The 4th NASEF JAPAN All Japan High School Esports Championship Decided to be Held, Entry Registration Now Open!

NASEF JAPAN (Director: Masao Kakihara, NASEF JAPAN) has decided to hold the "4th NASEF JAPAN All Japan High School Esports Championship," an esports tournament for high school students, and has begun accepting entries. Below is an overview of the tournament.

Regarding the Holding of the Tournament

Since its establishment, NASEF JAPAN has been actively engaged in activities to promote educational esports.

The "NASEF JAPAN All Japan High School Esports Championship" inherits the philosophy of educational esports activities cultivated by NASEF JAPAN and the spirit of the "National High School Esports Championship," which was held up to its 5th iteration. It has been held annually since the first tournament in February 2024 as the tournament to decide the pinnacle of high school esports.

In the 4th tournament, building on the past three tournaments and in collaboration with educational institutions, we aim to expand the scale beyond what has been achieved so far, and to create further development and exchange opportunities for high school esports.

<What is the NASEF JAPAN All Japan High School Esports Championship>

An esports championship tournament for high school students, aiming to grow together with friends through esports. It is a tournament that will be a shining page in high school life, where students can demonstrate the results of their daily practice with their friends and aim for victory.

Organizer: NASEF JAPAN

Special Sponsor: Thirdwave Co., Ltd.

Regarding the Adopted Competition Titles

The competition titles for the 4th NASEF JAPAN All Japan High School Esports Championship are as follows.

【4th NASEF JAPAN All Japan High School Esports Championship Competition Titles】

- Apex Legends

- Street Fighter 6 (Team & Individual Divisions)

- Fortnite

- League of Legends

- VALORANT

※In the 3rd tournament, Fortnite was held in trios, but in consideration of recent trends, it will be changed to duos from this tournament.

Regarding the "Block System"

In the 4th tournament, following the previous tournament, the "Block System" will be continued, taking into account the characteristics of each region and high school. Participants will be divided into four blocks based on area and school classification, with online preliminaries held by block from September to October. The finals will be held in December with representative schools from each block.

<About Blocks>

Four blocks will be set up based on area and school classification.

●Eastern Japan Full-time High School Block

●Western Japan Full-time High School Block

●Eastern Japan Part-time and Correspondence High School Block

●Western Japan Part-time and Correspondence High School Block

<About Areas>

●Eastern Japan

Hokkaido Region: Hokkaido

Tohoku Region: Aomori Prefecture | Iwate Prefecture | Akita Prefecture | Miyagi Prefecture | Yamagata Prefecture | Fukushima Prefecture

Kanto Region: Ibaraki Prefecture | Tochigi Prefecture | Gunma Prefecture | Saitama Prefecture | Chiba Prefecture | Tokyo Metropolis | Kanagawa Prefecture

Chubu Region: Niigata Prefecture | Toyama Prefecture | Ishikawa Prefecture | Fukui Prefecture | Yamanashi Prefecture | Nagano Prefecture | Gifu Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | Aichi Prefecture

●Western Japan

Kinki Region: Mie Prefecture | Shiga Prefecture | Kyoto Prefecture | Osaka Prefecture | Hyogo Prefecture | Nara Prefecture | Wakayama Prefecture

Chugoku Region: Tottori Prefecture | Shimane Prefecture | Okayama Prefecture | Hiroshima Prefecture | Yamaguchi Prefecture

Shikoku Region: Tokushima Prefecture | Kagawa Prefecture | Ehime Prefecture | Kochi Prefecture

Kyushu Region: Fukuoka Prefecture | Saga Prefecture | Nagasaki Prefecture | Kumamoto Prefecture | Oita Prefecture | Miyazaki Prefecture | Kagoshima Prefecture | Okinawa Prefecture

<About School Classification>

The classification of enrollment courses in this tournament will be based on the following classifications stipulated in Articles 53 and 54 of the School Education Act.

High schools may have full-time, part-time, and correspondence courses.

・Full-time: Courses where classes are conducted during normal hours.

・Part-time: Courses where classes are conducted during night or other special hours or periods.

・Correspondence: Courses conducted through correspondence.

Students enrolled in advanced vocational high school courses, full-time correspondence courses, or commuting correspondence courses, who attend a specific campus one or more days a week, will also be assigned to the part-time and correspondence block if their enrolled course is part-time or correspondence. (Even for the five-day-a-week commuting course, entry will be in the part-time and correspondence high school block, not the full-time high school block.)

●High Schools Belonging to the Full-time Block

High schools with full-time courses.

※Students from schools falling under this classification who form a team with students belonging to the part-time or correspondence course within the same school will participate as "part-time and correspondence high school" students.

●High Schools Belonging to the Part-time and Correspondence High School Block

High schools with part-time or correspondence courses (including wide-area correspondence high schools).

This also includes teams formed by students enrolled in correspondence support schools.

Tournament Overview

Entry for the tournament will begin on July 1 (Wed.) on the official tournament website (https://www.nasef-nhec.jp/). Online preliminaries for each title are scheduled from September to October, with the finals in December.

For details, please check the tournament rules and regulations for each title posted on the official tournament website.

【Eligibility】

●Must be a high school student, part-time high school student, technical college student (up to 3rd year), or correspondence high school student residing in Japan.

※Must be enrolled in a high school that meets the conditions for university entrance qualifications certified by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

●All team members must be enrolled in the same school.

※If students of correspondence high schools have a designated campus, they must enter with members from the same campus.

※For courses that are online-only with no fixed campus, members must enter from the same course.

●Must remain enrolled in the high school at the time of entry from application through the preliminaries and finals.

●At least one member of the team must be able to communicate smoothly with the organizer in Japanese.

【Maximum Number of Entry Teams from the Same High School】

●Apex Legends Division: Up to 20 teams

●Street Fighter 6 Team Division: Up to 10 teams

●Street Fighter 6 Individual Division: Extreme League: 30 players / Challenge League: 30 players

●Fortnite Division: Up to 20 teams

●League of Legends Division: Up to 10 teams

●VALORANT Division: Up to 10 teams

●A single player can enter multiple divisions.

●A single player cannot participate in different teams for the same title.

Schedule

【Entry Schedule】

July 1, 2026 (Wed) - September 10, 2026 (Thu) 18:00

【Preliminary Schedule】

September 26, 2026 (Sat) Online Preliminaries League of Legends Division

September 27, 2026 (Sun) Online Preliminaries League of Legends Division

October 3, 2026 (Sat) Online Preliminaries Street Fighter 6 Team & Individual Divisions

October 4, 2026 (Sun) Online Preliminaries Street Fighter 6 Team & Individual Divisions

October 12, 2026 (Mon) Online Preliminaries Street Fighter 6 Team & Individual Divisions

October 10, 2026 (Sat) Online Preliminaries Apex Legends Division

October 11, 2026 (Sun) Online Preliminaries Apex Legends Division

October 17, 2026 (Sat) Online Preliminaries Fortnite Division

October 18, 2026 (Sun) Online Preliminaries Fortnite Division

October 24, 2026 (Sat) Online Preliminaries VALORANT Division

October 25, 2026 (Sun) Online Preliminaries VALORANT Division

※The dates for the Street Fighter 6 Team and Individual Division preliminaries and finals will vary depending on the number of participants. Players participating in the Team Division can also enter the Individual Division.

※The online finals for the Street Fighter 6 Individual Division Challenge League will be held on October 3, 4, or 12.

【Final Schedule】

December 5, 2026 (Sun) Online Finals Fortnite

December 6, 2026 (Sat) Online Finals Apex Legends

December 7, 2026 (Sun) Online Finals Apex Legends

December 12, 2026 (Sat) Offline Finals Street Fighter 6 Team & Individual Divisions

December 13, 2026 (Sun) Offline Finals Street Fighter 6 Team & Individual Divisions

December 19, 2025 (Sat) Offline Finals League of Legends

December 20, 2026 (Sun) Offline Finals VALORANT

Offline Finals Venue

Scheduled to be held in Tokyo

※Details regarding the venue, viewing methods, and tickets for the offline finals will be announced at a later date.

We sincerely look forward to your entries.

※Please note that the content described in this release is subject to change without notice. Thank you for your understanding. For the latest information, please check the official tournament website and official X (formerly Twitter).

To All Players Considering Participating in the Street Fighter 6 Division

Following the 2nd and 3rd tournaments, as a support project for participating schools, we plan to give away Steam version Street Fighter 6 game codes. Details will be released at a later date, so please stay tuned.

【About NASEF JAPAN】

NASEF JAPAN is a non-profit organization that promotes the development of digital talent and global human resources for the next generation, using esports/games as an entry point.

Currently, over 670 high schools nationwide are affiliated, promoting digital education and inquiry-based learning utilizing esports/games as an educational tool. In addition to initiatives for high school students, we are also working to create opportunities for younger generations to learn while enjoying digital content through workshops on inquiry-based learning using games for elementary and junior high school students.

We aim to build an educational ecosystem that fosters the skills for young people to thrive in the future society by utilizing esports and games not just as entertainment, but as opportunities for learning and growth, in collaboration with educational institutions, companies, and local governments.

NASEF JAPAN Website: https://nasef.jp

NASEF JAPAN Official X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/NASEF_Japan

•Apex Legends / © 2026 Electronic Arts Inc.

•Street Fighter 6 / ©CAPCOM

•Fortnite / © 2026, Epic Games, Inc. Epic, Epic Games, Epic Games logo, Fortnite, Fortnite logo, Unreal, Unreal Engine 4 and UE4 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States and other countries, and may not be copied, transferred, reproduced, or used without permission.

•League of Legends / © 2026 Riot Games, Inc. League of Legends and any associated logos, are trademarks, service marks, and/or registered trademarks of Riot Games, Inc. Used With Permission.

•VALORANT / © 2026 Riot Games, Inc. VALORANT and any associated logos, are trademarks, service marks, and/or registered trademarks of Riot Games, Inc. Used With Permission.

●Inquiries about the Tournament

【NASEF JAPAN All Japan High School Esports Championship Secretariat】

Mail: nhec-info@nasef.jp

Official Tournament Website: https://www.nasef-nhec.jp/

Official Tournament X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/NASEFJP_esports