The Music School for Children, established in 1948, was the starting point for the foundation of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. Today, the importance of early music education has become clearer than ever before. In Japan's postwar history, the Music School for Children was the pioneer in this field. As of April 2001, Toho Gakuen operated 28 music schools for children through out Japan, attended by approximately 2,200 children.