Keep asking 'Why?": I chose not to attend high school when I was 14 years old

Mari Nanai

A NSW-based Japanese writer Mari Nanai wrote an essay based on her own experience of deciding not to attend high school at the age of fourteen won an award and was published in Japan. Credit: Mari Nanai

‘If you don't go to high school, you can't get a job or marry?’ What does it mean to learn by yourself rather than be taught? Curious to find out, Mari Nanai decided at age 14 not to attend high school. An essay based on her experiences won an award from a Japanese publisher, and her essay collection was published in Japan this February.


Ms Nanai currently resides in Shoalhaven, New South Wales, approximately three hours' drive from Sydney. She works as an essayist and writer.

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