Physical Examination Day

What Is Physical Examination Day?

Every December 28th is "Physical Examination Day" (身体検査の日, Shintai Kensa no Hi) in Japan. On December 28, 1888, the Ministry of Education (文部省, Monbu-shō, now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) issued an ordinance directing all schools to conduct a "vitality examination" (活力検査) of students every April — measuring height, weight, chest size, lung capacity, grip strength, and more. Items such as vision and hearing were added in 1897, when the system was revised into the student physical examination rules. This was the beginning of Japan's school health system, which has conducted annual physical examinations of Japanese schoolchildren ever since.

School Health in Japan

Japan's school physical examination system, initiated by the 1888 ordinance, became one of the world's most comprehensive school health monitoring programs. Annual examinations document the physical development of Japanese children throughout their schooling, providing both individual health monitoring and aggregate public health data about Japanese children's growth, nutrition, and health trends. The data collected through school examinations over 135 years represents one of the world's richest longitudinal records of children's physical development.

Health Trends Revealed by School Examinations

Japan's long-running school physical examination data has revealed significant trends in Japanese children's health: the dramatic increase in average height and weight through the postwar economic growth period (reflecting improved nutrition and living standards), the emergence of childhood obesity as a health concern from the 1980s onward, changes in vision rates (increasing myopia associated with reduced outdoor activity and increased screen time), and other public health patterns that inform national health policy.

School Health Beyond Examinations

Japan's school health system extends beyond annual examinations to include school nurses (養護教諭, yōgo kyōyu) stationed at every school, health education in the curriculum, school lunch programs designed to meet nutritional standards, and physical education requirements. The comprehensive approach to school health reflects Japan's understanding that children's physical wellbeing is inseparable from their educational development.

Fun Facts

• School nurses: Japan's school nurse system (養護教諭, yōgo kyōyu) — licensed health professionals permanently stationed at schools to provide health care, health counseling, and health education — is one of the world's most comprehensive school-based health staffing systems, with a nurse in virtually every school.
• Growth data: Japan's century-plus of school physical examination data has made Japan's secular growth trends (the dramatic height increases of the postwar period and the subsequent leveling off) among the best-documented in the world, providing valuable insights into the relationship between nutrition, healthcare, and human physical development.