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. Founded in 1927, it's frequently cited and ranked as the best high school in all of Japan. Graduates often make up the majority of admissions to Japan's most prestigious universities, like the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. The school's alumni include Nobel laureates in Chemistry Ryōji Noyori, novelist Shūsaku Endō, and politician Yasutoshi Nishimura.

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. The school is known for encouraging a liberal educational space, student autonomy.

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).

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.

Nada ranks number one amongst high schools in Japan.

Nada High School is well known for its severe entrance examination. 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.

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. Nada High School sends a large number of its students to University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and top-tier medical school.