Do you know Japan’s Tohoku region?
Tohoku is a region located in the northeastern part of Honshu, Japan’s largest island.
It consists of 6 prefectures: Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima.
It faces the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Japan to the west, with mountains running through the center of the region. Alongside cities such as Sendai, there are areas of wide farmland, mountain towns, and coastal towns.
In winter, heavy snow falls in many areas, especially along the Sea of Japan coast and in the mountains.
A schoolyard where cherry blossoms bloom.
A path to school running through rice paddies.
A town blanketed in winter snow.
In Tohoku, you can see a variety of school scenes depending on the season and the area.
Today, the number of schools in Tohoku is decreasing.
This time, using data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “School Basic Survey,” we made a map that lets you compare the number of elementary, junior high, and high schools in Tohoku at 3 points in time: 1965, 1990, and 2024.
Why don’t you take a look, together with me, at how the number of schools in Tohoku has changed, using the map?
Tohoku’s School Count Change Map
This article treats Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima prefectures as making up Tohoku.
Use the buttons at the top of the map to switch between elementary, junior high, and high schools, and between 1965, 1990, and 2024.
The size of each circle on the map represents the number of schools. The color shows how the number of schools has changed compared to 1965.
Select the circle for a prefecture you’re curious about to see the total number of schools, the number of main and branch schools, and the breakdown by national, public, and private.
If you’d like to see all of Japan, select “All Japan.”
About the map data
This map was compiled and mapped by Visible World by Data, based on data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “School Basic Survey.”
School counts include both main schools and branch schools.
For high schools, this map shows full-time and part-time schools. Schools that are correspondence-only are not included.
1965 covers 46 prefectures, excluding Okinawa; 1990 and 2024 cover all 47 prefectures. Tohoku’s 6 prefectures are included in the survey at all 3 points in time.
Comparing school counts in Japan and Tohoku
The data card lets you compare the number of schools in Japan as a whole and in Tohoku’s 6 prefectures at 3 points in time: 1965, 1990, and 2024.
Use the buttons at the top to switch between elementary, junior high, and high schools.
Elementary schools in Tohoku went from 3,732 in 1965, to 2,874 in 1990, to 1,649 in 2024.
Junior high schools went from 1,673 in 1965, to 1,205 in 1990, to 904 in 2024.
High schools went from 640 in 1965, to 556 in 1990, to 442 in 2024.
After checking the numbers for Tohoku, take a look at the change across Japan as a whole, and the differences among Tohoku’s prefectures, on the map as well.
What I noticed while making this map
In Tohoku, elementary, junior high, and high schools have all declined over the 3 years compared here.
The decrease in elementary schools stands out in particular: by 2024, the number was less than half of what it was in 1965.
What also stood out to me was that the size of the decrease differs by school type.
You may be curious about how the number of schools has changed in your own country, too.
Why not use the map to compare those trends with changes in Tohoku?
Let’s look at school counts across Japan
In the regional articles, you can look more closely at the change in school numbers using an enlarged map and data card for each region.
Source: Compiled from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “School Basic Survey” (e-Stat)
※ School counts include both main schools and branch schools.
※ The high school counts include full-time and part-time schools.
※ Tohoku is the total of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima prefectures.