Kaiju no Mori Forest Elementary School
Contact Us
Founded in 2022, we are a forest school nestled in the mountains of Honmoku, Yokohama. We started as a Kindergarten and expanded into our Elementary school program in 2022. We believe that learning should nurture the whole child and what better way to do this than through outdoor classrooms and wild adventures! Our approach is to foster a natural environment for children to delve into various activities and experiences guided by their own imagination, rather than explicit external direction. We aim for the children to build agency in their own lives and learning so that they can go on to thrive with a better understanding of their own purpose, while also harnessing a deeper connection to the environment.
Our Elementary school currently runs from 1st through 3rd grade.
We also have a Kindergarten program for children ages 3 to 6.
(Click here for more information on our Kindergarten program)
We like to think of our Elementary school as a modern day ‘Terakoya’. Terakoya were private schools, usually within temples, that taught children of Japanese commoners during the Edo period. Monks, samurai and doctors taught children reading, writing, and mathematics through the use of ‘soroban’ (abacus).
Our Elementary school program focuses on environmental education and play, while building strong core competencies in Japanese reading, writing, and math. Class sizes are very small. We value individual learning and support each child’s particular interests and passions. Children are encouraged to excel in their areas of interests, regardless of their grade level. Project-based learning and problem solving within group settings are also an integral part of our daily program.
We alternate between our Honmoku main school campus and our Miura farm school according to the day’s program and the weather. Children will go on frequent outings to mountains, seas, rivers, and other natural settings which become the classrooms of the day. The children are given responsibility for the daily jobs that occur around our organic farm and rice patties and care for our goats and chickens. We have a nature-based music teacher, art workshops, a French cooking teacher, an ocean teacher, and have occasional lessons on Japanese tea ceremony and ceramics.
We believe it is essential that learning should translate to practical application in our everyday lives. Children will build a variety of skills such as advanced fishing, how to build boats from bamboo, survival skills like building fires and tying knots.
Extracurriculars
We offer after-school classes on Japanese calligraphy and drumming. Children can also sign up for special overnight trips that occur year round. Depending on the season the children go survival camping, skiing, digging for dinosaur bones, and much more!
9:00am-3:00pm.
Please be aware that school days occasionally begin before 9am and end later than 3pm for particular outings. Elementary school children may commute to and from school on their own, as is common practice in Japan.
We alternate between our Honmoku main school campus and our Miura farm school according to the day’s program and the weather. Children will go on frequent outings to mountains, seas, rivers, and other natural settings which become the classrooms of the day.
Our main campus is located in the Honmoku area of Yokohama.
We have a school bus that transports our students to and from our Miura farm school at least once a week.
Yokohama Honmoku School
〒231-0806
2-528 Honmoku-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama
Miura Farm School
〒238-0111
2859 Shimomiyada, Hassemachi, Miura City
(10 minutes walk from Keikyu Misakiguchi Station)
Our Elementary school program focuses on environmental education and play, while building strong core competencies in Japanese reading, writing, and math. Class sizes are very small. We value individual learning and support each child’s particular interests and passions. Children are encouraged to excel in their areas of interests, regardless of their grade level. Project-based learning and problem solving within group settings are also an integral part of our daily program.
We alternate between our Honmoku main school campus and our Miura farm school according to the day’s program and the weather. Children will go on frequent outings to mountains, seas, rivers, and other natural settings which become the classrooms of the day. The children are given responsibility for the daily jobs that occur around our organic farm and rice patties and care for our goats and chickens. We have a nature-based music teacher, art workshops, a French cooking teacher, an ocean teacher, and have occasional lessons on Japanese tea ceremony and ceramics.
We believe it is essential that learning should translate to practical application in our everyday lives. Children will build a variety of skills such as advanced fishing, how to build boats from bamboo, survival skills like building fires and tying knots.
Extracurriculars
We offer after-school classes on Japanese calligraphy and drumming. Children can also sign up for special overnight trips that occur year round. Depending on the season the children go survival camping, skiing, digging for dinosaur bones, and much more!
9:00am-3:00pm.
Please be aware that school days occasionally begin before 9am and end later than 3pm for particular outings. Elementary school children may commute to and from school on their own, as is common practice in Japan.
We alternate between our Honmoku main school campus and our Miura farm school according to the day’s program and the weather. Children will go on frequent outings to mountains, seas, rivers, and other natural settings which become the classrooms of the day.
Our main campus is located in the Honmoku area of Yokohama.
We have a school bus that transports our students to and from our Miura farm school at least once a week.
Yokohama Honmoku School
〒231-0806
2-528 Honmoku-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama
Miura Farm School
〒238-0111
2859 Shimomiyada, Hassemachi, Miura City
(10 minutes walk from Keikyu Misakiguchi Station)
Spent over 30 years abroad, in the United States and other countries. Specializes particularly in percussion. Responsible for nature sound workshops and after-school drumming classes once a week.
BACK
They run an art workshop class in Ishikawa-cho, Yokohama. They are responsible for an art workshop once a month.
BACK
He launched yajin special type of ninja arts (Yanin) program that adds elements of Japanese culture and Yamazato culture (A lifestyle culture for learning while cohabitating with nature), and provides services for tourists, business operators and others from overseas. Responsible for a ninja school once a month. YouzawaYaninan (Ninja experience)
BACK
She runs a Japanese calligraphy class in Yokohama.Responsible for calligraphy classes after school.
BACK
Hi, I’m Sam from Australia! I taught English to kids in Vietnam for nearly 5 years, met my husband and we moved to Japan. I’m the English teacher here at Kaiju no Mori. Look forward to seeing you in class!
Copyright © 2022 Kaiju no Mori Forest Elementary School
