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School Aims

1. The pursuit of truth
2. Training one's mind and body
3. Forming good character
4. Developing one's individuality
5. Respect for labor and service

History

1948:

Started as "Tanohata Branch of Iwate Prefectural Iwaizumi Agricultural High School" (It was a part-time high school).
Students and teachers used a school building of Tanohata Junior High School.

1965:

Built a new school building. Students and teachers worked together to build their new school building.

1971:

Became a full-time high school. They stopped taking applications for the night class.

1991:

Changed name to "Tanohata Branch of Iwate Prefectural Iwaizumi High School".

1995:

Odori-gumi or Folk Dance Team got the first prize in the folk dance competition of Inter- High School Cultural Festival. The video made by the Broadcasting Committee also got the first prize in the video contest of Inter- High School Cultural Festival.

1996:

Opened the school web site. This cite got several prizes in various competitions. (URI: http://www.michinoku.ne.jp/~tanohata/)

1998:

Celebrated the 50th anniversary of foundation of school.

1999:

Odori-gumi or Folk Dance Team and the Broadcasting Committee will take part in the competitions of Inter- High School Cultural Festival in Yamagata.

Teachers

The Principal

Toichiro OSAWA (Apr. 1997 - Mar. 2000)

9 teachers and 1 handyman

Enrollment

Grades : 10--12, 92 students (M 46/ F 46)

Tanohata High School is a very small school. (One of the smallest high schools in Iwate.)
You can get to know each student very quickly.

Most students are from Tanohata Village. Many students take a village bus to come to school. Some come to school by bicycle. Others come to school on foot or in their parents' car. About 1/4 students come from outside Tanohata (Noda Village, Fudai Village, Taro Town, etc). They come to school by train and bus.

Academics

Japanese / Mathematics / Social studies / Science / English / P.E. / Arts / Home-Economics
We sometimes have extra classes to understand the area where we live.

Club Activities

Baseball (for boys) / Volleyball (for girls) / Soft Tennis (for Girls) / Basketball (for boys)
Computer club / JRC (volunteer club)
and some committees, many unofficial activities

Yearly Events 1999/2000

We have 4 terms in one school year. In Japan, a school year begins in April and ends in March.
Tanohata High School has a lot of school events and the Student Council usually plays an important role.

• April: Entrance Ceremony
• May: Sports Meet
• June: 1st Term Test / Mountain Climbing (the 12th grade)
• July: Baseball Games / Summer Vacation
• August: Summer Vacation / The Inter- High School Cultural Festival
• September: 2nd Term Test / Mountain Climbing (the 10th grade)
• October: School Festival / Prefectural High School Cultural Festival
• November: 3rd Term Test
• December: School Trip ( the 11th grade) / Winter Vacation
• January: Winter Vacation / Hyakunin Issu Games (Japanese traditional card game)
• February: The Last Term Test / Farewell Party for the 12th grade students
• March: Graduation Ceremony / Entrance Exam / Spring Vacation

Special Points

Odori-gumi or Folk Dance Team

37 students belong to Odori-gumi. They practice a traditional folk dance called "Sugenokubo Shishi odori, Kenbai". "Sugenokubo" is the name of an area in Tanohata. "Shishi odori" means "deer dance" and "Kenbai" means "Sword Dance". People say a man named Hatakeyama came to Tanohata with these dances and taught the townspeople. Then people handed down these dances. Now, the people of the preservation society come to school to teach these dances to students. They come to school after their work, so students start the dance practice at night after their own club activities.

They participated in the national competition this summer. It was held in Yamagata Prefecture on July 31 and August 1. They showed their best performance.

Tanohata high Broadcasting Station (TBS)

This is the name of our school broadcasting committee. There are 14 members in the committee. They are trying to make good documentaries and commercials. They are excellent announcers and cameramen. Townspeople support them and help them to buy new cameras and other instruments. In return for their hospitality, our broadcasting committee makes TV commercials for Tanohata. They are really unique and people enjoy watching them.

This summer, TBS also participated in the national competition held in Yamagata Prefecture. In addition, they was asked to make a video for the Inter- High school Yacht Race which was held in Miyako, a near by town, in August. The members couldn't have any free time this summer.