What is Science Koshien?

Science Koshien has been held annually since FY2011 by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), a National Research and Development Agency, with the aim of broadening the base of students who enjoy science while further developing the top tier. The competition features a high school division and a junior high school division. As a nationwide event where science-minded junior and senior high school students from across Japan gather, compete, and excel, it has attracted wide media coverage and significant public attention.

Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation (hereinafter, the Company) has sponsored the competition as a collaborating Partner company since FY2018.

In FY2024, the 12th National Junior Science Koshien Tournament for junior high school students was held from December 13 to 15, 2024, at Acrie Himeji in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, while the 13th National Science Koshien Tournament for senior high school students took place from March 15 to 17, 2025, at the Tsukuba International Congress Center. This report focuses mainly on the National Junior Science Koshien Tournament and presents highlights from the event.

A total of 25,772 junior high school students entered the representative selection held in each prefecture. The 47 teams—282 students—who triumphed in the fierce competition gathered together to compete in their knowledge and application skills across multiple fields, including science and mathematics.

In previous years, each team took part in the program wearing jackets in the colors they had chosen in advance. This year, however, fitting for a National Competition in science, pastel-colored lab coats were provided instead. Clad in these coats, the participants looked every bit the "scientists in the making" who will drive the next generation of science and technology. The garments also embody the organizers' wish that, even after the competition, the students will make use of them on various occasions and, together with science, forge their own dreams.

Scenes from the competition

Competitors are ranked based on the combined scores of the written and practical competitions, with a scoring ratio of 1:2.

Written Competition

Problems that test your ability to apply knowledge from science, mathematics, and information studies were presented. Each team of six works together to answer these interdisciplinary problems that transcend subject boundaries. You can view this fiscal year’s questions below, so if you are confident in your science skills, be sure to give them a try!

Excerpt from the Problem

The problems are here.

Practical Competition

Participants compete in their problem-solving abilities by utilizing skills such as manufacturing and communication. In this competition, a total of two problems were presented.

Practical Competition 1: Experience a simulated grand science tour that explores the mysteries of Earth and the universe!

Practical Competition 1 is titled "Two Frontiers—From the Ocean to Space." In this competition, three junior high school students from the distant future, participating in a Science Tour, experience the wonders of the ocean and space and take on two tasks related to geoscience.

The first assignment, titled "Waves Exist Inside the Sea as Well," focused on the intriguing phenomenon of internal waves, which occur where rivers flow into the ocean or where ice melts into seawater in polar regions. In the competition, teams recreated a density stratification in an aquarium using dyed fresh water and salt water, generated internal waves at the interface, recorded them with a tablet, and measured their wavelength and phase velocity. Most teams managed to create the density stratification smoothly, but some struggled when they tried to generate waves, accidentally mixing the layers, or when their preparatory work for the measurements was insufficient, making it difficult to film the waves with the tablet. The task required the three team members to divide their roles effectively and to measure and analyze the waves accurately and efficiently.

The second challenge, titled "Planetary Voyage: Where Are We?", required participants to construct an astronomical telescope using a kit provided on the desk and to observe two pieces of planetary imagery set up within the competition venue. Generally, astronomical problems are considered on the basis of observations made from Earth. The difficulty of this event, however, lay in the fact that the observation point was set on a space station orbiting a moon of a planet other than Earth in the solar system. Thus, the contestants were required to broaden their perspective to a cosmic scale—examining how planets appear when viewed from locations other than Earth, under what conditions an eclipse can be seen, and how the arrangement of the solar system's planets influences these views.

A middle school student who can solve problems like these could be an immediate asset as an engineer at our company.

You can find the problem here.

Practical Competition ②: Ingeniously crafted carts and flying objects all gathered together!

Practical Competition 2, "Slope Bump Jump!", is a competition where a cart descends a slope and collides with a stopper, using the resulting momentum to launch a flying object mounted on the cart as far as possible. Participants compete to see whose flying object travels the farthest.

Some teams held their heads in frustration when they failed to achieve the intended flight distance, while others unexpectedly overshot the field boundaries, highlighting the difficulty of reproducing trial results in the actual event. Even so, the inventive carts and flying machines from each team were a sight to behold, making the competition captivating right up to the very end.

Awards Ceremony

Amid a tense atmosphere that filled the venue, the "Corporate Special Award" sponsored by participating companies was announced before the overall rankings. The "SKY Perfect JSAT Award," presented as the Manufacturing Design Prize, was given to the team that developed an outstanding design in Practical Competition II.

The distinguished recipient of the SKY Perfect JSAT Award was... the team representing Gunma Prefecture. Congratulations! We presented the team representing Gunma Prefecture with a certificate and supplementary prize.

The time has finally come to announce the overall rankings.

The team that claimed a brilliant victory is... the team representing Ibaraki Prefecture.

This marks their second championship, and their first in ten years.

Congratulations!

Booth Exhibition

After the awards ceremony, sponsor companies set up exhibition booths. Each company offered hands-on science experiences and lectures related to their respective businesses, and the students listened intently. At our booth, we held a lecture on artificial satellites followed by a quiz competition. During the Q&A session, a large number of scientific questions were raised, and our employees struggled to answer some of the highly advanced queries.

A total of 120 students and teachers visited our exhibition booth. To deepen their interest in space and satellites, we handed out satellite papercraft models and leaflets featuring interviews with our employees who have previously participated in the Science Koshien competition.

Furthermore, in addition to the Science Koshien Junior, a competition for junior high school students, our company also sponsored the high school edition of Science Koshien—the 15th National Science Koshien Tournament—held in March 2025, and similarly set up a booth and other activities.

Our company has identified "regional and community development" as one of its key material issues, and we believe that support for the education of the next generation is also of great importance. Going forward, through initiatives such as "Science Koshien," we will continue to contribute to the sustainable development of society by supporting the education of the next generation.