In 1923, he failed his third-year examination. It is said that Nakahara invited a friend to his study room, broke the answer sheet and chanted "hurrah". The failure seems to have been deliberate. For as long as he did not fail, he was bound to remain under his strict parents' surveillance. On the other hand, Kensuke received the news with utter shock at what meant to him a deep humiliation. He resorted once more to striking his son and keeping him in the barn in the cold night of March. Regardless of this, Nakahara insisted on not going back to this school. This culminated in his father's defeat, which ultimately led to an apology for his “educational policy”. In the light of these events, he was transferred to the Ritsumeikan Middle School in Kyoto, where Nakahara begin to live alone but still, and until the end of his days, at the expense of his family.