🇯🇵 Tokyo · Schools
Schooling and childcare in Tokyo
Free, high-quality public schools assigned by address and taught in Japanese, an expensive international sector, and a nursery system allocated on points.
The thing people get wrongLicensed nursery places are not first-come, first-served. Wards allocate them on a points score reflecting both parents' working hours and family circumstances, with applications submitted the autumn before an April start. A family arriving in June will usually find the year's places already gone.
Public schools
Elementary and junior high schools are free, of consistently high quality, and allocated by catchment from your registered address, which means the ward office effectively assigns the school when you register. Teaching is entirely in Japanese, and support for children who do not speak it varies considerably between wards. There are real costs beyond tuition: school lunch, materials, uniform items and the PTA, and there are expectations of parental participation that come as a surprise.
- Enrolment is arranged through the ward office when you register your address.
- Free tuition, but budget for lunch, materials, uniform and PTA contributions.
- Japanese-language support for foreign pupils differs sharply by ward — ask before choosing where to live.
- The school year runs April to March, with entry in April.
International schools
Tokyo has a well-established international sector covering American, British, IB, French, German and other curricula, mostly in the western and central wards, plus schools serving specific national communities. Fees are high and there are additional charges for registration, facilities and buses. Places at the well-known schools are limited and applications generally run the winter before an August or September start, with assessment, reports and interviews.
- Apply from roughly November to February for the following academic year.
- Registration fees, facility levies and bus charges sit on top of tuition.
- Most international schools run on a September start, unlike the Japanese April year.
- Confirm any accreditation you need for the child's next system before committing.
Nursery and kindergarten
Licensed nurseries (ninka hoikuen) are heavily subsidised and heavily oversubscribed, allocated by the ward on a points system that weights both parents working full time, single parenthood, siblings already enrolled and other circumstances. Applications go in around November for an April start, and results arrive in the new year. Unlicensed and international nurseries fill the gap at much higher cost. Yochien kindergartens cover roughly three to six and run shorter hours, which is a poor fit for two full-time jobs.
- Ninka hoikuen applications go to the ward around November for an April start.
- Points weight working hours, so part-time work scores lower than full-time.
- Unlicensed and English-medium nurseries are available immediately and cost several times more.
- Some wards publish the previous year's cut-off scores by nursery — worth reading before choosing an area.
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