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Shibuya Kyoiku Makuhari — No Evidence Found for the Legacy Directory's IB DP Claim

Chiba, Japan

One of Chiba's most prestigious coeducational schools, with a notably high proportion of returnee students and an English-only admission track for them.

Researched by William Prep from published sources. Not yet verified by the school. — Last reviewed by William Prep: 2026-09-24

Shibuya Kyoiku Makuhari (Shibumaku) is a coeducational junior/senior high school in Chiba's Mihama-ku. It actively recruits returnee and international students, employs many native-speaker teachers, and reportedly runs an English-only admission exam for returnees (no Japanese or maths test), with roughly 20 places available.

At a Glance

Coeducation	Coeducational not publicly confirmedas of: 2026-09-24
Returnee Admission	English only (no Japanese/maths test), ≈20 places (not independently confirmed)as of: 2026-09-24
IB DP	Not confirmed this session not publicly confirmedas of: 2026-09-24
Monthly Fee (Junior High)	¥62,500/month2026 · as of: 2026-09-24

"IB DP (English Stream)" — Not Confirmed This Session

The legacy William Prep directory described this school as "Japanese + IB DP (English stream)." This session, neither the school's own site nor any third-party source consulted mentions the IB DP. What was confirmed instead is an English-only returnee admission track and a strong native-speaker-led English programme — which is not the same thing as running an independent IB curriculum.

William Prep’s Analysis

The assumption that "strong at admitting returnees" implies "offers the IB" doesn't hold up here. Shibumaku appears to be a school built around the regular Japanese curriculum with real infrastructure for high-English-proficiency students — a genuinely valuable model in its own right, but a different one from an IB continuum school. A family that had been planning around an IB DP track should confirm this directly with the school before assuming otherwise.

Fees: ¥62,500/Month (Junior High)

Shibumaku's own 2026 fee page lists junior-high entry costs of a ¥300,000 entrance fee plus a ¥150,000 facility expansion fee (¥450,000 total), and a monthly charge of ¥39,000 tuition + ¥17,000 facility + ¥2,500 maintenance + ¥3,000 PTA + ¥1,000 student council = ¥62,500/month. Senior high entry costs ¥350,000 (¥200,000 entrance + ¥150,000 facility expansion), with the same monthly total as junior high. This is billed monthly, like an ordinary Japanese private school — not as a lump annual figure the way international schools typically present fees.

University Entrance Eligibility in Japan

School-accreditation route	Yes (estimated)
Student-qualification route (IB, etc.)	No not publicly confirmedWhether the school offers the IB Diploma or another curriculum that would trigger the individual-credential route was not confirmed this session.

Domestic university eligibility is presumed via ordinary graduation as an Article 1 school, though the registration itself wasn't confirmed this session.

Fees & Estimated First-Year Cost

academic year: 2026

Entrance Fee (Junior High)JHS	¥300,000
Facility Expansion Fee (Junior High, on enrolment)JHS	¥150,000
Tuition (monthly)	¥39,000
Facility Fee (monthly)	¥17,000
Maintenance Fee (monthly)	¥2,500
PTA Fee (monthly)	¥3,000
Student Council Fee (monthly)	¥1,000
Entrance Fee (Senior High)SHS	¥200,000
Facility Expansion Fee (Senior High, on enrolment)SHS	¥150,000

What Makes This School Distinctive

An English-only admission exam for returnee students

Admits returnees without testing Japanese or maths

Multiple third-party sources consistently report this exam structure.

Lowers the barrier to entry for returnees who aren't yet confident in academic Japanese.

Admissions

Cycle

未確認（帰国生入試は英語のみ、募集約20名） (not independently confirmed)

What Japanese Families Should Know

Who Might Find This School a Good Fit

Might suit — Returnee families wanting the regular Japanese curriculum while maintaining strong English

Might not suit — Families planning specifically around an IB Diploma track

William Prep’s Analysis

What researching Shibumaku made clear is that "strong with returnees" and "offers the IB" are not automatically the same category, even though they get conflated often. The legacy directory may have made exactly that conflation — and rather than repeat it, this profile records honestly that the claim couldn't be substantiated this session.

Questions to Ask the School

1.What exactly does the English-focused programme consist of — is it IB-based or a school-original design?
Why this matters: There's a discrepancy between the legacy directory's claim and what was found this session.
2.What are the university outcomes for returnee graduates, domestic and overseas?
Why this matters: Not confirmed this session.

Sources & Verification

学費 — 渋谷教育学園幕張中学校・高等学校primary source · as of: 2026-09-24Fetched directly. 2026年度: 中学入学金¥300,000・施設拡充費¥150,000（入学時）、月額授業料¥39,000・施設費¥17,000・維持費¥2,500・PTA会費¥3,000・生徒会費¥1,000（月額合計¥62,500）。高校入学金¥200,000・施設拡充費¥150,000（合計¥350,000）、月額合計は中学と同額。This is a regular Japanese Article 1 school fee structure (monthly billing), not a per-annum international-school-style schedule.
Search synthesis on 渋谷教育学園幕張 returnee admissions — Multiple (incl. TCK Workshop, EDUBAL)third-party source · as of: 2026-09-24Returnee-student (帰国生) admission is English-only (no Japanese/maths test), roughly 20 places across both sexes. High proportion of returnee students and strong overseas-university placement reported. No mention of IB DP found in sources consulted this session — this appears to be a Japanese Article 1 school with a strong returnee/English programme, not an IB school.

Last reviewed by William Prep: 2026-09-24

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