In 2028, NLCS Kobe will open its new Rokko Mountain Campus, marking the next stage in the development of our international school in Kobe. The campus will become home to our Senior School and introduce boarding as NLCS Kobe grows progressively through Grades 6–12.
While the campus itself is still at an early stage of construction, our preparations for its future have already begun.
As part of our recent INSET Day, members of the NLCS Kobe team visited the construction site on Mount Rokko. It was an opportunity to see first-hand the work underway — but, more importantly, to begin imagining the learning, relationships and community that will one day fill this place.
Seeing the Future Take Shape on Mount Rokko
At this stage, imagining the future Rokko Mountain Campus still requires a little imagination.
The site is at an early stage of construction, with work underway to prepare the ground for what will eventually become a new school community on Mount Rokko.
For our colleagues, standing on the site offered a very different perspective on what lies ahead. Where there is now an active construction site, students will one day come to learn, live and spend their days. Classrooms, shared spaces and the everyday life of a school are still some way in the future — but visiting the site made it possible to begin imagining them.
The visit was not simply about seeing the progress of construction. It gave us an opportunity to think about how students will experience the campus: how they will learn, how they will spend time together, and how the distinctive natural environment of Mount Rokko can become part of school life.
For us, preparing for the future of NLCS Kobe begins long before the doors of a new campus open. It begins with building a shared understanding of the school we want to create and the experiences we want our students to have there.
A New Senior School and Boarding Campus in Kobe
The Rokko Mountain Campus will mark a significant new chapter for NLCS Kobe.
From 2028, it will become home to students in Grades 6–12 as the school grows progressively, providing a dedicated environment for our Senior School and introducing boarding to the NLCS Kobe experience.
Importantly, boarding at NLCS Kobe is being developed with the different needs of families in mind. Alongside day students, flexible boarding options will provide families with greater choice in how their children experience school life.
The ambition extends beyond creating a place for students to study or stay. The Rokko Mountain Campus will bring learning, personal development and community life together within an environment designed for students as they move through their secondary education.
It will be a place where the experience beyond the classroom matters too: where independence can develop alongside a strong sense of belonging, and where students can become increasingly confident in navigating both their education and the wider world.
The Best of Both Worlds: Nature and Connection
One of the defining qualities of the Rokko Mountain Campus will be its location.
Set within the natural surroundings of Mount Rokko, the campus will offer students an environment away from the pace of city life, with the space to learn, live and become part of a close-knit school community surrounded by nature.
Yet being surrounded by nature does not mean being disconnected.
The campus will remain well connected to Kobe, with Osaka also within reach. Access to major transport links, including Kobe Airport and Osaka International Airport (Itami), will provide important connections for students and families travelling from elsewhere in Japan and overseas.
For a boarding school in Japan, that combination matters. Students can experience the space, nature and sense of community that life on Mount Rokko can offer without being isolated from the opportunities, culture and connections of major urban centres.
It is, in many ways, the best of both worlds: the natural environment of Mount Rokko, with Kobe, Osaka and wider connections close at hand.
Two Campuses, One NLCS Kobe Education
The opening of the Rokko Mountain Campus will not mean leaving Rokko Island behind.
Our Rokko Island Campus will continue to be home to students from Pre-Grade 1 to Grade 5, providing the foundations for their education before they progress to the Senior School from Grade 6.
The Rokko Mountain Campus will provide a distinctive new environment for the next stage of that journey, while remaining part of one NLCS Kobe community and one shared educational vision.
Across both campuses, our ambition remains the same: to provide an internationally minded education that is firmly rooted in Japan, bringing a global outlook together with a meaningful connection to Japanese language, culture and community.
Building a School Before Opening Its Doors
Our INSET Day visit was one moment in a much longer journey towards 2028.
As work progresses on Mount Rokko, so too will the work of shaping the educational experience, culture and community that will define the future campus.
Over the coming years, the campus will gradually take shape. But creating a school is about far more than its buildings.
It is about the people who will bring those spaces to life, the relationships that will develop within them, and the experiences that students will carry with them long after they leave.
The Rokko Mountain Campus may still be at the beginning of its construction journey, but the thinking behind the school that will one day stand there is already well underway.
Discover the future Rokko Mountain Campus and the next chapter of NLCS Kobe.
Discover NLCS Kobe
Families interested in learning more about NLCS Kobe are warmly invited to join our upcoming Information Session and discover more about our educational approach, school community and the opportunities available to students.
Our next Information Session will take place on Saturday, 26 September 2026.
Learn more and register for our Info Session in Kobe.