How Japanese schools are organized

Japan uses a 6-3-3-4 structure: six years of elementary school, three years of junior high school, three years of high school, then four years of university. The first nine years, elementary and junior high, are the compulsory education stage (gimu kyoiku / 義務教育). High school is not compulsory, but almost every child continues to it.

A small number of schools combine stages. Compulsory education schools (gimu kyoiku gakko / 義務教育学校) run all nine years under one roof, and secondary education schools (chuto kyoiku gakko / 中等教育学校) combine junior high and high school. These are still the exception, so the table below describes the usual path.

One point often confuses parents who arrive from other systems. Japanese people almost never say “grade 8” or “year 10”. They say the stage plus the year within it: shogaku ichinen (小学1年, first year of elementary), chugaku sannen (中学3年, third year of junior high), koko ichinen (高校1年, first year of high school). School staff will use those words, so it helps to learn the six words for elementary and the three for junior high.

As of 1 May 2025, according to MEXT’s School Basic Survey, there were about 5.81 million elementary school students, 3.11 million junior high students and 2.87 million high school students in Japan. All three numbers are falling as the child population shrinks, which is one reason schools in some areas are merging.

The school year runs from April to March

The Japanese school year begins on 1 April and ends on 31 March. This is set in the Enforcement Regulations of the School Education Act. It means a child arriving in Japan in September joins part-way through a year that is already half over, and a child leaving Japan in July leaves part-way through too. If you are planning a move and have any flexibility, arriving in late March or early April lines your child up with a fresh start and with the class-making that happens then.

How school age is counted

A child starts elementary school in the April after turning six. The detail that surprises families is the treatment of birthdays around 1 April. Under the Age Calculation Act and Article 143 of the Civil Code, a person completes a year of age at the end of the day before their birthday. So a child born on 1 April turns six at the end of 31 March, and therefore starts school on 1 April of that same year. MEXT sets this out directly: one grade cohort is made up of children born from 2 April in one year to 1 April in the next.

Two terms or three

For public schools, terms and holiday dates are decided by the local board of education, not by the national government. Article 29 of the Enforcement Order of the School Education Act gives that power to the municipal or prefectural board. That is why one city runs a three-term year (san gakki sei / 三学期制) and the next city runs a two-term year (ni gakki sei / 二学期制), and why summer holidays are longer in Hokkaido’s winter-heavy calendar than in Okinawa’s.

Ask the school which system it uses in your first meeting. It changes when report cards arrive and when parent meetings are held.

What a school year looks like, month by month

The calendar below is the pattern most public elementary and junior high schools follow. Treat it as a guide, not a rule. Dates, and even whether an event happens at all, differ by school, city and prefecture. Sports day is in September in one town and May in the next. Home visits have been dropped by many schools and kept by others.

Enrolling your child: how it works

Enrollment is handled by the municipal board of education (kyoiku iinkai / 教育委員会), not by the school itself. The starting point is your residence registration at the city, ward, town or village office. Once your family is on the resident register, the board can find you.

For a child turning six

In the autumn before the April start, the board of education sends a pre-enrollment notice and invites the child to a pre-enrollment health check (shugakuji kenko shindan / 就学時健康診断). This check is required by law and takes place after the school register is drawn up, up to four months before the start of the next school year, or three months before where that causes no problem for the procedures. It covers nutrition, spine and chest, vision and hearing, eyes, ears, nose, throat and skin, teeth and mouth, and other conditions. The board must tell guardians the date and place in advance.

The health check is also the first point at which the board may suggest a conversation about extra support if something is noticed. It is not a test your child can pass or fail.

For a foreign-national child of any age

MEXT’s position is that guardians of foreign-national children do not carry the legal obligation to enroll that applies to guardians of Japanese nationals, but foreign-national children who wish to attend public elementary and junior high school are accepted free of tuition, on the same terms as Japanese children. Under MEXT’s guidance to municipalities on promoting enrollment for foreign children, boards of education are expected to use the resident register to send enrollment guidance (shugaku annai / 就学案内), to keep a record equivalent to the school register, and to follow up on children whose enrollment status is unknown.

That guidance exists because a real gap exists. In MEXT’s most recent survey of the enrollment situation of foreign children, out of 163,358 school-age foreign children on resident registers, 138,416 (84.7 percent) were attending public compulsory-education schools and 11,615 (7.1 percent) were at foreign schools, while around 8,400 children were possibly not enrolled anywhere. If nothing arrives in your post box, do not assume your child has been registered. Go and ask.

Which grade will my child be placed in

MEXT’s guidance on procedures for foreign children says that a child of school age can be enrolled in the grade matching their age if they wish it, even where their compulsory schooling abroad was shorter. It also says that where support is needed because of a lack of communication ability in Japanese, or because the content and order of study differ, a school may allow enrollment in a lower grade, either temporarily or formally.

Both options have costs. Age-matched placement keeps your child with peers but can mean sitting through lessons they cannot follow for months. A lower grade can ease the language load but separates your child from children of their own age, which matters more as they get older. Ask the school what Japanese support comes with each option before you decide, and ask whether the arrangement can be reviewed later.

What is free, and what you still pay for

Tuition at public elementary and junior high schools is not charged. Textbooks are free as well: under two laws from 1962 and 1963, textbooks are given free of charge to all students at national, public and private compulsory-education schools, for every subject.

What remains are the running costs of school life, which are collected from families, often monthly, through a bank transfer or an envelope. These are the costs that catch new arrivals by surprise.

If these costs are difficult, ask the school or the board of education about school expense assistance (shugaku enjo / 就学援助). It is run by each municipality for families in financial need and can cover items such as school supplies, commuting costs, school trips and lunch fees. Criteria and amounts differ between municipalities, so the only reliable answer comes from your own city office. Our page on attendance rules and costs goes into what education costs across the different routes.

Kindergarten and nursery before school starts

Before elementary school, children may attend a kindergarten (a school under the School Education Act, usually from age three), a nursery (a childcare facility for children whose guardians cannot provide daytime care), or a certified center that combines both. There is no requirement to attend any of them, but most children do, and starting school with some group experience in Japanese makes the first months easier.

Under the Children and Families Agency’s fee waiver program, use of kindergartens, nurseries and certified centers is free for children aged three to five, counted from the April after the third birthday until they start elementary school. For children aged nought to two, it is free only for households that are exempt from residence tax. Kindergarten fees are waived up to 25,700 yen a month, extended care up to 11,300 yen a month with a certification of need for childcare, and approved unlicensed facilities up to 37,000 yen a month for ages three to five. Meals, transport and event fees are generally not covered.

A day at a Japanese elementary school

The shape of the day is one of the biggest differences from many other countries. Children do a great deal themselves: they walk to school in a group, serve their own lunch, and clean their own classrooms.

School lunch deserves its own paragraph, because it is nearly universal and because it raises real questions for international families. In MEXT’s survey as of 1 May 2023, a complete school lunch was provided at 99.5 percent of public elementary schools and 97.1 percent of public junior high schools. Children usually eat what everyone else eats, in the classroom, within a set time.

If your child has a food allergy, tell the school in writing before the first day and ask for the allergy response procedure. Schools handle this seriously and many will provide a substitute meal or ask you to send a packed lunch on certain days. If your family avoids particular foods for religious or cultural reasons, say so early and ask what is possible. Some schools publish a monthly menu with ingredients, which you can run through a translation app.

Cleaning time also surprises new families. Children cleaning their own school is a normal part of the curriculum, framed as looking after a shared space rather than as a punishment or a chore. Your child will need a cleaning cloth (zokin / 雑巾), which schools often ask families to supply.

Japanese language support: how to ask for it

A child who does not yet speak Japanese is not left to sink. Since 2014, schools have been able to provide Japanese instruction under a “special curriculum” (tokubetsu no kyoiku katei / 特別の教育課程), set out in Article 56-2 and related articles of the Enforcement Regulations of the School Education Act. The instruction replaces part of the enrolled class’s timetable and takes place in a separate room. Parents often call this “pull-out” teaching (toridashi / 取り出し), and the room is often called the international classroom (kokusai kyoshitsu / 国際教室) or Japanese classroom (nihongo kyoshitsu / 日本語教室).

The aim has two parts: the Japanese needed for daily school life, such as greetings and classroom expressions, and the Japanese needed to take part in lessons. MEXT has developed a curriculum for the second part, and the content is meant to be planned together with the homeroom teacher and subject teachers.

The need is large and growing. In MEXT’s survey of public schools as of 1 May 2025, published in May 2026, 84,759 students were judged to need Japanese language instruction, the highest number recorded. Of those, 73,313 were foreign nationals and 11,446 were Japanese nationals, a reminder that returnee children and children of mixed families are counted here too.

Provision is uneven. A school with many foreign students may have a dedicated room and a specialist teacher. A school with one foreign child may have a visiting supporter once a week, or nothing arranged yet. Asking is what starts the process.

Ask separately about interpretation for meetings. Many cities have an international association or a multicultural center that can send an interpreter or join by phone. Our page of Japanese phrases and message templates for talking to school has wording you can copy for these requests, and it also has wording for the replies you will get.

What parents are expected to do

Japanese schools expect a steady, low-level involvement from families. Very little of it is difficult. Almost all of it is in Japanese.

• The contact notebook (renraku-cho / 連絡帳). A small notebook that travels between home and the homeroom teacher every day. Children write down homework and things to bring. Parents write absences, early pick-ups, and short messages. In many schools this is the main written channel with the teacher.
• Handouts (purinto / プリント). Paper notices come home constantly: class newsletters, event notices, forms to sign and return. Photograph anything you cannot read and translate it the same day, because deadlines are often two or three days away.
• School apps. Most schools now also use a message system or app for absence reports, emergency notices and forms. Ask for the setup instructions on day one, and ask whether absences should be reported by app, by phone or in the notebook.
• Reporting absence. Most schools want to hear before the start of the school day, every day of an absence. If your child is going to be away for a long period, ask to agree a simpler routine. Our article on how to tell a Japanese school your child is absent has templates.
• Money collection (shukin / 集金). Materials, lunch and trips are collected on a schedule, usually by bank transfer on a set day of the month. Make sure the account has enough in it on that date; a failed transfer creates paperwork.
• Parent meetings (hogosha-kai / 保護者会) and individual meetings (kojin mendan / 個人面談). Attend the first one of the year if you possibly can. It sets expectations for everything that follows.
• The PTA. Most schools have one, and most allocate roles among parents by year group, sometimes by lottery. Roles range from a few hours a year to a genuine commitment. It is acceptable to explain your language situation and ask for a role that does not require heavy Japanese, such as event setup.
• Safety duties. In many areas parents take turns on the crossing rota or on patrol during school commute hours.

What your child will need to bring

The school will send a list, and the list will be in Japanese. These are the words that appear on it most often, plus the event words you will meet in the same letters.

Write your child’s name on everything, in Japanese if you can. Schools ask for this constantly, and a name written in hiragana is what a six-year-old classmate can actually read.

Who is who at school, and who to ask

Knowing which adult handles which problem saves months. The homeroom teacher is the default contact, but they are not the right person for everything, and going to them about something outside their control can leave a worry sitting unresolved.

A practical note on how to raise something. Japanese schools respond better to a calm, specific request than to a general complaint. Say what happened, say what you would like, and ask what the school can do. If you are worried about bullying, our article on bullying in Japanese schools and what parents can do sets out the steps in order. If your child has come back to Japan from abroad, returnee children struggling at a Japanese school covers a different set of pressures.

What changes in junior high school

The move from grade 6 to junior high grade 1 is the sharpest transition in the Japanese system. Children go from one teacher who knows them all day to a building run on subjects, tests and clubs, and the adult expectations rise quickly. Many children who coped in elementary school start to struggle here.

What naishin actually means

The word naishin (内申) is used loosely by parents and students to mean “the marks the junior high school sends to the high school”. The document itself is the chosasho (調査書), the school report that the junior high principal prepares and sends. MEXT’s survey of public high school entrance selection for 2025 found that the record of study in each subject was included in the report in all 47 prefectures, with records of activities such as the period for integrated study and special activities included in most.

Two things follow from this. First, marks in the second and third years of junior high generally matter for high school entry, so they are not just internal school business. Second, exactly how much weight the report carries against the entrance examination is set by each prefecture and sometimes by each school, so the answer for Osaka is not the answer for Aichi. Ask the homeroom teacher for your prefecture’s rules at the start of the second year, not at the end of the third.

Club activities are changing

Club activity has traditionally been run by teachers, often at considerable cost to their working hours. The Sports Agency and the Agency for Cultural Affairs published a new comprehensive guideline in December 2025 on reforming club activities and promoting community-run clubs, with a reform implementation period beginning in the 2026 school year. In practice this means some clubs are moving, gradually and unevenly, from the school to community organizations. What this looks like in your town will depend on your town.

How high school entry works

High school is not compulsory, and entry is competitive. Third-year junior high students apply to schools and sit entrance examinations, usually in January and February, with results in February or March and the school year starting in April.

Public high school selection is run by each prefecture. The general pattern is a combination of the school report from junior high and an entrance examination set by the prefecture, commonly in five subjects: Japanese, mathematics, English, science and social studies. Beyond that, the details differ a great deal. The weighting between report and examination, whether there is an interview or an essay, whether a school-specific test is added, and whether an external English test score can be used are all prefectural decisions. In MEXT’s survey for the 2025 intake, seven prefectures made use of external English examinations, and Tokyo used its own speaking test.

Special entry routes for foreign and returnee students

Some prefectures run a separate entrance route for students who arrived in Japan recently. These are real and they are worth asking about early, because eligibility usually depends on how long the student has been in Japan, counted to a fixed date. Two confirmed examples:

• Tokyo runs a selection for foreign students resident in Tokyo (zaikyo gaikokujin seito to taisho no senbatsu / 在京外国人生徒等対象の選抜). The applicant’s period in Japan must be within three years of entry as of the enrollment date. The examination is an essay and an interview, and the applicant may choose Japanese or English for each. There are separate rounds for April entry and for September entry.
• Kanagawa runs a special intake for foreign residents of the prefecture (zaiken gaikokujin to tokubetsu boshu / 在県外国人等特別募集). For the 2025 intake, eligibility was for foreign nationals, including recognized refugees, whose total period of residence after entering Japan was within six years as of 1 February 2025, with those who had acquired Japanese nationality within six years treated as foreign nationals. The examination was in Japanese, mathematics and English, with an interview, at 19 schools.

Other prefectures have their own arrangements, or none. Do not assume the rule you read about Tokyo applies where you live. Ask your junior high school and your prefectural board of education in the student’s second year, and write down the deadline for the eligibility check, which often comes months before the application itself.

Tuition support for high school

High school tuition is supported by a national scheme, the high school tuition support fund (koto gakko to shugaku shien kin / 高等学校等就学支援金). From the 2026 school year, MEXT removed the income limit on the scheme, so many more students receive support towards tuition. The scheme covers tuition only; other costs are handled by a separate grant for low-income households. Applications are made through the school, often using the online system. If high school is on your horizon, read our page on attendance rules and costs next, and if a full-time school looks unlikely to fit, our guide to correspondence high schools explains the most common alternative.

If your child may need extra support

Japan’s special needs education has three main places of learning within the public system, plus an entry process for deciding between them.

• Resource room teaching (tsukyu ni yoru shido / 通級による指導). The child stays in a regular class and leaves it for a set number of hours to work on specific difficulties.
• Special needs class (tokubetsu shien gakkyu / 特別支援学級). A small class inside an ordinary elementary or junior high school, with exchange time in the regular class.
• Special needs school (tokubetsu shien gakko / 特別支援学校). A separate school with specialist staff and a smaller class size.

The entry process is called consultation on school placement (shugaku sodan / 就学相談), run by the municipal board of education, usually starting in the year before enrollment. Since the 2013 amendment to the Enforcement Order of the School Education Act, placement is not decided by the disability category alone. It is decided comprehensively, taking account of the child’s condition, educational needs, the views of the child and the guardian, expert opinion and local circumstances. Article 18-2 requires the board to hear the guardian and specialists in education, medicine and psychology, and MEXT’s notice states that the guardian’s views must be respected as far as possible.

For international families there are two practical points. Ask for an interpreter at the consultation meeting, because the vocabulary is technical and the decision matters. And be careful not to let a language difficulty be read as a developmental one, or the other way round. A child who is silent in class may be a child who cannot yet follow the Japanese, a child who is anxious, or a child with a specific difficulty, and these need different responses. Our page on neurodivergent children in Japanese schools goes into assessment, diagnosis and support in far more detail than this page can.

If your child stops wanting to go

This page describes the system as it works when it works. For a good number of children it does not. In MEXT’s survey for the 2024 school year, published in October 2025, 353,970 elementary and junior high students were counted as futoko (不登校), meaning absent for 30 days or more in a year for reasons other than illness or financial hardship. That was the twelfth consecutive annual increase and the highest figure on record.

If your child is showing stomach aches on school mornings, crying on Sunday evenings or refusing to leave the house, that is not a failure of parenting and it is not rare. Japan’s official position has moved: a 2019 MEXT notice states that support should not aim only at the result of returning to school, and it sets out conditions under which learning at an outside facility or through ICT at home can be counted as attendance, decided by the principal.

Start with our guide to school refusal in Japan, which explains what to say to the school and what to expect. Where to get help lists the people and services to contact, including English-language lines. If you are looking for somewhere else for your child to learn, education support centers are the free public option, free schools are the private one, and the learning place finder asks eight questions and suggests where to look.

Words you will see in letters from school

Most school letters reuse the same small set of words. Learning these twenty will let you work out what a notice is about before you translate it in full.

For fuller lists and for messages you can send, see our glossary of Japanese school and education terms and our page of phrases and templates for talking to school.

Three things to do in your first month

What this page does not cover

This is a starting map, and there are things it deliberately leaves out.

• Individual municipalities. Enrollment paperwork, term dates, lunch charges, Japanese support and school zoning are local decisions. We describe the national frame and tell you where to ask locally.
• Prefectural high school entrance rules in detail. These change most years and differ in every prefecture. We give the shape and two confirmed examples of special entry routes, not a table of 47.
• Private and international schools. Those are covered on international schools in Japan, including what they do and do not mean for Japanese school-leaving qualifications.
• Special needs education in depth. Assessment, diagnosis and day-to-day support belong on our page about neurodivergent children in Japanese schools, linked above.
• Immigration and residence status. We can say what schools do. We cannot advise on visas. Ask your local immigration office or a qualified adviser.
• University entry. Out of scope here.

If you find something on this page that is out of date or wrong, please tell us. Our corrections policy explains how we handle it.

Frequently asked questions

Sources