KAGOSHIMA — Chubby Haruku Takarabe was the last of his 14 classmates to master walking on his hands across the gym. But now he can stand on his head, turn cartwheels on one hand and vault over the 110-cm-high box just like the rest of his fellow 5-year-olds.

"All children are gifted," said Toriyama nursery operator Yoshifumi Yokomine, 58. "If you let them do handstands everyday against the wall, all children can start walking on their hands in a year. Some of them may take time, but no one is incapable," he said.

Yokomine runs three nurseries in the port city of Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture, which has a population of less than 35,000. Total enrollment at his three nurseries is nearly 300.