From Anywhere to Tokyo: A High School Study Abroad Experience Invitation

One of the quiet reasons our family came to Japan was school. In 2023, our oldest stepped into a small, unusual high school in Tokyo—an experiment that began with just five students and a bold question: what if adolescence could be nurtured differently?

The school’s beginnings were anything but ordinary. Its founder, Scott, had spent years inside education systems where success was measured by test scores and résumés. Over time, he began to ask a different question: what if a school measured something else entirely—curiosity, compassion, and the courage to create?

After leaving that system behind, Scott came to Japan. Here, he built a career and later a successful business by leaning not on his résumé, but on his strengths, passions, and willingness to take risks. It was this detour that inspired him to rethink education: could young people be spared the long way around and instead start their lives on a foundation of curiosity and courage?

He first experimented within elite international schools in Tokyo. The projects he led there had striking results with adolescents, but they also ran into the bureaucracy that often stalls change in large institutions. In 2023, he decided to take a leap: to build an independent school of his own—even if it meant starting with just a single student. That "leap" was familiar - it was also how we started our school back in 2016

His vision was clear: a school global in spirit, intimate in scale, and bold enough to chart its own course. What began as a handful of teenagers gathered around a single table in 2023 has since grown into a community where students are invited not just to prepare applications, but to build lives.

Two years later, I’ve watched Andi grow in ways that defy simple measurement. He is thriving academically and stepping into a new maturity. This year, he began designing games to teach financial literacy—projects now slated for use in two schools. But more than that, he has been learning to translate academics into know-how, curiosity into projects, and projects into purpose. Around him, his peers are charting their own bold paths: writing bilingual children’s books, restoring coral reefs, filming cultural spaces, prototyping cushions to ease anxiety. Together, they are discovering what it means to build a life, not just a résumé.

This fall, the school is opening that door a little wider. The Innovation Fellowship (TIF) Study Abroad Program is a one-year immersion in Tokyo for ambitious high school students from outside Japan. Designed for the age of AI, its focus remains deeply human: compassion, creativity, and the ability to turn ideas into impact. Students spend their days guided by seasoned educators and mentored by global experts, dedicating themselves to self-directed, mission-driven projects—while earning transferable credit toward an accredited American diploma and meeting the entry requirements of leading universities worldwide.

Beyond the classroom, students live with host families, explore one of the world’s safest and most dynamic cities, and engage in cultural exchanges that leave a lasting imprint. The program is small by design—just ten seats in the 2026–27 cohort—so each student receives personal guidance, including college advising and a thoughtful roadmap for life after high school.

To really understand what this looks like, it helps to listen to the students themselves. Watch their stories here:  The demo day

• Kimaya is designing a home illuminated entirely by natural light

• Andi is creating games that teach financial concepts

• Koko is writing and illustrating a bilingual children’s book

• Noa is developing a therapeutic hugging cushion to relieve anxiety

• Rintaro is making films to explore cultural spaces and stories

• Ananya is prototyping artificial reefs to restore coral ecosystems

• Shu is authoring a philosophical book on living a meaningful life

For high schoolers curious enough to imagine a different path, this might be the invitation. Click below:

 Study Abroad in Tokyo – The Innovation Fellowship