is a

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

Ginowan is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2024, the city has an estimated population of 100,319, with 47,490 households and a population density of 5,142 persons per km2. The total area is 19.51 km2. The city borders Chatan t ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

which has another branch in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. It was founded in 1983 by Masayuki Makino who became the first

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

of the school. Many of the school's former students became popular

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

stars especially in the 1990s.

Notable alumni

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

Hitoe Arakaki is the oldest member of the Japanese pop group Speed, which disbanded in 2000 and reformed in 2009. She was born in Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of ...

Rina Chinen , is a Japanese entertainer, former singer, and musical theater actress. She is affiliated with Rising Production. History Rina Chinen took lessons as a child from the Okinawa Actors School. By the time she reached junior high, she relocated to O ...

* D&D *

Da Pump is a Japanese boy band made up of lead vocalist, Issa Hentona and MCs Ken Okumoto, Yukinari Tamaki and Shinobu Miyara. The band formed as students at Okinawa Actors School in 1996. They made their debut on the Avex Trax subsidiary avex tune unde ...

Nanako Takushi Nanako Takushi (2016) is a Japanese pop singer from Okinawa, Japan, and an original member of the group Super Monkey's. After the group disbanded, she formed the group MAX with other Super Monkey's vocalists. See also * Super Monkey's * MAX ...

Folder 5 Folder 5 (also spelled Folder5) (フォルダファイヴ ''Forudafaivu'') was a five-girl Japanese pop idol group on the Avex Trax music label. The group's music was known for its Eurobeat style. The band's music was produced by Takashi Kimur ...

* Gwinko *

Asuka Hinoi is a Japanese singer and actress. Biography Asuka's musical career began in 2002, when she was chosen with two other girls, Hikaru Koyama and Miho Hiroshige, to form the group LOVE & PEACE. Their song "Drifter" became the theme for the movie ' ...

Hisako Arakaki is a J-pop singer from Okinawa, Japan, and an original member of the group Super Monkey's. She left at the end of 1993, and later worked as a dance instructor at the Okinawa Actors School is a school in Ginowan, Okinawa which has another ...

Eriko Imai is a Japanese pop singer, actress and politician. She made her debut in the early 1990s as part of the group Speed, which disbanded in March 2000. Eriko began her work away from Speed during 1998, performing "Tsumetaku Shinai de", under the sta ...

Meisa Kuroki Satsuki Shimabukuro (Japanese: 島袋さつき, ''Shimabukuro Satsuki'', Born on 28 May 1988 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name Meisa Kuroki (Japanese: 黒木メイサ, ''Kuroki Meisa''), is a Japanese actress, mod ...

Olivia Lufkin Olivia Lufkin (born December 9, 1979), known professionally as Olivia, is a Japanese singer and songwriter.O ...

* Anna Makino *

Ritsuko Matsuda is the birth name of LINA, a J-pop singer from Okinawa, Japan, and a member of the group Super Monkey's from 1995. After the group disbanded, she formed the group MAX with other Super Monkey's vocalists. See also * Super Monkey's * MAX Max or ...

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

Misono , publicly known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Misono (stylized in lower case), is a Japanese singer-songwriter and TV personality. She was born in Kyoto, Japan, and is the younger sister of singer Koda Kumi. Career In 2000, Misono participa ...

Daichi Miura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, dancer, and choreographer. He also directs his own concerts. He belongs to Rising Production and has a record contract with Avex. He is from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. He has an official fan club called "Daichi ...

* Reina Miyauchi *

Hikari Mitsushima is a Japanese actress, singer and model. In 2017 she was the vocalist and dancer in Mondo Grosso's videos for "Labyrinth", which has garnered over 35 million views on YouTube as of February 2023, and "In this World". Career She is a graduate ...

Hiroko Shimabukuro , best known Mononymous person, mononymously as hiro, is a Japanese singer. She debuted as a member of the popular girl group Speed (Japanese band), Speed in 1996. In 1998, hiro released her first solo song, "Mitsumete Itai", as a B-side to Spee ...

Minako Inoue MAX is a Japanese female vocal group. The name is an acronym for "musical active experience". The original members of MAX made their musical debut as members of the Super Monkey's along with lead vocalist Namie Amuro. They branched out on their ...

Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

Super Monkey's was a Japanese pop-singing and dancing group that spawned the careers of Namie Amuro and some members of the girl group MAX. The group was active between 1991 until 1996. History Pre-debut The group was originally part of a larger 15-membe ...

Takako Uehara is a Japanese pop singer, actress, and former radio host. She was a member of the group Speed. Uehara was born in Okinawa, Japan. Personal life Uehara married TENN, one of the singers of J-pop group ET-KING in 2012, but the marriage only last ...

Yu Yamada is a Japanese model, actress and singer best known from her modeling work with ''CanCam'' magazine. Personal life On March 14, 2012, Yamada married Japanese actor Shun Oguri, and is a mother of four children, as of April 2020, according to re ...

External links

Yomiuri Online
Interview with Masayuki Makino
School History
Ginowan, Okinawa Schools in Japan Schools in Okinawa Prefecture Schools of the performing arts Companies based in Okinawa Prefecture Schools of the performing arts in Japan {{japan-school-stub