Meet the unforgettable teachers at quite possibly the coolest cram school ever

You’ve probably heard stories about the horrors of Japanese juku, otherwise known as cram schools, where children go after an already grueling day at regular school to receive even more academic instruction in specific subject areas. Most students attend these costly schools in the hopes of gaining even a few extra points on their high school or university entrance examinations, whether it’s by their own volition or because they’re being forced to go by their parents. So unless you’re someone who genuinely enjoys the process of studying, you can see why just the thought of juku conjures up dread in so many Japanese students.

Determined to dispel the image of cram schools as torture chambers for weary students who would much rather be watching TV or playing video games in the evening, one such juku has decided to take a completely different approach in the way that it attracts students to its classes.

Misuzu Gakuen, which has eight locations located in the Greater Tokyo Region, is no ordinary juku by Japanese standards. The key to its appeal lies in the way that the company advertises its teachers as veritable companions to the students, and not just as figures of authority. Here’s the brief introduction from the institution’s official website.

“You can think of the teachers at Misuzu Gakuen as your friends. Our esteemed lecturers are nothing but fun-loving, caring, and good-humored. When it comes time for class, you can expect inspirational, blazing lessons from them.

They’re completely different from the cold, self-important teachers you find at other institutions. Many Misuzu Gakuen students even stay in touch with their teachers after graduation.”

Sure, that message is intriguing, but what really caught our attention is the series of staff profile pictures found directly beneath it.

What the – pirates? And Godzilla?? If you were a kid, given the choice wouldn’t you rather be taught by one of these teachers than by a typical, boring, no-nonsense drill sergeant? By the way, all of the staff pictured above are the English teachers. Why do I get the feeling that if the English department at the junior high school where I once worked in Japan had occasionally dressed up like this, we wouldn’t have had so many apathetic third-years nodding off in class.

Curious to see what regular Japanese folks thought about the unusual antics of these teachers, we scrolled down to check out some of their comments:

“They must be on drugs.”

“Is it a cult?”

“I had a feeling it would be Misuzu, and sure enough, it was.”

“I laughed so hard at all of their get-ups.”

“Is the lack of female instructors in the science and math departments the reason why some of the men seemed to dress up as women?”

“Sorry guys, I attended this juku three years ago, and none of the teachers actually cosplayed during class.”

For your entertainment, we also uncovered a commercial for Misuzu Gakuen in which several of the instructors dress up as vegetables and make corny (yeah, yeah) puns.

Sources/image: Kinisoku, Misuzu Gakuen

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