Tottori Jōhoku High School

Tottori Jōhoku High School, also commonly known as Jōhoku High, is a private high school located in Tottori, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.

Tottori Jōhoku High School 鳥取城北高校
Address
848 Nishihonji Tottori Prefecture Tottori , Japan
Coordinates	35°30′32″N 134°13′27″E / 35.5089°N 134.2241°E / 35.5089; 134.2241
Information
School type	Private, Coeducational
Motto	質実剛毅 "simplicity and fortitude"
Established	1963
School number	0857-23-3502
Principal	Tokiyoshi Ishiura
Enrollment	approx. 1000 students
Color(s)	dark red and white
Website	In Japanese https://www.tottori-johoku.ed.jp/

The school is known for its baseball and sumo clubs, and a range of club activities and studies.

History

The school was founded on March 12, 1963, by the Tottori Gakuen Educational Corporation but only effectively opened in April of the same year. At the time, only regular, commercial, and home economics courses were established. In 1976, the school established a department of Major Studies followed by a General Education Course (Liberal Arts, University Preparatory Course, Physical Education, and Shigaku Course) and the Commerce Course (Commerce and Information Processing Course) in 1988. In March 2004, the Major Studies department was closed. In 2009, the physical education course became coeducational. Tokiyoshi Ishiura is the current principal and chairman of the board.

Features and characteristics

Educational policy

Since the 2013 school year, the school has been offering six classes a day, each lasting 45 minutes. In addition, students in the "Shigaku" course have a special 7th period class, and for students who are involved in club activities, supplementary classes are offered after the club activities are over. The school also offers classes after school and on weekends and holidays for students who volunteer. The employment rate of Tottori Jōhoku High School has been 100% for seven consecutive years (2014–2021).^[1][2]

Courses

 

Tottori Jōhoku logo

Tottori Jōhoku High School's general program have three courses: the "Shigaku Course", the "Kenshi Course", and the "Sports Science Course". The three courses vary greatly in terms of difficulty and goals.

Shigaku Course (志学コース)

The Shigaku course is a core in which students study with the aim of advancing to a national or public university or a highly competitive private university. It is a course that is close to the image of a general high school entrance course.

In the Shigaku course, second year students give first year students advice on study and school life with a system of tutoring, making it possible to create vertical connections between seniors and juniors students.^[3]

In addition, there are educational efforts to pass the difficult university exams, such as mini-tests every day and a study camp in September of the third year, so that students can work together to take the exam.

Kenshi Course (研志コース)

The goal of this course is to aim for a range of career paths, such as entering a university or vocational school or finding a job. Beginning in the first year, students are divided into a "university entrance class", which aims to go on to higher education, and an "inquiry class", which aims to get the students a job directly after high school.^[4]

Sports science course (スポーツ科学コース)

In the Sports Science Course, students spend their days in their sports disciplines in the Tottori Jōhoku campus. The course has an advanced class aimed at advancing to university, allowing students to aim for both academic and athletic successes. Some graduates went on to national universities from the special course.^[5]

In this particular course, Tottori Jōhoku High School graduated have gone on to success in sports such as baseball and sumo.^[6]

Clubs

Sports

Tottori Jōhoku High School has athletic facilities including an artificial turf field, tartan course, baseball field, training room, and arena gymnasium.^[7]

Sumo

 

Hokuseihō with his Johōku High keshō-mawashi

The sumo club was founded in 1968.^[8] Ishiura, the head of the sumo club, is the current director of the school board and its principal. The coach of the club, Mongolian Rentsendorj Gantugs, is a former recruit of the school.^[9] A number of sekitori come from the ranks of the school,^[6] among whom are yokozuna Terunofuji, sekiwake Ichinojō, maegashira Ishiura, Mitoryū and Hokuseihō, Hakuōhō, Takerufuji and juryō Takakentō. In May 2015, Terunofuji won professional sumo's top division championship, or yūshō,^[10] and he visited the school in October 2021 shortly after being promoted to yokozuna.^[11] Since the opening of the club, Tottori Jōhoku have produced 17 sekitori.^[12] The school has links to Miyagino stable, with Hakuōhō, Hokuseihō and Ishiura, the son of the current principal, all being graduates.^[13]

Between 2019 and 2022, Tottori Jōhoku's sumo team won four team championships and ended second place in one. In March 2024, the school won its first team competition in five years at the Kōchi's National High School Sumo Draft Tournament.^[14] Individually, and during the same period, its wrestlers won three individual championships (including medium-weight and open-weight classes).^[15] Since 2021, it is customary for the school to present a keshō-mawashi (ceremonial apron) to each of its former student who is promoted to juryō. So far, the school has offered a keshō-mawashi to Hokuseihō, Takakentō, Rōga and Hakuōhō. The aprons are usually dark red (after the colour of the school) with the head of a kirin, a traditional art figure from the Inaba Province (now Tottori Prefecture), depicted in the center. The words "Training without lies," the motto of the Sumo Club, and "Johōku spirit," a reminder of the alma mater, are embroidered on the side of the head along with the name of the wrestler.^[16]

Baseball

See also: Kōshien baseball tournament

The school's baseball club was founded in 1969^[17] and has the largest number of members in the prefecture (135 in 2018).^[18] The current coach of the team, Hiroyuki Yamaki, is a graduate and a former coach at Shimane's prestigious Enokawa High School baseball club (now Iwami Chisuikan High School).^[18] Since its creation, the club have participated in eight Kōshien tournaments,^[19] four spring invitationals and four summer national championships.^[20] They have also been successful at the Tottori prefectural level, having won the tournament 11 times, most recently in 2023.^[21] In February 2023, former professional baseball player Kazuhisa Kawaguchi, a native of Tottori-city and Tottori Jōhoku graduate, was appointed prefectural advisor for baseball competitions in Tottori.^[22] Other successful alumni include Atsushi Nomi and Ryohei Fujiwara.

Alumni

Sumo

• Terunofuji Haruo, sumo's 73rd yokozuna
• Mitoryū Takayuki, first non-Japanese to win the title of amateur-yokozuna
• Rōga Tokiyoshi, first foreigner to win the title of high-school yokozuna
• Kotomitsuki Keiji
• Ichinojō Takashi
• Takanoiwa Yoshimori
• Sakaizawa Kenichi
• Ishiura Masakatsu
• Hokuseihō Osamu
• Takakentō Terutora
• Hakuōhō Tetsuya
• Takerufuji Mikiya

Baseball

• Ryohei Fujiwara, professional player
• Atsushi Nomi, professional player
• Kazuhisa Kawaguchi, prefectural advisor, former professional player

Others

• Dancho Yasuda [ja], TV celebrity
• Tanaka Seiji [ja], former professional boxer (flyweight)
• Yuki Ishida, professional wrestler

References

1. "Tottori Jōhoku High School: high school characteristics, reputation, difficulty summary". Yobikō database review (Tottori Jōhoku High School) (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
2. "School year report (2021)" (PDF). Tottori Jōhoku High School website (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
3. "Shigaku course: Aiming to a national/public university or a difficult private university!". Tottori Johaku High School website (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
4. "Kenshi course: Aiming for personal growth through improving academic ability and diverse activities, and expanding the possibility of realizing dreams". Tottori Johaku High School website (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
5. "Sports Science Course: Aiming for the national level with friends gathered from all over the country!". Tottori Johaku High School website (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
6. Gunning, John (19 March 2020). "Tough training in high school forged Mongolian Ichinojo". Japan Times. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
7. "About facilities and equipment". Tottori Johaku High School website (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
8. "20 years of cooperation in making rice cakes, sumo club members receive 2 rice cookers Tottori Johoku High School". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 22 April 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
9. "Bound in Heart by Sumo". NHK. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
10. "Terunofuji Wins Grand Sumo Summer Tournament". Asahi Shimbun/Getty images. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
11. "Yokozuna Terunofuji makes triumphant return to Tottari alma mater". Sanin Chuo Shimpo Digital (in Japanese). 5 October 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
12. "The origin of "monster" Ochiai's strength, as described by his former teacher, is the three factors behind his outstanding strength". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
13. Gunning, John (1 February 2023). "Hakuho positions himself to dominate sumo once again". Japan Times. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
14. "[National High School Sumo Draft Tournament] Tottori Johoku wins the team competition for the first time in 5 years! Defeated Saitama Sakae of last year's high school team V in the final". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). 18 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
15. "Tottori Johoku High School Sumo Club" (PDF). Tottori Johoku High School (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
16. "Ochiai receives a keshō-mawashi from his alma mater, Tottori Johōku High School". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 8 March 2023.
17. "Tottori Jōhoku to compete in summer Kōshien for the fifth time in three years". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
18. "[Tottori Jōhoku] Overcoming a heavy defeat in spring, the summer stands at the top of Tottori". Timely Japan (in Japanese). 31 October 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
19. "Johoku Tottori, a powerhouse who has participated in Koshien eight times in total, returns to Koshien with a sense of unity created by intense training". HB Nippon Baseball magazine (in Japanese). 26 January 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
20. "Tottori Johoku High School to participate in the Kōshien Spring Tournament for the fourth time in two years". NHK (in Japanese). 27 January 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
21. "Tottori Johoku Wins Autumn High School Baseball Tournament in Tottori for 11th Time, their first win in 3 Years". NHK (in Japanese). 1 October 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
22. "Kazuhisa Kawaguchi to be "Special Advisor" to Strengthen High School Baseball". NHK (in Japanese). 17 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.

External links

• Tottori Jōhoku baseball results (in Japanese)