Shikoku, Kinki, and Hokushinetsu regions clash! Women's Team J League.
The Women's J-League at the third court consists of a group with one school each from Shikoku, Kinki, and Hokushinetsu: Kochi's prefectural Oko, Shiga's prefectural Kusatsu Higashi, and 石川's private Kanazawa. Few of these schools are widely known for their achievements in national tournaments, but all are representatives of their respective prefectures who won their prefectural qualifiers. In a three-school round-robin, each school plays two matches, and only one school can advance to the final tournament.
These three schools.
- Oko（岡豊）Kochi PrefectureGirls' team.Men's Individual
- Kusatsu Higashi（草津東）Shiga Prefecture.Girls' team.Men's IndividualWomen's IndividualWomen's Individual: 田中 夢真Players(3Year)
- Kanazawa（金沢）石川 PrefectureGirls' team.Women's IndividualWomen's Individual: 尾蔵 花Players(3Year)
The one school that advanced will play against the winners of the I League (Naradai Fuzoku(Nara), Seijo(Aichi), Taisha(Shimane)) in the first round of the finals tournament.
Highlights
Round-robin tournament between three schools – only one team can advance.
The preliminary league will be a round-robin between three schools, with each school playing two matches. The team match consists of five members: Senpo, Jiho, Chuken, Fukusho, and Taisho. The winning school will be determined by the number of wins, and if tied, by the number of points scored. In the official results of the previous tournament, the number of wins and points were listed together, such as "3(6)-1(2)". Only one school from each league will advance to the knockout tournament. The school that advances from Jリーグ will play against the winner of Iリーグ in the first round of the knockout tournament.
Shikoku, Kinki, and Hokushinetsu each sent one school.
The J League consists of three schools from different regions: Oko (Kochi), Kusatsu Higashi (Shiga) from Kinki, and Kanazawa (石川) from Hokushinetsu. While there is no mutual attrition between schools of the same region, they also have fewer opportunities to face each other in practice, making it a group where it is difficult to read each other's strategies. Of the three schools, only Kusatsu Higashi (player 田中夢真) and Kanazawa (player 尾蔵花) have sent athletes to the women's individual event. For Oko, player 山口朔空 in the men's individual event has won the Kochi prefectural qualifiers.
Two prefectural high schools with physical education departments.
Oko and Kusatsu Higashi are both public schools with specialized sports courses and departments. Kochi Prefectural Oko High School was established in 1983 and opened in 1984, offering general academic courses as well as arts and sports courses, and is known as the only school in the prefecture with a specialized art and calligraphy course. The school motto is "Academic Ability, Character, Health." Shiga Prefectural Kusatsu Higashi High School opened in 1978 and established the prefecture's only physical education department in 1995. Both schools have a foundation to support athletic ability as an institution.
Two schools that have produced Olympic gold medalists and sumo grand champions.
Kusatsu Higashi is the alma mater of Yui Ohashi (graduated in 2013), who won the gold medal in the women's 400-meter individual medley at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and its soccer club was the runner-up in the 79th All Japan High School Soccer Tournament in 2000. Meanwhile, Kanazawa High School is the school that produced the 54th Yokozuna, Wajima Daiji. It is a private school in 石川 with many nationally recognized athletic clubs, including a hardball baseball club with 9 selection tournament appearances and a boys' basketball club with 15 Winter Cup appearances.
"Number one in Japan" aiming Kanazawa’s girls’ kendo team
Private Kanazawa High School in 石川 Prefecture, Kanazawa City, opened in 1928 as the first private junior high school in 石川 Prefecture. It became a high school during the 1948 educational system reform and became coeducational in 1958. The school motto is "Sincerity and Fortitude." The girls' kendo club is based at the "Yoshinkan" martial arts hall, practicing from 16:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 12:00 on weekends and holidays, with one rest day per week. The advisors are 藤田裕佳 and 中村愛佳. Their policy is "aiming for 'number one in Japan' with the goal of character development through kendo."
Advancing further leads to the I League.
The school that won through J League will face the winner of I League in the first round of the final tournament. In I League are Taisha (Shimane), which placed third in the women’s team at the All Japan High School Kendo Selection Tournament in March 2026, Naradai Fuzoku, the host school continuing a 47-year winning streak at the Nara Prefecture Tournament, and Seijo from Aichi. This group includes both the best 4 nationwide this spring and the host champion, and the school that wins through there will stand in the way of the J League winner.
Live broadcast「Shikoku, Kinki, and Hokushinetsu regions clash! Women's Team J League.」
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Messages of support for the participating schools and players.
Oko, Kusatsu Higashi, Kanazawa—Shikoku, Kinki, Hokushinetsu. Three schools that rarely practice together will face each other for the first time in Nara. Kochi’s prefectural high school, having come to the national level, has 山口朔空 as its representative in the boys’ individual event, Kusatsu Higashi with 田中夢真 trained at the prefecture’s only school of physical education, and Kanazawa with 尾蔵花 in the girls’ individual event, having swung bamboo swords at Yōshinkan aiming for the best in Japan. All three schools have come to this place for the first time after standing at the top of their respective prefectures. Even though there is only one qualifying spot, the fact that they stood here representing their prefecture cannot be erased by anyone. Please give it your all, everything you have built up.
To the five members from Senpo to Taisho.
The Kanazawa dojo and Yōshinkan are open from 4 PM to 7 PM on weekdays, and from 9 AM to 12 PM on weekends and holidays. Five members, selected from those who have accumulated that time, will line up from Senpo to Taisho. Only Kanazawa’s 尾蔵花 and Kusatsu Higashi’s 田中夢真 are listed in the women's individual event. The reason Oko has no women's individual participants is because each prefecture has only two slots for the individual event, and it has nothing to do with the fact that they won through Kochi. It's just that their names haven't been announced yet. On August 2nd, when the match begins, the order will be announced, and the names of all fifteen players from the three schools will be called. Whether it's a public dojo or a private dojo, the weight of accumulated time is the same. Let us hear those names in Nara.
School Information
Oko（岡豊）
- Official name
- 高知県立岡豊高等学校
- Reading
- Oko
- Division/Category of Establishment
- Kochi Prefectural (coeducational)
- Location
- Kochi Prefecture Minamiku City Oko Town Nakajima 511-1
- History
- Opened on November 1, 1983, and held its opening ceremony on April 7, 1984.
- School motto/philosophy
- School motto: "Academics, Character, and Health"
- Department.
- General academic course (capacity 240 students), general academic course with an arts focus (capacity 40 students), general academic course with a physical education focus (capacity 40 students). The only school in the prefecture with specialized courses in fine arts and calligraphy.
- Kendo Club
- In the Kochi prefectural qualifiers for fiscal year 2026, the women's team advanced to Inter-High. 山口朔空 (3rd year, 3rd dan) will participate in the men's individual competition. According to Wikipedia, the team boasts one of the strongest kata skills in the prefecture and has multiple wins and placements in prefectural tournaments. No information was found regarding the team's performance in national tournaments.
- Notes
- The school name comes from a place name derived from the Oko castle of the Kōnoike clan. It is read as "Okō".
Kusatsu Higashi（草津東）
- Official name
- 滋賀県立草津東高等学校
- Reading
- Kusatsu Higashi
- Division/Category of Establishment
- Shiga Prefectural (Co-educational)
- Location
- 8-65 Nishishibukawa 2-chome, Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture.
- History
- Opened in April 1978 as a general academic high school focused on serving the local community. In April 1995, it established the only physical education course in the prefecture.
- Department.
- General studies and physical education (40 students per grade, the only one in Shiga Prefecture).
- Kendo Club
- Winning the Shiga Prefecture qualifiers for the Reiwa 8 academic year, they will participate in Inter-High as a women’s team. 田中夢真 (3rd year, 3rd dan) will participate in the women’s individual event, and 横江光輝 (3rd year, 3rd dan) will participate in the men’s individual event. No nationwide tournament results for the kendo club alone could be confirmed in publicly available information. As a school, they produced Yui Ohhashi, the gold medalist in the women’s 400-meter individual medley at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (graduated in fiscal year 2013), and the soccer club was runner-up at the 79th All Japan High School Soccer Tournament in 2000.
Kanazawa（金沢）
- Official name
- 金沢高等学校
- Reading
- Kanazawa
- Division/Category of Establishment
- Private (coeducational). Established by Kanazawa High School Corporation.
- Location
- 石川 Prefecture, Kanazawa City, Izumi Honmachi 3-chome 111
- History
- Opened in March 1928 (Showa 3) as the first private junior high school in 石川 Prefecture. It became a high school during the school system reform of 1948 and became coeducational in 1958.
- School motto/philosophy
- School motto: "Quality and Robustness"
- Department.
- General academic courses (S course, Advanced course, University preparatory course. Enrollment in the Sports course has been suspended since the 2022 academic year).
- Kendo Club
- The girls' kendo club operates out of the "Yoshinkan" martial arts hall. Activity hours are 16:00–19:00 on weekdays and 9:00–12:00 on weekends and holidays, with one rest day per week. The advisors are 藤田裕佳 and 中村愛佳. Their stated goal is "human development through kendo, striving to be the best in Japan." After winning the 石川 prefectural qualifiers for the 2026 academic year, they qualified for the Inter-High in the girls' team event and girls' individual event (尾蔵花 player, 3rd year, 3rd dan). Team results at the national tournament could not be confirmed through public information. The school has produced the 54th Yokozuna, 輪島大士, and has a track record including the hardball baseball club appearing in the selection tournament 9 times and the boys' basketball club appearing in the Winter Cup 15 times.
- Notes
- 石川 Prefectural Kanazawa Sakuragaoka / private schools separate from prefectural schools such as Kanazawa Nishikigaoka
・National High School Kendo Tournament Official Website ↗
・Let's Kendo [Matchups] August 2nd - 5th, 73rd All Japan High School Kendo Tournament / Nara Inter-High 2026. ↗
・Wikipedia Kochi Prefectural Oko High School ↗
・Wikipedia Shiga Prefectural Kusatsu Higashi High School ↗
・Wikipedia Kanazawa High School ↗
・Kanazawa High School Girls' Kendo Club ↗
・All Japan Kendo Federation 35th National High School Kendo Selection Tournament Results. ↗
・Notion Participating School Library Oko High School Kendo Club History and Achievements Summary ↗
・Notion Participating Schools Library Kusatsu Higashi High School Kendo Club History and Achievements Summary ↗
・Notion Participating School Library Kanazawa High School Kendo Club History and Achievements Summary ↗
・72nd All Japan High School Kendo Tournament (Hiroshima 2025) – Tournament Quick Report ↗
Which fact comes from which source?
- League structure (Oko・Kusatsu Higashi・Kanazawa), third match venue, individual competition participants from each school, J vs. I matchups in the final tournament are in data/2026/league_briefs.json and data/2026/kumiawase.json (based on the official PDF).
- Each school's official name, type of institution, location, pronunciation, and qualification for participation can be found on the school-specific page in the Notion "2026 Inter-High Kendo Participating Schools Library."
- Oko’s founding year, school motto “Academics, Character, Health”, department structure, the only art and calligraphy course in the prefecture, and the kendo club’s achievements in Nihon Kendo Kata are on Wikipedia.
- Kusatsu Higashi’s founding year, the establishment of the physical education department in 1995, the graduation year of 大橋悠依, and the soccer club’s national runner-up achievement are on Wikipedia.
- For Kanazawa's founding year (1928, the prefecture's first private junior high school), school motto "Shitsujitsu Goken," course structure, and the production of Wajima Taishi, see Wikipedia. For the girls' kendo club's activity location "Yoshinkan," activity hours, advisor's name, and guidance policy, see the kendo club page on the school's official website.
- I-League member schools and Taisha’s 3rd place in this spring’s All-Japan High School Kendo Selection Tournament are available on data/2026/league_briefs.json and the All Japan Kendo Federation’s 35th All-Japan High School Kendo Selection Tournament results page.
- For team matches with five players, and judging based on the number of wins (points), please refer to the score notation on the official results website for the 2025 Hiroshima Tournament (e.g., 3(6)-1(2)).
- School names are read as indicated in the Notion participating schools library’s reading column. Player names have not been confirmed, so readings are not included.
- Note that all three schools do not have publicly available records of qualifying for national kendo tournaments as a single club, so only confirmed facts are listed.
- Since this is before the tournament, I have not described any details of the matches – the attacks and defenses, wins and losses, or rankings. Only facts that can be read from the pairings and previously reported results are included.
Please note that the commentary and analysis are AI-generated content based on the facts listed above. As this is before the tournament, there is no description of the matches, attacks and defenses, or wins and losses. Please excuse any errors in reading or notation.