, though they’re technically not high schools.

National schools

National schools, like those listed above, are the same thing as technical colleges. Almost all technical colleges are national schools; out of the 58 in the country, 51 are national schools. Hence, they get such large amounts of funding. But there are national schools that aren’t technical colleges. There are only 15 in the entirety of Japan (most recent data 2024), and their full name is something different from the national technical colleges. These schools are referred to as schools affiliated with national universities and are even more difficult to get into. National schools and technical colleges, like every other high school, require a test to get into Japan’s high schools. For every prefecture, tests for all technical colleges and national schools occur on the same day and use the same test, the only variation being the prefecture.

High school entrance exams

As stated above, all high schools in Japan require an exam to enter. Each type of school gets a different allocated test and exam day depending on the prefecture. Private schools have privately made tests, while all public schools (national and technical colleges included) receive the same test, depending on the prefecture. Public school is this test, technical college is this test, national school is this test. These tests vary from prefecture to prefecture. For example, my prefecture is notorious for having extremely long word problems for every subject, regardless, making you read and think and using difficult terminology to throw you off. Apparently, it’s been like this for decades. These tests are all written exams, while the English test has a 10–15 minute listening part. Any sound made on purpose results in failure. Accidental sounds such as bodily noises, gas, sneezing, etc., will be let go, and they’ll replay the recording.There are also other types of high school exams besides the written 5-subject exam.

These are the special entrance exam and recommendation exam.

Special entrance exams.

People who excel in extracurricular or club activities during their middle school years can receive offers from high schools or have their middle school recommend them for special entrance exams. These entrance exams vary from school to school, but all schools will evaluate your practical ability based on the recommendation you received, whether it be arts, music, or sports like basketball. If you truly excel to the best of the best, extremely famous high school sports teams may even reach out, offering you a spot. One of my classmates transferred to an extremely famous soccer team in Hiroshima after being offered a spot as a goalie. His clips are now on YouTube, and he’s doing amazing.Special high school entrance exams are not limited to extracurriculars only, either, as any high school can offer these exams, from general course recommendations to things like nursing course recommendations. Getting a recommendation or offer means that if you take it and pass whatever test they give, you must attend that school. In most cases, it’s easier than passing the traditional entrance exam, with many tests being writing an essay on a given theme.

You do not need recommendations to apply for special entrance exams; however, most high schools offer the special entrance exams outside of that. These are exclusive to extracurriculars. These exams will always have a technical/practical exam where you show off your skills. If it were music, it might be playing a piece or a scale. The high school I was thinking about needed a scale and a song piece. The teacher there stated that you do not need to play an instrument to apply and pass the rest; singing with all your might will do fine, as what he’s looking for is passion in music. That was just that school, as that teacher is famous in my prefecture, and his brass band shows up on TV often and goes to nationals every year. Though his greatness comes at a cost, as he’s known for being extremely strict, scary, and doesn’t tolerate any bullshit. Enough of that, though, back to the point. That was just an example; not all schools are that lenient. All of them will require a practical test.

The second test, however, will vary from school to school: some lessen the subjects of the original entrance exams, others just have an essay, some schools have an interview, maybe all and more, depending on the school.

Bare in mind, applying for these extracurricular, sports, or arts exams does not guarantee you’ll become a professional in that area. Most proceed to do ordinary jobs in the future or go to university. Typically, only 1 person every few years go on to become professionals.

The second part of the high school entrance exams is the interview. Regardless of what school you attend, you will have to go through an interview where they ask various questions. One thing they will ask, regardless of school, is, “Why did you choose our school?” Other questions may include personal questions, strengths and weaknesses, best memories from middle school, what you tried in middle school club activities, and much more. These questions vary heavily by high school and course. The ones listed above are common examples you’d find in high school interview preparation books. When you reach your 3rd year of middle school, they start doing mock interviews nearly daily at school to help you prepare.The timing of all these exams may also vary. Special exams and national school exams can go as far back as late November to December, while most private and technical college exams are usually in January, and public school exams in February to March.

Online school

There is also a type of school I left out: online school. Online schooling doesn’t require any entrance exams and costs significantly less, while still giving you a graduation certification. Beyond that, it makes it extremely hard to attend any form of college, university, or vocational school. While not impossible, it is hard. These schools look at thousands of applicants—why choose someone from an online school when you have an applicant from a national school? You’re at the bottom of the ranking. Because, in typical Japanese fashion, image is everything. Online schools are recommended for people with medical illnesses, typically mental, or those who struggle with busy places like classrooms and schools etc. Many people who do not attend middle school apply for these, too. While an ordinary person may attend, it isn’t recommended.

College/university

Speaking of colleges, like high schools, universities, colleges, and vocational schools also require entrance exams and are considered 100 times harder than high school entrance exams. You can also receive recommendations to a university, but they only accept a small number from each school, and you need top grades, a clean slate, and to be perfect to receive these. Tests vary by college, with the most difficult in the country obviously being the University of Tokyo.

Highschools have ranks

This is another thing I didn’t mention above: among the different types of schools and varying test difficulty, there are also different passing scores for each high school based on ranking in your area. For example, if you want to be a doctor, you must attend the best general course in your city to have the background to apply or receive recommendations. So yes, your career path is decided by what school you attend and graduate from.

Transferrinng

Unlike in anime, you cannot transfer high schools. The only exception is moving very, very far. And even then, you don’t transfer—take the fucking train. Some people commute from Tokyo to attend the high school I mentioned earlier with the music program because of how elite and famous it is. And FYI, Tokyo is 770 km away. He takes the train every day and shows up on time for morning practice. So there’s pretty much no excuse to transfer high schools unless you’re moving off Honshu to places like Hokkaido or Kyushu, which are a little too far for a train ride.

Dropping out

If you don’t meet the right attendance marks, basic grades, or other criteria, you’ll be given the option to redo the grade or drop out. Though rare, dropping out is more common.

Now a dire question: what happens if you drop out? In Japan, what high school you graduate from determines your career path. Public school = ordinary job or the vocational degree you receive if you choose to use it. Private school varies by school. Some are elite, some are basic. National/technical schools, depending on rank, typically lead to higher-ranking colleges. Online school = ordinary job, or if you can’t work due to reasons listed earlier, you stay at home. And if you drop out? You can’t even get a basic job, not even something like a grocery store worker or delivery driver. So not attending high school is worse than suicide in some ways. In my prefecture, about 5 percent of students who graduate middle school choose to skip high school, and less than 1 percent of them land a job. That’s how bad it is. Go to school, folks.

MHA

Now, with all that information, you may be curious what high school UA High is. I have an answer for you. UA High is a national high school. In the alternate reality MHA is set in, it would be added to the small pool of national high schools that aren’t technical colleges.

National high schools, as the name suggests, are the hardest high schools to get into test-wise, but some can offer a recommendation to the University of Tokyo, making it all worthwhile. The test Midoriya and Bakugo took was the standard special entrance exam, whereas Shoto and Momo took the recommendation entrance exam.

Hatsune Mei is in a robotics course, where she can receive her vocational license or use her robotics grades for a recommendation into an elite robotics university course to further boost her resume and background check. Hatsune had it good.So now you know more about Japan’s high school system, the entrance exams Midoriya took at the start, and how UA hasn’t gone broke with the amount of robots and other things they burn through.

Hope you enjoyed~

my experience taking the entrance exam