The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) will send staff from its Kyushu office to a high school in Kumamoto on Wednesday 14 October 2026, to teach 42 third-year students how competition law works. The session runs from 2:00pm to 3:40pm, according to a JFTC Kyushu office release dated 7 October.
What the class covers
The lesson combines a simulation game on how a market economy functions with a mock on-site inspection, the kind of visit the regulator makes to companies it suspects of breaching the Antimonopoly Act. The JFTC describes the programme as part of a series it has run at high schools across the country, aimed at helping students grasp the role of the law early. Other formats it offers include group discussion, case studies and mock interviews.
Open to the press
The JFTC says cameras and sit-in reporting are allowed in the classroom. Journalists who want to attend must contact the Kyushu office's general affairs section by noon on Tuesday 13 October.
How often the classes run
An appendix to the release lists nationwide session counts by fiscal year. High school classes numbered 36 in the year to March 2024, 46 in the year to March 2025 and 38 in the year to March 2026. The Kyushu region accounted for 7, 8 and 6 of those sessions respectively. University sessions were more frequent, at 143, 143 and 123 nationwide over the same three years.
| Year to March | High school, nationwide | High school, Kyushu | University, nationwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 36 | 7 | 143 |
| 2025 | 46 | 8 | 143 |
| 2026 | 38 | 6 | 123 |
The JFTC says schools can adjust timing, content and format, and that lecturer fees and travel costs are not charged. The appendix also quotes one past student saying the class showed that consumers can buy cheap, good-quality goods because companies compete.