How Japanese schools usually receive absence notices

Japanese public elementary and junior high schools expect parents to tell them every time a child will be absent, late or leaving early. Nerima City’s enrollment guidebook for international families (September 2025) puts it plainly: “Always contact the school when your child is going to be absent (will not be going to school), tardy (be late for school), or will be leaving school early.” Sendai’s guide for foreign parents asks families to inform the school in the morning, either by phone or through the renrakuchō.

The method itself depends on your school. Traditionally it was a phone call or a note in the communication notebook, and many schools still accept both. But a growing number now use apps or online forms. Gifu City, for example, introduced a “Smart Renrakuchō” app in June 2022 so parents in its public elementary and junior high schools can send absence notices by smartphone. The Ministry of Education (MEXT) has also published an example of a school using online forms for absence notices and health reports, noting that it reduced the interruptions caused by morning phone calls.

That last point comes from a public elementary school in Funabashi that takes absence notices through its app. Setup details like this are worth checking in your first week, not on the first sick morning.

The key words, and three things every notice needs

You only need a handful of Japanese words to handle most absence notices. Kawasaki International Association’s guide for non-native-speaking parents lists the same three core phrases shown here.

Whatever the channel, a clear notice has three parts: who you are (grade, class and child’s name), what is happening (absent, late or leaving early, and when), and why (a short reason). Japanese messages also open and close with fixed polite phrases. They work like “Dear” and “Kind regards.”

Templates for a sick day, a late arrival and an early pick-up

Copy these into the renrakuchō, an app or an email and replace the ○ marks. Grade and class are written as numbers, for example 3年2組 (3-nen 2-kumi) for grade 3, class 2.

Pick-up rules differ. Nerima City’s guidebook, for example, says guardians must come to the classroom to drop off or collect a child who is arriving late or leaving early. If someone other than you will collect your child, say so in the note: 本日は祖母が迎えに参ります (Honjitsu wa sobo ga mukae ni mairimasu, “Today their grandmother will pick them up”).

A phone script, and what the school may ask you

Phone calls feel harder than writing, but absence calls are short and predictable. Keep this script next to the phone.

Office staff or the teacher may ask a follow-up question or two. These are ones you may hear. It helps to have the answers ready before you dial.

Flu, COVID-19 and “suspension of attendance”

For certain infectious illnesses, Japan’s rules work differently from an ordinary sick day. Under the School Health and Safety Act’s enforcement regulations, a child with an illness such as influenza or COVID-19 is kept home under “suspension of attendance,” shusseki teishi (出席停止). MEXT’s April 2023 notice explains that these days are recorded in a separate column of the school register, not counted as ordinary absences.

Schools and municipalities differ on paperwork. Some ask for a form or a doctor’s note when the child returns, and some don’t. Ask your school, and use this sentence when you report it: 病院でインフルエンザと診断されました。出席停止の期間について教えていただけますか。(Byōin de infuruenza to shindan saremashita. Shusseki teishi no kikan ni tsuite oshiete itadakemasu ka, “A doctor diagnosed influenza. Could you tell me about the suspension period?”)

When your child says “I don’t want to go to school”

Some mornings the reason isn’t a fever. Your child has a stomachache that appears only on school days, cries at the door, or simply says they can’t go. This is common in Japan, and it has a name: futōkō (不登校), usually translated as school refusal or school non-attendance. Our guide to school refusal in Japan explains it in more depth.

You don’t need to have the full picture before you tell the school. It is fine to be honest and brief, and to ask for a conversation. Many parents find the first message the hardest one to write, so here is one you can adapt.

If you expect several days away, you can add: しばらくの間、欠席が続くかもしれません。(Shibaraku no aida, kesseki ga tsuzuku kamo shiremasen, “The absences may continue for a while.”) Some schools let you report several days at once through the app. Others prefer a short daily notice, and some teachers will offer a phone check-in instead. Ask which your school prefers so the morning routine doesn’t become a daily source of stress.

Asking for a meeting, handouts and homework

Japanese schools send home a lot of paper: letters, worksheets, schedules for events. When your child is absent, these can pile up at school. It is perfectly reasonable to ask how to collect them, and to request a meeting (mendan, 面談) with the homeroom teacher.

A related request many international parents find useful: 大切なお知らせは、短い文で書いていただけると助かります。(Taisetsu na oshirase wa, mijikai bun de kaite itadakeru to tasukarimasu, “For important notices, it would help me if you could write in short sentences.”) Short, plain sentences are much easier to run through a translation app than long formal letters.

Interpreters and multilingual help

You are not expected to manage everything in Japanese on your own. MEXT’s Guidebook for Starting School for foreign families, available in English and seven other languages, notes that some schools will, at a parent’s request, arrange meetings at a convenient time or provide an interpreter. What is available depends heavily on where you live, so ask early.

If your child is struggling at school and you are looking for someone to talk to outside the school, our guide to where to get help in Japan gathers counseling and support options in one place.

When absences start to add up

A few sick days are part of every school year. But if absences stretch into weeks, it helps to know how Japanese schools count them. In MEXT’s national survey, a student counts as a “long-term absentee” after 30 or more days of absence in a school year, and as futōkō when the reasons are psychological, emotional, physical or social rather than illness or financial hardship.

You would be far from alone. MEXT’s survey for the 2024 school year counted 353,970 elementary and junior high school students in Japan as futōkō, 137,704 in elementary and 216,266 in junior high. The same survey found that 38.3% of them were not receiving specialist support from agencies inside or outside school, which is one more reason to raise concerns early.

Japan also has a system for recognizing learning outside school. Under MEXT’s October 2019 notice on supporting students who are not attending, a principal may, when certain conditions are met, count days spent at public or private facilities, or ICT-based learning at home, as attendance. This is called shusseki atsukai (出席扱い). The principal decides, and close cooperation between the family and the school is one of the conditions. Our guide to attendance recognition and costs explains how to ask about it.

These paths are not either-or, and the best starting point is usually a calm conversation with the homeroom teacher, using the meeting template above.

An English-and-Japanese online option: NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY

NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY (NGA) is an online international school for ages 6–18, run by NIJIN, the company behind this site. Its FAQ says families both abroad and in Japan can join. We mention it here because some international families in Japan are looking for a small, bilingual setting when the local school stops working for their child. Please read the limitations as carefully as the features.

Frequently asked questions

Sources used for this article

Looking ahead to a calmer school day?

If your child needs a smaller, bilingual place to learn, NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY offers live online classes of eight with English- and Japanese-speaking mentors and no rankings. Tuition is yet to be announced, and the school opens in September 2027.

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