# #105 多様化する大学入試…総合型選抜って「親の課金ゲーム」なの？

- Show: ホンマのホンネ　～わたしたちのモヤモヤニュース会議～
- Published: 2026-10-13
- Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1770427874_78f267081f31.html
- Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TAC3038454902.mp3
- Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary.

Japan's sogo-gata senbatsu (comprehensive admissions selection, formerly AO admissions) now accounts for 22.8% of private university entrants and 19.5% of all university entrants — roughly one in four students. Specialist prep school fees have climbed past ¥1 million a year, earning the system the label 'parents' pay-to-win game.' TV Asahi announcer Chie Honma and reporters Kaori Toyama and Yuka Mizuo of the news division discussed the system's complexity, economic disparities, and structural contradictions based on their own admissions experiences and original reporting.

## What this episode answers

### What is sogo-gata senbatsu and how does it differ from general admissions?

Sogo-gata senbatsu requires applicants to submit personal statements and essays tailored from scratch to each university's admissions policy, with applications in September and results announced November–December; in 2025, 22.8% of private university entrants and 19.5% of all entrants used this pathway.

### How much does preparation cost, and how much effort does it require?

Preparation typically begins in second year of high school and requires documents to be rewritten from scratch for each institution applied to; specialist prep school fees exceed ¥1 million per year, and one parent interviewed described it as having 'a definite pay-to-win feel.'

### How do economic and informational disparities affect sogo-gata senbatsu?

Professor Takaaki Nakamura of the University of Tokyo Graduate School noted that disparities in experience and support are stark, and that general exams are fairer for children from economically disadvantaged households; differences in prep school costs, parental involvement, and school policies create vastly unequal preparation environments.

### What is 'tankyu kogai' (inquiry pollution)?

'Tankyu kogai' (inquiry pollution) is journalist Keiko Hamada's term for the phenomenon of high school students mass-sending inquiry emails to companies and organizations as part of their admissions preparation, overwhelming those workplaces with thin, seemingly AI-generated messages.

### Is the diversification of university admissions actually producing a more diverse student body?

Specialist prep-school optimization has pushed a system designed for diversity toward producing applicants with strikingly similar documents and experiences; Professor Nakamura warned that 'we should drop the assumption that diverse admissions are inherently good,' and the spread of AI-written applications risks hollowing the system out further.

## Article

## One in Four Students Now Uses Sogo-gata Senbatsu

University admissions season is in full swing. Sogo-gata senbatsu (総合型選抜) — the comprehensive admissions selection that replaced the former AO nyushi (AO入試) — runs on a September application window with results announced November through December, meaning more students than ever are locking in their university places before the year ends. According to the Ministry of Education's 2025 overview of admissions practices, national and public universities break down as 76.3% general selection, 7.3% sogo-gata, and 16.5% school recommendation. Private universities show a near-even three-way split: 38.3% general, 22.8% sogo-gata, and 38.8% school recommendation. Combining both sectors, 19.5% of all entrants — roughly one in four — now enter through sogo-gata senbatsu.

One of the show's hosts, TV Asahi announcer Chie Honma (本間ちえ), applied for AO admissions twice and was rejected both times. "I applied because academic grades carry less weight," she recalled, acknowledging honestly that "my picture of what I wanted to study was blurry." She ultimately entered the same university through general exams.

## Preparing Like a Job-Seeker — From Second Year of High School, at Over ¥1 Million a Year

The defining challenge of sogo-gata senbatsu is that every university, faculty, and department sets its own admissions policy (adomisshon porishii — a statement of what kind of student the institution wants), and applicants must craft personal statements and essays entirely from scratch to match each one. A parent interviewed by the program, whose son sat the exams last year, said preparation began in his second year of high school, and applying to multiple schools meant rewriting documents completely each time. "It feels exactly like job-hunting," the parent said. Application deadlines are staggered across institutions, adding a further layer of logistical complexity.

Specialist prep schools exist to navigate this maze, but fees run to more than ¥1 million per year. The same parent said plainly: "Honestly, it does feel like a pay-to-win game." Some high schools, focused on boosting general-exam pass rates at elite institutions, offer little or no guidance on sogo-gata applications, leaving families to rely on prep schools even for basic information gathering. Academically selective schools, for their part, sometimes put no resources into sogo-gata at all because they want students aiming for top universities through general exams.

## A System That Visibly Rewards Experience and Financial Backing

Professor Takaaki Nakamura (中村高康) of the University of Tokyo Graduate School, a specialist in the sociology of education, told the program: "There is a clear information gap between families that can engage intensively and those that cannot, and schools vary widely in their support — honestly, it's a lottery." Where general exams reward knowledge accumulated from a standard curriculum, sogo-gata outcomes depend heavily on the quality and quantity of a student's formative experiences and the support network behind them. Professor Nakamura noted that "for children from economically disadvantaged households, general exams are fairer."

Program guest and journalist Keiko Hamada (濱田恵子), whose daughter went through admissions a few years ago, agreed: "It is fundamentally impossible for a child to research and complete this complex system alone. It has become a system that forces parental involvement." She questioned whether students would simply be better off focusing on academic study.

## "Inquiry Pollution" — The Problem Exhausting the People on the Receiving End

A new phenomenon has emerged from admissions prep: high school students mass-emailing companies and civic organizations to request inquiry sessions for their research projects. Hamada named this "tankyu kogai" (探求公害) — inquiry pollution. IT firms report being flooded with thin, seemingly AI-generated emails, and even when they reply, it is often unclear whether the student has any genuine motivation. When Hamada published an article on the topic on social media, she received an outpouring of "it's happening to us too" responses from people across many industries.

Honma herself volunteered for a guide-dog fundraising campaign during her own admissions period. "My initial motive wasn't entirely pure," she admitted, "but my love of dogs was real." The problem, she argued, is not impure motives — it is a system that turns volunteer activity into a strategic instrument for applications.

## The "Diversity Trap" and the System's Fundamental Contradictions

Professor Nakamura went so far as to say: "We should drop the assumption that diverse admissions are inherently a good thing." A mechanism designed to recruit a wider range of talent has, through specialist prep-school optimization, converged on a pool of applicants with strikingly similar documents and experiences. As more students use AI to write their applications, the risk of further hollowing-out grows. The Ministry of Education has already issued guidance encouraging universities to conduct in-person interviews for year-end admissions, suggesting a likely future shift toward harder-to-fake evaluations such as essays written under exam conditions.

A Japan-US comparison reveals a structural root cause. American universities employ dedicated admissions officers; Japan imported the model without the staffing, leaving admissions work as an additional duty for professors and associate professors. The costs of this under-resourced diversification are falling on students, families, and the organizations fielding inquiry emails.

That said, a professor at one well-known private university noted that sogo-gata entrants tend to have higher attendance rates and submit reports more reliably — qualities faculty welcome. Researcher Makiko Nakamura (中村真希子) has pointed to evidence that traits such as perseverance and consistent attendance continue to develop after enrollment. The program's prevailing tone was not that one pathway is superior to the other, nor that sogo-gata should be abolished, but that the system needs better implementation rather than elimination.

## Takeaways

- About 23% of private university entrants now use sogo-gata senbatsu, with specialist prep school fees exceeding ¥1 million per year — a burden one parent interviewed described as a 'pay-to-win game.'
- Japan adopted the American-style comprehensive admissions model without hiring dedicated admissions staff, leaving university faculty to handle the work on top of their existing duties and creating structural inequity for students and families.
- Optimization by specialist prep schools is already hollowing out a system meant to foster diversity, and the spread of AI-written applications risks making selections even more opaque and uniform.