Kumamoto International School

Kumamoto, Japan

Location: Kumamoto, Japan

Type: Mainstream School

Phase: Primary

Funding status: State

Gender: Mixed

Age range: 5 - 11 years

About Kumamoto International School

Kumamoto International School (KIS) is located in Kumamoto, on the Island of Kyushu, in western Japan. KIS is an accredited International Baccalaureate (IB) World School.

Our preschool division, Picasso, opened in 2003, and our primary school division opened in 2018. Our junior high school opened in April, 2023. We recently built a much larger campus / new school building for primary school, the junior high and the high school (which opens in 2025). As a growing school, there is significant potential for advancement as we open additional divisions and grade levels.

Built around one of the 3 most famous castles in all of Japan, Kumamoto boasts one of the highest qualities of life anywhere in the country: the air and water are clean, the weather beautiful (300+ days of sunshine / year), and there is easy access to abundant and pristine nature. If you love nature and the outdoors, you’ll love Kumamoto. In addition, the active volcano Mt. Aso is only an hour away, and Osaka is only 3 hours away via a direct bullet train: weekend getaways are easily arranged. Thanks to the numerous farmers in Kumamoto prefecture, fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat are also easy to come by and cheap: 1/2 the price in Tokyo!

We opened 20 years ago with our Picasso Preschool division, and we currently have a total of more than 45 staff across all of our divisions. Our goal is to find great staff and build a great team. Our philosophy: we don’t teach people to be nice and work hard; we hire hard-working, nice people. Our longest-serving Japanese staff have been with us for 19 years, and several other teachers have been with us for more than 10 years. In many cases, staff socialize outside of work, and the school serves as a great base from which to find your bearings in Japan and make friends. We place a high priority on staff cohesion and cooperation, and there is always someone there to help as necessary. You will never be treated as, or feel like, a cog in a large organization. In addition, there is significant potential for teachers to advance their career by continuing to acquire new skills and taking on new roles as the school grows.

Our goal is simple:

To be a world-class school and to have a great time while doing it.

Working hard and having fun together, we want all members of the school community to love being part of what we are creating.

Our school is a very positive, bright, high-energy environment. Only teachers who want to be part of, and will actively contribute to, such an environment, should apply! If that’s you, you’ll love it here!