SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

TOP

» Japan
» Kobe middle schools begin abolishing extracurricular activities, shift to community programs

Featured

Weird
Studio Ghibli
Jobs

Kobe middle schools begin abolishing extracurricular activities, shift to community programs

Casey Baseel Sep 6, 2026
Tweet

The Kobekatsu program could end up being better for kids than the options they had before.

Extracurricular activities are a big deal at schools in Japan, widely considered an important way for adolescents to develop a sense of responsibility and diligence while forging friendships, developing healthy fitness habits, and deepening their appreciation for the arts. In some schools all students are actually required to join one of the school’s clubs or sports teams, and even at ones without such a rule, kids who don’t participate in any extracurricular activities, facetiously called members of the “going straight home” club, are decidedly in the minority.

However, as of September 1, many middle schools in Kobe have no extracurricular activities at all.

Extracurricular activities haven’t been temporarily suspendered at those schools due to damaged athletic fields, instructor sicknesses, or other temporary conditions. A total of 82 public middle schools have completely abolished their extracurricular programs, permanently disbanding their sports teams, marching bands, art clubs, and all other such groups.

▼ This could be a photo of one of the schools’ drama clubs.

The decision, recommended by the Kobe Board of Education, was prompted by two factors. Japanese public school teachers often find themselves stretched thin trying to prepare and teach lessons for their classes while also handling duties as instructors/coaches for extracurricular activities. With overwork being something that Japanese employers have become more sympathetic toward in recent years, if something has to give in a teacher’s schedule, it makes sense that the board would want them to prioritize their lessons.

Even if teachers have enough time to serve as advisors and coaches, though, with Japan’ s dwindlig birthrates, the clubs and teams don’t always have enough members. Even before abolishing their extracurricular programs entirely, some of the schools had already had to indefinitely disband certain teams and clubs as the number of students joining them was too small to keep them viable.

The good news is that the closing down of the schools’ extracurricular programs is also opening up new opportunities for the affected students. September 1 was also the start of a new program called Kobekatsu, katsu being a shortened form of bukatsu (“extracurricular activities”). Under the Kobekatsu program, the Kobe board of education has partnered with 1,051 local community sports teams, clubs, workshops, and universities that offer programs in athletics, the arts, and technology. Students at the schools which no longer offer extracurricular activities may join any of the Kobekatsu partner programs, and they receive a stipend of between 1,500 and 3,000 yen (US$9.50-US$19) a month to help cover participation costs, which average 3,200 yen per month. There’s also a fund being set up to help with the costs of procuring necessary equipment, such as sports supplies and musical instruments.

The shift to community and privately-run programs has the potential to diminish students’ sense of school pride, as even if students have classmates in their Kobekatsu club, the club is no longer representing the school. However, there are several potential upsides, with the increased choice provided to students being the most obvious. With over 1,000 partner organizations, students will have access to activities far beyond the range that their school could offer on its own.

Sure, there’s bound to be some overlap within the available activities, but even that’s something that could work out in students’ favor. It’s not unusual for kids to have an interest snuffed out by a short-tempered coach or unfriendly teammates, causing them to resent and even hate something they might have otherwise developed a lifelong passion for. With school-run clubs, you’re stuck with those personalities; if you’re playing baseball, and the coach is a jerk, then you’re going to be playing baseball with a jerk. On the other hand, Kobekatsu definitely has more than one baseball team among its 1,051 partners, and having more than one such group to choose from gives kids more options in finding a program with the atmosphere and culture that best nurtures their interest and talents.

In addition, since Kobekatsu activity choices aren’t restricted by address in the way that public middle school enrollment is, the new program will give participants an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have to interact with students from other schools, hopefully helping them become more open-minded, well-rounded individuals. So while it will be sad to see the schools’ clubs come to an end, this could be the start of something very good in its own right.

Source: NewsJP/Kyodo via Itai News, Yahoo! Japan News/ABC News, Kobe Shimbun Next
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!