Message from the Founder

In the past, international schools in Japan catered mainly to non-Japanese children and returnees, and charged high tuition fees since many were ineligible to secure government funding to operate. Only children from financially privileged families with a high social status were able to receive an international education. With the aim of improving this situation in order to provide children with an opportunity to receive a high quality international education and to nurture competent individuals able to contribute to our future global society, I founded K. International School Tokyo (KIST) with my wife in 1997.

At all grade levels from pre-kindergarten through high school, KIST offers an inquiry-based curriculum based on programs developed by the International Baccalaureate (IB). These programs are widely recognized as providing skills and knowledge essential for children to succeed in our future global society. KIST is the only school in Tokyo fully authorized to offer all three IB programs (as of 2016). Upon completion of the IB Diploma, studied during the final two years of high school, students take final examinations which are considered as an entrance requirement by universities around the world. In May 2015, 141,828 students from 2,437 schools in 138 countries sat for these examinations. KIST students achieved exceptionally high scores, and as a result, KIST is currently the highest ranking school offering the IB Diploma in Japan.

One of the features of our school is that we have a large number of exceptional students who go on to receive acceptances with full or partial scholarships from leading universities such as Princeton University and Stanford University in the USA, the University of Tokyo and Waseda University in Japan, and Seoul National University in South Korea.

At KIST, we offer a number of internal scholarships to support current students who have demonstrated excellence. On this occasion, however, as part of our continuing contribution to our global society, we have established a new scholarship program for external students who wish to join us in order to continue their studies. There are, however, financial limitations for the school in implementing a program of this scope, and therefore, we would like to ask for your cooperation and support in this initiative.

It is my sincere wish that through this scholarship program, we can provide opportunities to as many students as possible so that they can contribute to our global society in the future and help create a better world.

 Yoshishige Komaki
Founder/President of the Board 

How to Contribute

Please complete the following online contribution form.

Online Contribution Application Form 

Program Information:

• Contribute to the Future Horizons Scholarship Program - Printable A3 Pamphlet

For more information, please contact:
Development Department
Tel: 03-3642-9993
E-mail: info@kist.ed.jp

Contributing to the Program

At KIST, in line with our guiding beliefs, we make every effort to keep tuition fees as affordable as possible. For new enrollments, however, the total funds required until graduation—including expenses for textbooks, learning materials and external examinations as well as enrollment and capital fees and the purchase of a laptop computer—are quite considerable as shown in the table below.  

Based on the required funds above, we are seeking to cover ￥5 million per student through donations from contributors. In cooperation with contributors, the school will also make a contribution through the provision of a discount on school tuition fees for scholarship recipients.

We are seeking contributions from companies, organizations and individuals in units of ￥1 million. When total contributions reach ￥5 million, one student who has passed our rigorous selection process will be eligible to receive a scholarship. Depending on the amount of contributions received, scholarships for up to four students are available annually. To reach this goal, contributions of ￥20 million per year are required.

We invite you to make an impact on the lives of our next generation of global leaders by making a tax deductible donation to our Future Horizons Scholarship Program. Your contributions will help nurture exceptional students who may not be able to continue their studies due to financial difficulties. Contributions from both corporations and individuals are welcome.

KIST Alumni Messages
Carmina Class of 2010
Undergrad/graduate school major: Joint Degree Programme with a Master in Business Administration from the Yale School of Management and a Master’s in International Relations from the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs (Yale University) Bachelor of Science in Engineering - Operations Research and Financial Engineering (Princeton University)   Updates (what you are doing for your career, if you are already working): I am currently pursuing two master’s programmes at Yale University: a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Yale School of Management and a Master’s in International Relations from the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. After graduating from Princeton with a degree in engineering, I pursued a career on Wall Street in New York’s financial industry as an analyst at BlackRock. What you gained from the DP / Benefits of the DP: The Diploma Programme, to me, was the key way through which I began to see the world from a holistic lens. Instead of simply learning about specific theories in Physics or History, we were taught to draw parallels between the disciplines and identify nodes of intersection that form the bases of current economic, political and social events. With this multidimensional understanding of innovations and problems in the world around us, I gained the energy to seek out opportunities and paths for improving people’s lives.   Any changes the DP has brought to your life/career: Learning through the Diploma Programme, especially with Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay, showed me that there is never a right or wrong answer, and that the world is a playpen for experimentation if you are willing to independently chase after learning. This mindset has manifested itself into the way that I approach my career and my studies in my willingness to take risks in favour of a possibly higher return in both my personal and academic endeavours. In tandem with this mindset, the variety of modes in which we are assessed: from lab reports to essays to presentations, gave me a diverse toolkit through which to carry these personal and academic “risks” out. Message to companies/individuals supporting the Future Horizons Scholarship Program: Being educated through the Diplomma Programme, specifically through the supportive community of K. International School Tokyo was, to me, the ultimate international passport that allowed me to dream of even applying to universities in the United States. As a Filipino immigrant to Japan, this is now a blessing that I have been able to share and inspire other students with. Thus, it is my hope that more students from K. International School will be able to pave their own paths to positively impact the world, just as the Diplomma Programme and K. gave me the chance to do.
George Class of 2008
Major for undergrad/graduate school: Computer Science (2008-2012, Boston University) Computer Science, specifically Data Mining (PhD, 2012-present, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Updates (what you are doing for your career, if you are already working): I started a Doctorate in data mining / applied machine learning, but realized through my internships (I spent summers at Google, Groupon, AmEx and Bloomberg) that I’m more motivated by building high-impact things. To pursue this, I’m currently on a temporary academic leave of absence and working at Palantir Technologies. They even let me stay in the London office, so I do a lot of weekend tourism (and some bad photography) on the weekends. What you gained from the DP / Benefits of the DP: (1) Completing the DP gave me about a year worth of academic credit, letting me take the university courses I thought would be most interesting instead of worrying about the required classes. (2) During the DP, I was exposed to lots of material that I found surprisingly relevant and useful later. One example: as a math and science nerd, I never thought I’d use anything I learned in the English literature course. I was completely wrong - almost a decade later, I find myself applying the techniques we discussed in Mr Rentoule’s class every time I pick up a novel, and this makes reading much more fulfilling. Any changes DP has brought to your life/career: I made many of my life/career decisions in college. The DP prepared me well for the transition, and I was able to confidently carve out my path in life.

How to Contribute

Please complete the following online contribution form.

Online Contribution Form

Program Information:

• Contribute to the Future Horizons Scholarship Program - Printable A3 Pamphlet

For more information, please contact:
Development Department
Tel: 03-3642-9993
E-mail: info@kist.ed.jp