Gakkō no Kaidan (light novels)

Gakkō no Kaidan
Gakkō no Kaidan light novel volume 1
学校の階段 (The School's Staircase)
Genre	Comedy, School life
Light novel
Written by	Takaaki Kaima
Illustrated by	Amane Amahuku
Published by	Enterbrain
Demographic	Male
Imprint	Famitsu Bunko
Original run	January 30, 2006 – October 30, 2010
Volumes	12
Live-action film
Directed by	Hirohisa Sasaki
Studio	Kadokawa Pictures
Released	April 28, 2007 (2007-04-28)
Runtime	75 minutes
Manga
Written by	Takaaki Kaima
Illustrated by	Aki Yoshii
Published by	Enterbrain
Demographic	Shōnen
Imprint	Famitsu Clear Comics
Magazine	Famitsu Comic Clear
Original run	March 2010 – March 2012
Volumes	4
Light novel
Gakkō no Soto-Kaidan
Written by	Takaaki Kaima
Illustrated by	Amane Amahuku
Published by	Enterbrain
Demographic	Male
Imprint	Famitsu Bunko
Original run	March 30, 2012 – present
Volumes	2

Gakkō no Kaidan (学校の階段, lit. The School's Staircase) is a Japanese light novel series by Takaaki Kaima with illustrations by Amane Amahuku. The first novel in the series was released on January 30, 2006, and a total of twelve volumes have been published by Enterbrain under their Famitsu Bunko publishing imprint when the series concluded on July 30, 2009. A live action movie adaptation was directed by Hirosaka Sasaki and premiered in Japanese theaters on June 9, 2007. The word kaidan used in the title is homophonic to the word kaidan (怪談), meaning "ghost stories".

Gakkō no Kaidan's story takes place in the Tengurihama Academy, and centers around the male protagonist Yukihiro Kanba who has recently been admitted into the school after being adopted by his uncle. One day, Yukihiro stumbles across Yūko Kokonoe, who sprinted from the stairs behind him before quickly disappearing down the stairs. After Yukihiro stumbles across the gymnastic club, who attempts to recruit Yukihiro before being stopped by Yūko, he is forced to join the "staircase club", an unauthorized club that races in the stairs. While he is initially reluctant to join the club due to its bad reputation among students, he later finds the activities exhilarating and decides to join the club.

Gakkō no Kaidan began as a series of light novels written by Takaaki Kaima and illustrated by Amane Amahuku. Kaima originally entered the first novel in the series into Enterbrain's eighth Enterbrain Entertainment Awards in 2005, and the novel tied with Satoshi Katō's Hashitte Kaero! for the excellence award. Ten volumes and two short story collections from the original series were released between January 30, 2006 and October 30, 2010 under Enterbrain's Famitsu Bunko label. In Kadokawa Shoten's first Light Novel Award contest held in 2007, the first volume of Gakkō no Kaidan was one of three runner-ups in the school setting category, having lost the award to Chrome Shelled Regios. A spin-off series, titled Gakkō no Soto-Kaidan (学校の外階段, lit. The School's Exterior Staircase) and again written and illustrated by Kaima and Amahuku, will begin to be published starting with its first volume on March 30, 2012.