Do you know Japan’s Koshinetsu region?
Koshinetsu is a region located in the central part of Honshu, Japan’s largest island.
It consists of 3 prefectures: Niigata, Yamanashi, and Nagano.
The name “Koshinetsu” comes from the old province names Kai for Yamanashi, Shinano for Nagano, and Echigo for Niigata.
Niigata faces the Sea of Japan, while Yamanashi and Nagano do not face the sea. The region has high mountains, basins, farmland, and orchards, and some areas receive heavy snowfall in winter.
A school building with high mountains visible in the distance.
A path to school running past rice paddies and orchards.
A town blanketed in winter snow.
In Koshinetsu, you can see a variety of school scenes depending on the area and the season.
Today, the number of schools in Koshinetsu 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 Koshinetsu 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 Koshinetsu has changed, using the map?
Koshinetsu’s School Count Change Map
This article treats Niigata, Yamanashi, and Nagano prefectures as making up Koshinetsu.
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. Koshinetsu’s 3 prefectures are included in the survey at all 3 points in time.
Comparing school counts in Japan and Koshinetsu
The data card lets you compare the number of schools in Japan as a whole and in Koshinetsu’s 3 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 Koshinetsu went from 1,881 in 1965, to 1,358 in 1990, to 968 in 2024.
Junior high schools went from 800 in 1965, to 571 in 1990, to 512 in 2024.
High schools went from 339 in 1965, to 285 in 1990, to 239 in 2024.
After checking the numbers for Koshinetsu, take a look at the change across Japan as a whole, and the differences among the 3 prefectures, on the map as well.
What I noticed while making this map
In Koshinetsu, 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 nearly half of what it was in 1965.
What also stood out to me was that all school types decreased in a similar way.
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 Koshinetsu?
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.
※ Koshinetsu is the total of Niigata, Yamanashi, and Nagano prefectures.