International School in Yokohama to 12+4-Year Continuum Education
CGK is the only integrated international school in Yokohama with April enrollment.
More than 300 students from 2 years old to middle school attend the school, which plans to open a high school in 2028.
As an International Baccalaureate IB World School, our world-class curriculum and progressive, future-oriented approach to education foster independent, lifelong learners, while we, the school, continue to move forward with our students.
Educational Mission and Code of Conduct
With the mission of "maximizing your opportunities for happiness in an increasingly global world," we have been providing a high quality inquiry-based learning curriculum since the school's opening.
We contribute to creating a better and more peaceful world by developing young talent into internationally-minded individuals.
IB PYP World School. Full-time, 5-days-a-week enrichment curriculumfor children ages 3-5 (from 2 days a week for children age 2). Providing quality childcare and education that also nurtures non-cognitive skills, such as communication and emotional maturity through a global education centered on self-expression, critical thinking skills and a spirit of inquiry.
IB PYP World School. Providing practical inquiry-based learning through a transdisciplinary system. As a non-article one school with a flexible curriculum, CGK's global education incorporates IB (International Baccalaureate) and other world-standard curriculum.
IB MYP Candidate School. Explore learning by focusing on deeper and more focused concepts than the IB PYP curriculum. Students continue to make broad connections across subjects, but move towards more subject specific learning. Students will experience a one-year study abroad program in 7th grade to develop diverse perspectives and values from a young age.
Scheduled to open April 2028. Providing students with the opportunity to extend their learning and make connections across disciplines. Also CGK will provide an environment to nurture internationally-minded individuals that can contribute to a better world, maximizing opportunities for happiness in an increasingly global world.
The following is an introduction to CGK's educational systems and the faculty and staff who support it.
Education and childcare are not mechanical manifestations of the policies of an organization, but rather, a reflection the passion and enthusiasm of all staff members involved.
Through the collaboration of our faculty and staff with diverse backgrounds and the policies that CGK aims to achieve, we provide quality education and childcare.
12+4-Year Continuum Education
Continuum education from 2 years old until high school graduation. Continuity in our activities allows us to focus on education that is truly important for the future of the students, without wasting time on boring, repetitive studying.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Education is an all-round education to develop internationally-minded individuals. Through IB education, we provide a consistent educational program from preschool onward.
Find out about the school's founder, his passion for education and the process of opening the school. This will make clear the source of our consistent philosophy and the motivation behind it, that is, a happy and prosperous future for children.
Raffle prizes, Kanji art and new dance performances!
At CGK School Festival, choose a prize and drop your tickets into its box. Explore 22 prize selections, from dining vouchers and family experiences to a one-night stay at MAGMA RESORT Shimobe Onsen. Thank you to all our sponsors and CGK teachers!
Tickets are sold on-site on the 5th floor: ¥300 each (tax included). CGK official LINE friends can buy 5 for ¥1,000 (tax included); please show your LINE screen. General visitors have no advance sales or bonus tickets. Proceeds support CGK education and students’ learning.
October 25 only: JAPOW’s Create Your Own Kanji Art workshop. October 24 only: Preschool Dance and the CGK Idols Elementary Dance Club.
October 24 (Sat) & 25 (Sun), 10:00–14:30 CGK Kannai Campus Free admission. No advance booking required.
See the festival details via the link in our profile.
Clothing, instruments and ways of life: meeting differences and connections.
Mountain A and B Classes (4-year-olds) visited Earth Plaza. Clothing, musical instruments and displays offered opportunities to explore similarities and differences in ways of life.
The visit connected with How We Organize Ourselves and Who We Are. Ideas explored in class—rules, routines, cooperation and caring—could be considered within a wider community.
Noticing differences and considering how everyone can have a place both matter. As the classes move towards Sharing the Planet, the inquiry reaches beyond animals to include people and the communities we share.
An interest in satellites became a model that lights up.
How do satellites move, generate electricity and use it? One student chose satellites for a miniproject in CGK Afterschool, a programme for Grades 1–9.
The research became a working model: a real solar panel powered LEDs. The student also explored orientation through a solar-powered gyroscope using a motor and a rotating disc.
Alongside longer PBL projects, miniprojects let students choose what to investigate, how to investigate it and how to present their findings. Opportunities to share their work connect an initial interest with research, making and explanation.
If you could create a country, what would it be like?
Sky Class (5-year-olds) held an Expo of countries the children had created themselves. Their dioramas brought together decisions about geography, animals, food, culture, flags, clothing and exports.
Through Where We Are in Place and Time, the class explored places, history, migration and ways of life. Creating a country gave children a way to connect those ideas and make their own choices.
Children from other classes visited the Expo. The creators explained their models, answered questions and encountered different interpretations. The inquiry did not end when the diorama was finished: communicating an idea to someone else was part of the learning too.
Elementary & Middle School Open School | October 9
ENGLISH-ONLY SESSION
What does inquiry look like in everyday school life?
At our weekday Open School, families can learn about CGK’s programmes and school life, and ask questions about admissions. CGK is an IB PYP-authorized school, and our Middle School is an MYP candidate school.
This October 9 session will be held in English only.
■ Friday, October 9, 2026 | 9:00–11:00 am ■ CGK International School, Kannai Campus, Yokohama ■ Elementary School: Grades 1–5 ■ Middle School: Grades 6–9
Please bring indoor shoes or slippers. Details and registration: visit Website in our profile, then Admissions.
From Tsugaru shamisen and vocals to dance, magic and rock ’n’ roll, there’s plenty to enjoy together.
TAKEZO MUSIC GYM | Oct 25 Led by four-time national champion Musashi Kudo, TAKEZO MUSIC GYM brings the powerful sound of Tsugaru shamisen to audiences in Japan and abroad. Enjoy the live performance at the festival.
TEPPEI | Oct 25 A fitness instructor teaching ZUMBA across Japan. TEPPEI will join CGK staff for an energetic dance performance to bring the festival to life!
The Yokohama Sisters | Oct 24 A Yokohama-born female vocal group singing for world peace. Enjoy popular songs, a Yokohama medley, and national anthems from around the world.
OOSH × Mister Gavin | Oct 25 English, balloons and magic with Mister Gavin! A fun, creative and interactive English show for children and adults alike.
Mamonaku and friends | Oct 24 Yokohama-based four-piece rock ’n’ roll band Mamonaku will perform originals and covers, with special guests joining them for a festival stage!
October 24 (Sat) & 25 (Sun) · 10:00–14:30 CGK Kannai Campus · Free admission · No advance entry booking Everyone is welcome! Performer dates vary.
At our September 27 workshop with Mr. Jun, who is transgender and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, children chose materials, followed their own ideas and found inspiration in one another`s artwork. Some discovered a new direction only after they had begun. Each approach offered a glimpse of that child`s individuality.
Alongside the workshop, parents explored LGBTQ+, family diversity and how to support a child who shares questions about their gender or sexuality.
One reflection to take into everyday conversation: we do not have to find an answer immediately. Listening, saying “Thank you for telling me,” and thinking together when needed can help children feel safe to talk.
The photos show creating and listening: two ways of making room for each person to be themselves.
“It feels like autumn.” What colours, sounds or sensations are held in that small observation? Finding words for a season is not only about using vocabulary we already know. It is also a way of discovering what we have noticed.
In Japanese language learning at CGK Elementary School (Grades 1-5), students explore seasonal words and changes in nature through haiku and free verse. The aim is not simply to produce a polished poem straight away. The process of searching for words that fit an observation or feeling, and choosing how to express it, matters too.
Imagine looking at a leaf and calling it beautiful. Rather than stopping there, look a little longer. Which colours overlap? What changes when light passes through it? What sound do leaves make underfoot? More specific observations give us more possibilities for expression.
Two children may notice different things in the same scene. One might focus on colour; another on sound or texture. Instead of offering the “right” description first, an adult can ask, “What did you notice that made you feel that way?” and listen to the child`s perspective.
At home, this could be as simple as choosing one interesting thing during a walk and looking for words to describe it. There is no need to turn it into a formal haiku. A short sentence is enough.
Expression becomes interesting where a growing vocabulary meets a child`s own way of seeing. Both deserve room to develop.
At CGK Elementary School, mathematics and Japanese language are taught through Units of Inquiry (UOI) wherever possible. When lessons focused on particular skills are more appropriate, subject content is also taught separately.
To explore a question in depth, children need to read for meaning, work with numbers and quantities, and put their thinking into words. Using those skills to investigate a question also helps them see why the skills matter. Foundations support inquiry; inquiry gives those foundations a purpose.
At CGK Elementary School (Grades 1-5), we connect subjects where meaningful while making time to develop individual skills carefully.
Consider a comparison. A child might initially feel that one quantity is greater than another. Using numbers or measurements to check that impression, then explaining the evidence, makes the comparison more precise. This is one example of mathematics and language becoming tools for thinking.
Leaving room for children to think does not mean withholding the knowledge or methods they need. There is a place for demonstrating a method, a place for practising it, and a place for children to decide how to apply it. Each has a role in supporting inquiry.
We do not have to choose between independent thinking and strong foundations. What matters is helping children move between the two.
@element_earth04 (Oct 24 & 25): Make your own moss terrarium.
@hanahanahandmade73 (Oct 25): Sticker workshop and handmade items.
Heal the Future (Oct 24): Plant-based ingredients and natural supplements, from Kamakura.
October 24 (Sat) & 25 (Sun), 2026 | 10:00–14:30 CGK Kannai Campus, Yokohama Open to the public. Free admission; no advance booking for entry. Some activities are paid. Exhibitor dates vary. More details via the link in our profile.
スポーツに、小さな世界づくりに、ハンドメイド。CGK School Festival 2026の出展者を、今回も5組ご紹介します！
TD Flag Football (10/24・25): 参加賞もあるフットボールの的当て。
横浜エクセレンス (10/24): バスケットボールのシュート体験。
Element Earth (10/24・25): 自分だけの苔テラリウムづくり。
はなはなハンドメイド (10/25): 切手風シールづくりとハンドメイド品。
Heal the Future (10/24): 植物由来原料・自然派サプリメントを扱う鎌倉の企業。
A little water on a hand. A small step into something new. 💧
Ocean Class (2-year-olds) tried its first water play at the end of July, as featured in August`s CGK Times.
Some children began cautiously, pouring small amounts from cups onto hands and feet. As they grew more comfortable, they explored spray bottles, water guns and toys that floated or sank.
Popular water guns also brought a social challenge: there were not enough for everyone at once. Children asked to use them, waited and passed them on. Sometimes waiting was frustrating too.
The story holds both enjoyment and difficulty. Exploring something new includes learning about our own feelings and those of our friends.
From CGK Times, August 2026. More school stories: website in our profile.
手に少し、水をかけてみる。新しい遊びへの、小さな一歩。💧
CGK Times 8月号では、Oceanクラス(2歳児)が7月末に初めて楽しんだ水遊びを紹介しています。
The machine was finished. The explanation mattered too.
At the end of CGK Afterschool`s two-day hydraulic and pneumatic machine project, teams demonstrated their creations and explained their choices and difficulties.
One team`s challenge was improving how well its machine could lift. In its presentation, the team described overcoming that obstacle through communication, teamwork and repeated testing—and by not giving up.
A working model shows one outcome. Explaining the changes and challenges reveals more of the learning behind it.
The project was part of Summer School, featured in August`s CGK Times. CGK Afterschool programme: Grades 1–9.
From CGK Times, August 2026. More school stories: website in our profile.
Show & Tell does not end when the speaker finishes.
In Mountain B Class (4-year-olds), children regularly share something meaningful to them: a favourite object, an interest or a personal experience.
Then it is their friends` turn—not simply to wait, but to listen, decide what they want to know and put a question into words.
Teachers have noticed children becoming more comfortable sharing their ideas with the group. The repeated opportunities matter: speaking, listening and asking are all part of participating in a classroom community.
One object can open many conversations.
From CGK Times, August 2026. More school stories: website in our profile.
In a two-day Summer School project at CGK Afterschool, teams built hydraulic and pneumatic machines.
Teachers provided instructions for the base. From there, students made their own adjustments through a cycle of design → build → test → improve, keeping one function in mind: lifting different materials.
There was something concrete to test—not just whether a model looked finished, but what it could do. Each round gave teams another opportunity to consider a change.
The finished machine is only part of the story. The decisions made along the way matter too.
CGK Afterschool programme: Grades 1–9.
From CGK Times, August 2026. More school stories: website in our profile.
A campsite indoors. Real opportunities to share. ⛺
When summer heat limited time outside, our teachers brought Jungle A and B Classes (3-year-olds) together for an indoor camping adventure.
Children caught pretend fish, cooked on a DIY barbecue and roasted cotton-ball marshmallows over a pretend fire. Tents and sand slime added opportunities to imagine, touch and explore.
The teachers planned the stations with a purpose: sharing with children from both classes. “Share, please” and “Wait, please” were part of the play as children took turns.
The campsite was make-believe. The practice in patience, communication and kindness was real.
From CGK Times, August 2026. More school stories: website in our profile.
Meet our workshop exhibitors! 🎨 School Festival 2026 — introductions, round 2
• Becca Dufie @becca.dufie — Painting and creative expression (Oct 24–25) • Mariella @mariella_japan — Ocean resin art (Oct 24) • Atelier Theresia @ateliertheresia — Handmade creations (Oct 25) • Michel Art School @michel_art_school — Creative art for children (Oct 24–25) • The Tome of Masa @thetomeofmasa — Create your own four-panel manga (Oct 24–25) • Sofi*a style @sofia_style_maiko — Halloween wreath making (Oct 25) • LIA LAB @lialab_official — Multilingual craft activities (Oct 24) • Happy Beans @happybeans_englishsitter — Make your own bag charm (Oct 24)
Oct 24–25, 2026 | 10:00–14:30 | CGK Kannai Campus, Yokohama Free admission; workshop fees apply. No advance booking needed for entry. Details via our profile`s Website link → School Festival. Photos include examples of exhibitors` work. Offerings and dates may change.
12+4-Year Continuum Education
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