Numazu is one hour by shinkansen from Tokyo. The Tokkaido Line takes two hours. By car the journey is also one hour on the highway. Numazu is in the east of Shizuoka prefecture and Ohokaminami Elementary School is to the east of Numazu City. The Numazu area has a gentle climate, and snow is rare. The population of Numazu City is 210,859. To the south can be found Suruga Bay and the Kisegawa River. To the north, Mt Fuji overlooks the city. The view of the famous mountain is very beautiful, especially in spring. Nearby Kakida River to the east is a river with the most water in the whole of Asia.

The philosophy of Ohokaminami Elementary School is to help children to be healthy in both mind and body, and to create a sense of independence and confidence. The three keywords of the school are friendship, health and intelligence. The Principal is Tadashi Sakaguchi. The staff of the school includes a vice principal, 28 teachers, 1 care teacher, 2 clerical staff, 1 dietician, 5 qualified chefs, and 1 caretaker. There are 387 boys and 369 girls, including 3 Brazilians, 1 Peruvian, 1 Sri Lankan, and 1 child from The Philippines. The school has 24 classes, 4 in each grade.

The first semester begins on April 4th and breaks up for the five week summer vacation on July 21st. The second semester starts on August 29th and finishes on December 22nd. The winter holiday lasts for two weeks. The third semester starts on January 5th, with the school year coming to an end on March 20th. There are 204 teaching days in the school year, with four periods in the morning and one or two in the afternoon, from Monday to Friday. All children come to school on foot with their brothers, sisters, and friends. The children don’t have to wear a uniform, but years 1, 2, and 3 have to wear a yellow hat to be safe when they walk to and from school. They also carry a satchel.

Japanese children study Japanese, Society, Mathematics, Science, Music, Art, Domestic Science, Physical Education, Moral Education, and English. English is being taught for the first time in 2006. At lunchtime students can eat a delicious meal provided by the school. After lunch they have free time to play. The children enjoy playing football, basketball, dodgeball, riding on unicycles, skipping, climbing on the climbing frames, and ‘It’, to name but a few games. Following their lunch break all the children must help to clean the school, every day except Thursday. Each year the students go on three excursions to enjoy education outdoors. The 6th year students also go on educational tours to Tokyo and Nikko. The security and safety of the children is always of the utmost importance to the school in all activities, both within the school itself, and on these excursions.

Please send us an email!

oookaminami-e@numazu-szo.ed.jp