Number of Boys’ Schools Falls to 92—Half the Total from 20 Years Ago, Even as Top Schools Improve Results

News of women’s universities being in crisis has been around for some time. With examinees increasingly preferring coeducational schools, management at women’s universities has deteriorated, and their number has fallen from 98 at the 1998 peak to around 60 today.

But it is not only women’s universities that face an existential crisis. Boys’ schools are also rapidly disappearing. According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, in the 2024 school year, only 92 of the 4,774 national, public, and private high schools nationwide are boys’ schools—fewer than 2%. This is half the number from 20 years ago in 2004 (173 schools), and the decline is even steeper than that of girls’ schools over the same period (from 438 to 266).

Education journalist Reiji Ishiwata explains the background:

“There are two main reasons why boys’ schools have drastically decreased.

The first is the declining birthrate. Naturally, in single-sex schools, only boys can apply to boys’ schools and only girls to girls’ schools. With the decreasing number of children today, schools face management risks unless they switch to coeducation and attract examinees of both genders.

The second reason is discomfort with gender-segregated education. Especially in public schools, many parents question whether there is any need to separate students by gender. Even now, some municipalities—such as Saitama and Gunma—retain gender-segregated public schools, but prefectures like Fukushima and Miyagi shifted entirely to coeducation from the 2000s onward. Among private schools, too, coeducation has rapidly progressed at mid-tier and lower-tier schools that struggle to secure enough students.”

Tokyo University passers: from 5 → 30

As Ishiwata points out, most of the schools that have switched to coeducation in recent years are mid-tier or lower. The majority of schools that still remain boys’ schools today are top-tier institutions. And while many warn of a crisis for boys’ schools, some of these top schools have seen their university admission results rise sharply. Below is a comparison of the number of University of Tokyo acceptances at three representative boys’ schools, 20 years ago (2005) versus this year:

・Seiko Gakuin (Yokohama, Kanagawa): 49 → 95

・Waseda High School (Shinjuku, Tokyo): 5 → 30

・Hongo High School (Toshima, Tokyo): 2 → 15

Ishiwata continues:

“The advantage of single-sex education is that students can focus on studying without worrying about the opposite sex. Boys’ schools have declined more sharply than girls’ schools. As options have decreased, capable male students who prefer single-sex education may be concentrating more heavily in a smaller number of top-tier schools.”

In eastern Japan, the famous “Big Three”—Kaisei (Arakawa, Tokyo), Azabu (Minato, Tokyo), and Musashi (Nerima, Tokyo); and in western Japan, elite schools like Nada (Kobe, Hyōgo) and Todaiji Gakuen (Nara)—are all boys’ schools. Though the overall number may continue to decline, the presence of these traditional boys’ schools is unlikely to fade anytime soon.