This study investigates fundamental behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls with vertically aligned openings through laboratory tests and numerical analyses. A series of structural tests was conducted using scaled models representing typical multistory RC shear walls in Japan. Three 1/6 scale shear wall specimens were designed and manufactured with different opening configurations: W0 with no opening, W1 with single-aligned openings, and W2 with double-aligned openings. The specimens were subjected to static cyclic lateral loads. The W1 and W2 specimens with openings failed with concrete crushing at the wall bottom and shear failure of the beams above openings, while the W0 failed in shear. The maximum strengths were 318 kN, 145 kN, and 93 kN for the W0, W1, and W2 specimens, respectively; hence, the experimental strength reduction factors due to the openings were 0.46 and 0.29 for the W1 and W2. These results were simulated by FEM analyses mainly to investigate detailed behavior of the components of the W1 and W2 specimens. The analytical results, in particular the maximum strengths and failure patterns, agreed well with the experimental results. It was numerically verified that high compression was applied to the wall bottom with the tensile boundary column and the beams above openings, as observed during the tests, which should be considered in practical design for this type of wall.