Abstract
With a view to furthering high school education on the community to which they belong, this report aims to clarify to what extent each high school identifies itself in relation to the surrounding area. The author sent a questionnaire to all national and public high schools in this country from late August to early September 2002; a total of 4,125 questionnaires were sent and 2,292 schools returned their replies (recovery rate: 55.6%). The results of the research are as follows. 1) Most schools interpret their community as a commuting area rather than an area within specifics distance or time, and the size of the commuting area differs from prefecture to prefecture. 2) As to whether or not the schools recognize the specifics or characteristics of their community, many schools replied in the affirmative while not many schools admitted that their students were aware of the specifics or characteristics of the community. It should be noted that the above is again different from prefecture to prefecture. 3) The Open School has been practiced at more than 90 percent of the high schools, but the contents of the project vary a great deal from prefecture to prefecture.
