What shusseki atsukai means

Every public school keeps an official record for each child, the shido yoroku (指導要録, cumulative guidance record), which includes days present and absent. Shusseki atsukai means that days your child spends learning elsewhere, at a public education support center, a free school, or in structured learning at home, are recorded as days present at the school where they are enrolled. Your child stays enrolled throughout. It does not move them to another school, and it does not make the other place a school.

In MEXT’s survey for the 2024 school year, 42,978 elementary and junior high school students who were futoko (不登校, not attending school) were counted as present for consultation or guidance at an outside organization, and 13,261 for ICT-based learning at home.

It matters for three reasons: the record itself; grades, which are decided separately but easier to argue for once learning is documented; and money, because a few municipal subsidies require it as a condition of payment. If none of the three matters to you right now, it is reasonable to leave the paperwork alone.

The national basis: the 2019 MEXT notice

The key document is a MEXT notice of 25 October 2019, “Support for students who are not attending school” (不登校児童生徒への支援の在り方について, 元文科初第698号). It says support should not aim only at getting the child back to school, but at helping them think about their own path and become independent. It also sets the conditions under which learning away from the classroom counts as attendance.

Route 1: learning at an outside facility

This covers public facilities such as education support centers and, under conditions, private ones such as free schools:

• The parents and the school keep up sufficient cooperation with each other.
• The facility is, in principle, a public one such as an education support center. A private facility can qualify when public support is unavailable or hard to attend, the family wishes it, and the principal judges it appropriate.
• The child attends the facility, or stays there, to receive consultation and guidance.

Route 2: ICT-based learning at home

For learning at home, the notice lists seven conditions. In plain terms:

• Parents and school keep up sufficient cooperation.
• “ICT and similar” includes computers, the internet and remote learning systems, and also post and fax.
• Face-to-face contact, such as home visits, takes place regularly and continuously.
• The learning is a planned program based on how well the child understands the material.
• The principal keeps a good understanding of the face-to-face contact and the learning.
• Home learning is counted this way basically for children who cannot receive guidance at a facility outside school.
• If the results are reflected in grades, the school must judge the plan and content appropriate against its own curriculum.

That sixth point surprises many families. MEXT treats home learning as the route for children who cannot use a center or facility, not a free choice alongside them.

Route 3: learning inside the school building

The simplest route is the most often overlooked. If your child comes into the school building at all, even for an hour, the day is normally recorded as attendance. That includes the nurse’s room (hokenshitsu / 保健室), a separate quiet room, or an in-school education support center (konai kyoiku shien center / 校内教育支援センター), a staffed room for children who cannot be in their classroom. MEXT counts learning there as attendance; as of July 2024, 12,712 schools had one, 46.1 percent of all schools. No application is needed, so ask the homeroom teacher whether such a room exists and when it is staffed.

How to request shusseki atsukai

There is no national form. The conversation starts with the homeroom teacher and ends with the principal’s decision.

What to prepare, who gets it, and how long it takes

This is what schools most often ask for, not an official checklist. Bring copies, keep originals, date everything.

Also useful, though not required: notes from a doctor or counselor, shared only if you are comfortable, and your own weekly log. A parent’s log has convinced more than one principal.

Phrases you can use at school

If your Japanese is limited, show these on your phone, bring a Japanese-speaking friend, or ask your city office whether an interpreter can join school meetings. Many boards of education can arrange one, though languages vary by city.

If the school says no

A refusal is often not really a refusal. Schools say no because they do not know the facility, because nobody there has done it before, or because the request arrived without the documents they need. Start by asking, calmly, why.

Keep the relationship workable; you will deal with this school for years. And attendance records are not the only path forward: correspondence high schools do not require a particular attendance record from junior high, and many of their students were futoko. See our correspondence high schools guide and school refusal in Japan.

Grades and high school entrance

Shusseki atsukai is about attendance; grades are separate. The hyotei (評定, subject grades) and attendance records feed into the chosasho (調査書, school report) that junior high schools send to high schools with applications.

Since 29 August 2024, the Enforcement Regulations of the School Education Act allow elementary and junior high schools to reflect learning done during absence in grade evaluations, when these conditions are met (MEXT notice of 29 August 2024, 6文科初第1126号):

• the learning plan and content are appropriate against the school’s curriculum;
• the school works closely with the parents and any facility, and keeps track of the learning regularly;
• the school keeps direct contact with the child, for example through home visits or ICT-based guidance.

This makes grading possible; it does not make it automatic. The rule does not apply to high schools.

On entrance, the 2019 notice says high schools are expected to evaluate appropriately futoko students who have the will and ability to study at high school. How much attendance and grades count varies by prefecture and school. Check your prefecture’s admission guidelines (入学者選抜要項) and ask the junior high school’s career guidance teacher. Our guide to how Japanese schools work explains the year structure and the entrance process.

What the options cost

Public elementary and junior high school charges no tuition, including for foreign-national children who enroll; families pay for meals, supplies and trips. In-school support rooms are part of the school, so there is no extra fee. Education support centers (kyoiku shien center / 教育支援センター) are usually free, though families may pay for outings or lunch; Saitama City and Musashino City both state this. Private free schools charge fees that vary widely. See our guide to education support centers; online options are on our online schools page.

Municipal free-school subsidies

There is no national subsidy for free-school fees, but a growing number of local governments offer one.

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government (FY2026): up to 20,000 yen a month towards usage fees for elementary and junior high students living in Tokyo. Admission fees, facility maintenance fees and materials are not covered, and the facility must be privately run, located in Tokyo and operating for at least a year as of 1 July 2026. Applications run 27 May 2026 to 12 February 2027; payments are quarterly.
• Kita City, Tokyo (FY2026): a top-up for families already approved for the Tokyo subsidy whose child attends a Kita City public school, up to 10,000 yen a month.
• Kobe City (FY2026): half of fees paid, up to 20,000 yen a month in person and 15,000 yen for online programs. One condition is that the activity is recognized as shusseki atsukai.

Kobe shows why shusseki atsukai can matter for money as well as records. To find what your area offers, search your city name with フリースクール 補助金, or ask the board of education.

What free schools and private programs cost

There is no national price list, and no rule limiting what a private facility may charge. MEXT’s national survey of private organizations supporting children who do not attend school (August 2015, 319 responses) found an average monthly fee of about 33,000 yen among those charging one, and an average admission fee of about 53,000 yen. Those figures are more than ten years old.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education surveyed families using free schools (report published August 2024). Among 1,282 respondents in the FY2023 round, the average monthly fee was 43,136 yen, the median 38,000 yen, the highest reported 670,000 yen. In the FY2022 round (509 respondents) the average was 45,817 yen and the median 40,000 yen. In both rounds about 88 percent of guardians called the fees a burden or somewhat a burden.

The spread is enormous, so an average tells you little about the place near you, and the median is the better anchor. Ask each facility for its current fee sheet in writing, and read our free schools guide before you visit.

The parts of the bill people forget

No public survey collects typical amounts for these, so ask each facility and get the answer in writing. Also ask for a yearly total for materials, meals and outings rather than per-item prices.

Shugaku enjo: help with school costs

Under Article 19 of the School Education Act, municipalities must help families who have difficulty paying for their children’s schooling for economic reasons. This is shugaku enjo (就学援助, school expense assistance). Many families who qualify never apply, assuming it is only for people on welfare.

There are two groups. Yohogo (要保護) covers families on public assistance, half funded nationally. Jun-yohogo (準要保護) covers families the municipal board of education judges to be in similar need; each municipality sets its own criteria and pays for it. In MEXT’s FY2024 survey, 77,588 children (0.88 percent) were in the first group and 1,091,168 (12.43 percent) in the second: 13.36 percent of all children in public elementary and junior high schools, roughly one in seven. This is not an unusual thing to apply for.

MEXT lists these items as within scope, though which ones your municipality pays, and how much, is a local decision: school supplies (gakuyohinhi / 学用品費), commuting items, PE equipment, club costs, student council and PTA fees; new entrant supplies (shinnyugaku jidoseito gakuyohinhi / 新入学児童生徒学用品費等); school meals (kyushokuhi / 給食費) and travel; school trips (shugaku ryokohi / 修学旅行費), off-campus activities and the graduation album; certain medical costs; and online learning communication costs.

National unit prices give a sense of scale, though they apply to the yohogo group and municipalities set their own amounts for the larger jun-yohogo group. In the FY2026 budget, the unit price for new entrant supplies rose to 64,300 yen for elementary school (from 57,060 yen) and 81,000 yen for junior high (from 63,000 yen).

Applications go to the municipal board of education, usually through the school. Most schools hand the form to every family in April, so it arrives in a pile of Japanese paperwork and is easy to miss. If you did not get one, or cannot read it, ask the school office. Timing, criteria and paid items differ by municipality. If your child is not attending, ask which items are still paid: some keep supplies and stop others. That is a local judgment, not a national rule.

From April 2026 the national government also supports the ingredient cost of school meals at public elementary schools, at a standard 1,200 to 5,200 yen per child per month depending on the meal service; anything above it may still be charged. Junior high schools are not covered, and many municipalities had already made meals free on their own. Ask the school office what you are actually charged.

The High School Tuition Support Fund from April 2026

The High School Tuition Support Fund (koto gakko to shugaku shienkin / 高等学校等就学支援金) changed in April 2026: MEXT states that the income limit has been abolished, so it is paid regardless of household income. The support limits:

Where a school charges by credit, the per-credit amount applies, up to 74 credits in total and 30 in a year.

The money never reaches your bank account: the school receives it on the student’s behalf and sets it against tuition, which is why you apply through the school, usually in April. For FY2026, students with Japanese nationality could apply online from 13 April 2026; others apply on paper, also from April. Prefectures run the process, so deadlines differ.

It covers tuition only: not entrance fees, uniforms, materials, or the fees of a support school (sapoto-ko / サポート校), a private organization many correspondence students attend alongside their high school. A support school is not a school under the School Education Act, so its fees sit entirely with the family. See our correspondence high schools guide.

Other money for high school students

High school scholarship grant (shogaku kyufukin)

The tuition fund is not the only support at high school age. This grant (koseisei to shogaku kyufukin / 高校生等奨学給付金) is not repaid and covers costs other than tuition: textbooks, materials, supplies, commuting items, extracurricular costs, student council and PTA fees, school trips and communication costs. Prefectures run it. National standard amounts for FY2026:

Apply to your prefecture or through the school; new students can apply for part of it early, between April and June. Rules and income brackets differ by prefecture, so confirm where you live.

Prefectural and municipal tuition help

Several prefectures top up the national fund for private high schools. Tokyo’s private high school tuition reduction grant adds up to 43,800 yen a year for FY2026, with no income requirement when applied for on its own, so the two together reach up to 501,000 yen a year for a private full-time high school. Applications open in July, separately from the national fund.

We cite Tokyo only because its figures are published and current. Amounts, conditions and deadlines differ completely between prefectures, and some offer nothing. Search your prefecture’s name with 私立高校 授業料 軽減, or ask the high school’s office.

Health care and family benefits

Costs outside school often rise at the same time, because many families start seeing a pediatrician, psychiatrist or counselor.

Child medical expense subsidy. Every prefecture and municipality runs one (kodomo iryohi josei / こども医療費助成): in the Children and Families Agency survey as of 1 April 2025, all of them did. For municipalities, the most common upper age limit was the end of the school year in which the child turns 18, for both outpatient and inpatient care. Beyond that, details vary: some set income limits, some charge a small copayment per visit or per month. You register at the city office and receive a certificate (jukyushasho / 受給者証) to show at the clinic. Ask what the age limit and copayment are locally; these are among the most variable rules in Japan.

Ongoing psychiatric outpatient care. For continuing outpatient treatment of a mental health condition, the self-support medical care system (jiritsu shien iryo, seishin tsuin iryo / 自立支援医療（精神通院医療）) cuts the patient’s share from the usual 30 percent to 10 percent, with a monthly ceiling set by household income. You apply at your municipal office; the certificate lasts up to one year, and renewal opens about three months before it expires. Ask the treating clinic first, since they process these routinely.

Child allowance. The child allowance (jido teate / 児童手当) was expanded in October 2024 and now runs to the 31 March after a child turns 18, with no income limit: 15,000 yen a month under age three, 10,000 yen from three through high school age, and 30,000 yen for the third and later children counting from the eldest. It is paid six times a year in even-numbered months, and you apply at your municipal office. It is not tied to school attendance, so it continues unchanged if your child stops going.

Building your own budget

Most of the stress here comes from not knowing the yearly total. Fill in what applies, convert it to yearly figures, then subtract the support you are eligible for.

Still working out which kind of place would suit your child? Our Learning Place Finder asks eight questions, and where to get help lists free public consultation services.

What this page does not cover

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

In Japanese: Shusseki atsukai guideJA · Attendance recognitionJA · Free school subsidiesJA · Shugaku enjoJA · Futoko costs overviewJA

Sources