Olympiads and contests a child in Japan can enter, from primary school to high school

A contest is not a certificate. It has one date, a cutoff and a ranking, and the strongest go on to a national final. In maths and the sciences, those finals choose the teams Japan sends to the International Olympiads. A child who is well ahead in one subject can start from grade 1. Each entry below comes from its organiser's page, read on 11 and 12 October 2026. Most fiscal 2026 rounds are over: their dates show the rhythm of the year, and next year's guide confirms the new ones.

Maths: a ladder from grade 1 to the International Mathematical Olympiad

Sansū Olympiad (算数オリンピック), primary school

The committee runs three contests for primary children on the same days, with the same entry and fee:

Contest	Who can enter
Kids BEE (キッズBEE)	Grades 1 to 3 (小学1～3年生対象)
Junior Sansū Olympiad (ジュニア算数オリンピック)	Grade 5 and below (小学5年生以下対象)
Sansū Olympiad (算数オリンピック)	Grade 6 and below (小学6年生以下対象)

In 2026, applications ran from 1 April to 20 May. A trial round was held on 14 June at about 250 venues, the final on 19 July in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka, and the awards on 23 August. The fee is on the contest site, 3450.jp.

Japan Junior Mathematical Olympiad (日本ジュニア数学オリンピック, JJMO)

• Who can enter: 2026年11月時点で、中学3年生以下の者。 A primary child may enter.
• Preliminary: 15 November 2026, 13:00 to 16:00, online from home, 12 short-answer problems in three hours.
• Final: 11 February 2027, a national holiday, 13:00 to 17:00, five problems with written proofs in four hours.
• Applications ran from 1 July to 10 September 2026. The fee is 4,000 yen for an individual.
• In late February about ten winners are named, and the top five are invited to the camp that selects Japan's team for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).

Japan Mathematical Olympiad (日本数学オリンピック, JMO)

• Who can enter: anyone under 20 who is not in university education in November 2026. There is no lower age.
• The preliminary is the same day and format as JJMO: 15 November 2026, 12 problems in three hours, results in early December. The final, on 11 February 2027, is for A-rank qualifiers: five problems with written proofs in four hours.
• The fee is 5,000 yen, and it is not refunded (納付した受験料は理由の如何を問わず返金しません。).
• About 20 finalists go to a selection camp in late March 2027, which names six candidates for the IMO. Only students in high school or below at the time of the IMO can be chosen.
• A girl who enters JMO is entered in the Japan Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (日本女子数学オリンピック, JGMO) automatically (JMOに応募した女性は、JGMOに自動的にエントリーされます。).

Science and informatics: seven olympiads

The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) lists seven national contests, each leading to an international olympiad:

Subject	Contest in Japan	International olympiad
Maths	日本数学オリンピック	国際数学オリンピック
Chemistry	化学グランプリ	国際化学オリンピック
Biology	日本生物学オリンピック	国際生物学オリンピック
Physics	全国物理コンテスト「物理チャレンジ」	国際物理オリンピック
Informatics	日本情報オリンピック	国際情報オリンピック
Earth science	日本地学オリンピック	国際地学オリンピック
Geography	科学地理オリンピック日本選手権	国際地理オリンピック

First rounds take many forms, and only the top students go on:

すぐれた成績を収めた上位数十名が二次選考へ進みます。

Physics Challenge (物理チャレンジ)

Mainly for junior-high and high-school students under 20 who have not entered higher education. In 2026, individuals applied from 1 April to 30 May, 13:00. The first challenge cost 2,000 yen. About 100 of the best went on to a residential second challenge, which cost 10,000 yen. The contest doubles as the selection for the next year's International Physics Olympiad:

翌年に開催される物理オリンピック国際大会の日本代表選手候補者の選考を兼ねています。

Chemistry Grand Prix (化学グランプリ)

• Who can enter: 2026年4月時点で、高等学校3年生(中等教育学校・高等専門学校等)相当以下の生徒で20歳未満の者。 Junior-high pupils and younger may enter. Past members of Japan's International Chemistry Olympiad team may not.
• In 2026, applications ran from 1 April to 8 June. The first round, on 20 July (a national holiday) from 13:00 to 16:00, was a mark-sheet test at 70 venues. The second round, with lab work, ran from 20 to 22 August at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in Fuchū.
• Entry is free. You pay travel to the first round. The organisers pay stay, meals and travel for the second.

Japan Biology Olympiad (日本生物学オリンピック)

Mainly for high-school students and other young people (高校生など青少年の皆さんを主な対象として). In 2026 the preliminary was online on 12 July, and the final ran from 18 to 21 August at Osaka Metropolitan University, Morinomiya campus. Japan's team for the International Biology Olympiad was chosen from 1,516 entrants through three rounds of tests.

Japan Olympiad in Informatics (日本情報オリンピック, JOI)

• Who can enter: up to the third year of high school (高等学校 3 年生以下).
• 2026/2027: a first qualifier in two rounds, on 12 September and 25 October 2026 (14:00 to 15:20); a second qualifier on 29 November 2026 (13:00 to 16:00); a semifinal on 24 January 2027 online and 31 January in Tokyo; a final from 20 to 24 March 2027 in Tokyo.
• Free up to the second qualifier. From the semifinal the fee is 5,000 yen, and travel is at your own cost.
• It doubles as the selection for IOI 2027 in Germany. A women's division (JOIG) shares the qualifier entry.

Japan Earth Science Olympiad (日本地学オリンピック)

• Who can enter: the first round is open from grade 1 of primary school to the last year of high school (小学1年生～高校3年生が受験できます。).
• The 19th contest: applications from 1 September to 15 November 2026, online only. The first round is on 20 December 2026, 16:30 to 17:30, online from home. The second round is on the afternoon of 24 January 2027 at venues across Japan. The final runs from 14 to 16 March 2027 in Tsukuba.
• The top ten of the final sit a last selection with group discussion and interviews in English. Four represent Japan at the International Earth Science Olympiad, held in Matsue, Shimane, from 23 to 28 August

Science Geography Olympiad (科学地理オリンピック日本選手権)

• The 21st contest: applications from 1 September to 15 November 2026, 23:59, online. The first round is on 12 December 2026, 15:30 to 16:30, an online multimedia test.
• Entry is free (参加費は無料です。).
• For the world contest, the 2026 rule was age 16 to 19 at the end of June and not in university.

Teams through the school: Science Koshien

Science Koshien Junior (科学の甲子園ジュニア)

• Who can enter: junior-high students in their first and second years (中学1、2学年の生徒). Third-year students cannot.
• A team has six students. The written event is for the six together, the practical events for teams of three.
• The 14th contest: prefectural selections from July to October 2026, and the national contest from 11 to 13 December 2026 in Himeji, Hyōgo.
• Apply through the school to the prefectural board of education:

  都道府県選考については所属する学校経由で都道府県教育委員会へ申し込みを行ってください。

Science Koshien (科学の甲子園)

• Who can enter: high-school teams of six to eight students from the same school, in their first and second years.
• The 16th contest: prefectural selections from June to December 2026, and the national contest from 19 to 22 March 2027 in Tsukuba, Ibaraki.
• Apply through the school to the prefectural board of education.

Words: a speech contest and a reading report

Prince Takamado Trophy English speech contest (高円宮杯全日本中学校英語弁論大会)

For junior-high students in Japan put forward by their principal. The organiser's rules exclude a student who:

• after the fifth birthday lived in an English-speaking area for a total of one year or more, or for six months or more in a row;
• spent six months or more at a school that teaches other subjects in English, such as an international or American school;
• lives at the same address as a guardian or relative from an English-speaking area;
• placed first to third in an earlier final.

A child who lived abroad or attends an international school may be excluded. Check these rules before the school puts your child forward. The 78th final is on 27 November 2026 at Yurakucho Yomiuri Hall.

National reading-report contest (青少年読書感想文全国コンクール)

Five divisions, from grade 1 to high school. Entries go through the school only:

個人の方からの直接応募は受け付けておりません。

Reports are handwritten, vertically, on manuscript paper: up to 800 characters in grades 1 and 2, 1,200 in grades 3 to 6, and 2,000 in junior high and high school. Each prefecture sets its own deadline, so ask the school librarian. The contest is run by the Japan School Library Association and the Mainichi Shimbun.

A free test for primary children

Zenkoku Tōitsu Shōgakusei Test (全国統一小学生テスト)

Run by the juku Yotsuya Otsuka for 小学1～6年生、年長生, free (無料招待), twice a year. The next is on 3 November 2026, a national holiday, at juku venues. Applying registers your child as a member, and a notice comes before each test. It is a free check of where a child stands, not a certificate.

Grade by grade: what a child can enter

Year	Maths	Science and informatics	Words and others
Age 5 (年長)	—	—	全国統一小学生テスト
Grades 1 to 3	Kids BEE, Junior Sansū Olympiad, Sansū Olympiad	Earth Science Olympiad	Reading report, 全国統一小学生テスト
Grades 4 and 5	Junior Sansū Olympiad, Sansū Olympiad	Earth Science Olympiad	Reading report, 全国統一小学生テスト
Grade 6	Sansū Olympiad	Earth Science Olympiad	Reading report, 全国統一小学生テスト
Junior high 1 and 2	JJMO	Physics Challenge, Chemistry Grand Prix, JOI, Earth Science Olympiad, Science Koshien Junior	Prince Takamado speech contest, reading report
Junior high 3	JJMO	Physics Challenge, Chemistry Grand Prix, JOI, Earth Science Olympiad	Prince Takamado speech contest, reading report
High school 1 and 2	JMO	Physics Challenge, Chemistry Grand Prix, Biology Olympiad, JOI, Earth Science Olympiad, Geography Olympiad, Science Koshien	Reading report
High school 3	JMO	Physics Challenge, Chemistry Grand Prix, Biology Olympiad, JOI, Earth Science Olympiad, Geography Olympiad	Reading report

The table shows each contest in the years its organiser names. JJMO and JMO set no lower age, so a child far ahead may enter them earlier. Each birth-year path page shows the same list in every school year.

What goes wrong

• Applications close months before the round. JJMO and JMO closed on 10 September for a November preliminary. The Sansū Olympiad closed on 20 May for a June trial round.
• Team contests, the speech contest and the reading report go through the school. Ask the teacher in April.
• JMO's fee is not refunded.
• No organiser promises credit at a school's entrance. A school that reads a contest result says so in its own 募集要項.

What to do now

1. Still open on 12 October 2026. Check each page before you apply.
   • Earth Science Olympiad, grade 1 to high school: apply by 15 November. The first round is online on 20 December.
   • Science Geography Olympiad: apply by 15 November. The first round is online on 12 December, and entry is free.
   • 全国統一小学生テスト, 年長 to grade 6: 3 November, free.
   • Japan Olympiad in Informatics: the second first-qualifier round is on 25 October. Check its entry page.
2. Put next year's windows in your calendar: April to May for the Sansū Olympiad, Physics Challenge and Chemistry Grand Prix; July to September for JJMO and JMO; September to November for the Earth Science and Geography Olympiads.
3. In April, ask the school about Science Koshien teams, the speech contest and the reading report.
4. For certificates such as Eiken, Kanji Kentei and Suken, see Certificates that count in juken.