Glossary of Japanese school and education terms

Japanese schools and city offices run on a vocabulary of their own. A letter home may hinge on one word, and a translation app will often give you the literal meaning without telling you what the word actually does. This glossary collects the Japanese terms that parents meet most often around school, school non-attendance, special needs support, money and public offices. Each entry gives the Japanese, the romaji, and what the word means in practice for your family.

How to use this page

Met a word on a handout or a form? Find it in the section that matches where you saw it
Search the page for the romaji or the Japanese: both are in every row, so naishin and 内申 both work
Every section ends with a link to the Nijiiro page that explains that area in full
Where a rule has a number or a date, we cite the ministry document it comes from in the Sources section

Before you start: three habits that help

A glossary only takes you so far. Three habits make Japanese school paperwork much easier to handle.

Photograph every handout

Paper still carries most school information. Photograph each sheet the day it arrives and run it through a translation app. Keep the originals in one box.

Ask which word is official

The same service often has two or three names. Ask the school or city, “what is this called on your website?” and write the Japanese down exactly.

Ask for easy Japanese

You can ask any public office to speak or write in yasashii nihongo. It is a recognized practice, not a special favor, and it usually works better than English.

If you would like ready-made sentences rather than single words, our page of Japanese phrases and message templates for talking to school has the wording, and how Japanese schools work explains the system these words sit inside.

1. Schools and school stages

These words decide what a place legally is. That matters more than the name on the sign, because accreditation controls whether attendance counts, what qualification a child leaves with, and which money schemes apply.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
一条校	ichijoko	Short for “Article 1 school”: a school listed in Article 1 of the School Education Act, such as an elementary school, junior high or high school. It is the line that matters most: attending one satisfies compulsory schooling and leads to a Japanese diploma, while a free school or most international schools do not.
義務教育	gimu kyoiku	Compulsory education: the nine years of elementary and junior high school. The duty sits on the guardian to have the child enrolled, not on the child to be present every day. MEXT states that guardians of foreign-national children have no such duty.
就学義務	shugaku gimu	The guardian’s duty to enroll a school-age child. A board of education may postpone or waive it in narrow cases such as serious illness, on the guardian’s application with a doctor’s certificate. It is not a route to homeschooling.
学齢	gakurei	School age: from the start of the school year following the child’s sixth birthday to the end of the school year in which they turn 15. Your city uses this, not the child’s age on the day, to decide their year group.
学齢簿	gakureibo	The school-age register a city draws up by 31 October for children starting elementary school the following April. For foreign-national children MEXT asks cities to keep an equivalent list based on the resident register.
小学校 / 中学校 / 高等学校	shogakko / chugakko / koto gakko	Elementary school (6 years), junior high (3 years) and high school (3 years). High school is not compulsory, but almost all students go, and entry is by application and exam.
年度 / 学年	nendo / gakunen	The school and fiscal year runs from April to March; 年度 on a form always means that year, never the calendar year. 学年 means both the school year and a child’s year group, which the April cut-off decides.
学習指導要領	gakushu shido yoryo	The national Course of Study, setting what must be taught in every Article 1 school, which is why public schools across Japan look alike. MEXT publishes an English translation, useful for seeing what an absence is missing.
単位制	tan-i sei	A credit system: students earn credits subject by subject instead of passing or repeating a whole year. Used by correspondence and many part-time high schools, so an incomplete subject is repeated on its own.
全日制 / 定時制 / 通信制	zennichisei / teijisei / tsushinsei	The three high school course types: full-time, part-time (often evening or a shorter daily timetable) and correspondence. All three lead to the same high school diploma, and all three are ordinary high school courses under the Act.
学びの多様化学校	manabi no tayoka gakko	“School for diverse learning”: an accredited school MEXT permits to run a specially designed curriculum for futoko children, with fewer lesson hours, more project work and sometimes a later start. Formerly called 不登校特例校. There are still few, and unevenly spread.
各種学校	kakushu gakko	“Miscellaneous school”, approved by a prefecture under Article 134. Many long-established international and ethnic schools sit here. Attendance does not in principle satisfy the compulsory schooling duty for a Japanese-national child.

For more detail: How Japanese schools work.

2. The people inside a school

Japanese schools divide responsibility between named roles. Knowing which role handles what saves you repeating your story, and tells you who to ask for when the first answer is not helpful.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
担任 / 担任の先生	tannin / tannin no sensei	The homeroom teacher, and your first contact for almost everything: absences, worries, homework, handouts. In elementary school they teach most subjects; in junior high they teach one subject and take homeroom.
学年主任	gakunen shunin	The teacher in charge of a whole year group. If conversations with the homeroom teacher are going nowhere, this is the natural next person to ask for, and asking is normal rather than a complaint.
教頭 / 副校長	kyoto / fuku-kocho	Vice-principal or head teacher. Often the person who actually arranges meetings, paperwork and interpreters, so a useful contact when you need something organized rather than discussed.
校長	kocho	The principal. Some decisions are formally the principal’s alone, including whether learning outside school is recorded as attendance, so a request of that kind eventually has to reach this desk.
養護教諭 / 保健室	yogo kyoyu / hokenshitsu	The school nurse and the health room. Beyond first aid, the nurse is often the adult children talk to most easily, and many who cannot face a classroom can manage the health room first.
スクールカウンセラー	sukuru kaunseraa	School counselor: a psychology professional who visits the school on set days. Parents can usually book a session on their own, without the child. Days are limited, so ask early rather than waiting for a crisis.
スクールソーシャルワーカー	sukuru sosharu waakaa	School social worker. Works on the situation around the child rather than the child’s feelings: money, welfare, housing, links to city services. Often shared across a district and arranged through the board of education.
特別支援教育コーディネーター	tokubetsu shien kyoiku kodineetaa	Special needs coordinator: a teacher designated in each school to organize support, meetings and written plans. Ask for this person by name when you want accommodations discussed as a plan rather than a favor.
支援員 / 介助員	shien-in / kaijo-in	Support staff who assist children in class. Titles, hours and numbers are decided locally, so what one school can offer another cannot. Ask what is actually available this year.
事務室	jimushitsu	The school office. Fees, forms, certificates and tuition support paperwork live here, not with the teachers. If your question is about money or a document, start here.

For more detail: Where to get help.

3. School life, events and things to bring

These are the words that fill the monthly newsletter. Most involve a date, a cost or an item you are expected to prepare, which is why missing one is stressful.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
連絡帳	renraku-cho	The contact notebook carried between home and school for daily messages, absences and short notes from the teacher. Many schools now use an app as well or instead. Ask which channel is the official one, so a message is not missed.
プリント	purinto	Handouts. A great deal of important information, including dates, money and consent forms, arrives only on paper and only in Japanese. Photographing each sheet and translating it the same day is the single most useful habit.
給食	kyushoku	School lunch, usually cooked on site and eaten in the classroom, with pupils serving it. Allergy and religious-diet arrangements exist in most areas but must be requested in advance on a form, sometimes with a doctor’s note.
掃除 / 当番	soji / toban	Daily cleaning by the pupils, and the rota of duties such as serving lunch or leading the class. It is part of the school day, not a punishment, though it can be a source of anxiety.
部活動	bukatsudo	Club activities before or after school, central to junior high life and to friendships. Time demands vary widely. Quitting or changing club is allowed but can be socially difficult, so talk to the homeroom teacher first.
授業参観	jugyo sankan	Open lesson day, when parents come and watch a class from the back of the room. Attendance is expected but not compulsory, and it is often followed by a class meeting for parents.
三者面談	sansha mendan	A three-way meeting between the student, the guardian and the homeroom teacher. In the third year of junior high this is the meeting where high school choices are decided, so ask for an interpreter well in advance.
修学旅行	shugaku ryoko	The school trip with an overnight stay, usually in the final year of elementary and of junior high. Paid for by monthly saving over one or more years, so ask what happens to the money if your child does not go.
上履き / 体操着	uwabaki / taisogi	Indoor shoes and PE kit, bought by the family to a specified design and listed on the sheet you receive before April. Outdoor shoes are swapped for indoor shoes at the entrance every day.
通知表 / 定期テスト	tsuchihyo / teiki tesuto	The report card the school gives you each term, and the termly exams in junior high and high school. The report card is for the family. It is not the document sent to high schools, which is the 調査書 below.

For more detail: Japanese public elementary school for foreign children.

4. Words around not going to school

This vocabulary appears once absences start. Several of these words describe the same thing under different names, and a few carry rights many families never hear about.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
不登校	futoko	The official term. MEXT counts a child as futoko when absent 30 days or more in a school year for reasons other than illness or financial hardship. It describes a situation, not a diagnosis, and you need not reach 30 days before asking for help.
行き渋り	ikishiburi	An everyday word, with no official definition, for reluctance to go to school. It describes a child who still goes, but with growing difficulty. Hearing it from a teacher is a signal to start talking.
保健室登校	hokenshitsu toko	Coming to school but spending the day in the health room with the school nurse. Treated as attendance. For many children it is the first step back, and a useful thing to propose yourself.
別室登校	besshitsu toko	Attending school but studying in a separate room rather than the classroom, often a spare room or the library. What is offered, and for how many hours, differs from school to school.
校内教育支援センター	konai kyoiku shien center	A staffed room inside the school where a child can study without entering class. MEXT counted 15,874 public elementary and junior high schools, 58.7%, with one as of June 2025. Time there generally counts as attendance.
教育支援センター	kyoiku shien center	A municipal facility outside school, run by the board of education, for children who are not attending. Usually free, small groups, part-days, commonly recorded as attendance. In a MEXT survey published in 2019, roughly a third of municipalities had none.
適応指導教室	tekio shido kyoshitsu	The older name for the same municipal facility, still used on many city websites and signs. If your search turns up this phrase, you have found the right place.
フリースクール	furii sukuuru	A private place to learn, run by a non-profit, company or individual, and not an accredited school. The “free” means freedom, not price: most charge a monthly fee. Days there can count as attendance if the principal agrees.
居場所 / フリースペース	ibasho / furii supeesu	“A place to be” and “free space”: drop-in rooms with activities and adults around, less structured than a class and usually without a study program. Often the gentlest first step out of the house.
出席扱い	shusseki atsukai	Being counted as present while learning elsewhere: a support center, a free school or structured study at home using ICT. The principal decides case by case, with the board of education. It is requested, not automatic.
指導要録	shido yoroku	The cumulative guidance record every school keeps for each child: enrollment, attendance, grades and notes. It is where 出席扱い is actually written, and it follows the child onward.
欠席 / 遅刻 / 早退	kesseki / chikoku / sotai	Absent, late and leaving early: the three boxes on the attendance record. A day recorded as 遅刻 rather than 欠席 is a day present, which is why partial attendance is often proposed.
教育機会確保法	kyoiku kikai kakuho ho	The Act on Securing Educational Opportunities of 2016, in force since February 2017. It asks government to support futoko children and families, taking account of the child’s need for rest, and is the law people cite when asking for alternatives.
親の会	oya no kai	A parent group: informal meetings of families in the same situation, run by parents or a local non-profit. Usually free or low cost, almost always in Japanese, but often welcoming to a parent with a translation app.

For more detail: School refusal in Japan (futoko) and attendance rules and costs.

One thing, three names

The same service often has an old name, an official name and a local nickname. A municipal facility for futoko children may appear on the city website as 教育支援センター, 適応指導教室 or an invented name such as “ウィズ” or “パレット”. Ask whoever gives you a name to write the Japanese down, and ask which department runs it.

5. Development and special needs education

Support here runs on two tracks: education, through the board of education and the school, and welfare, through the city’s disability section. Each word below belongs to one track, and knowing which saves wasted visits.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
発達障害	hattatsu shogai	The umbrella term used in Japanese law and services for autism, ADHD, learning differences and related conditions. In practice it works as a key that opens services, not as a judgment about the child.
通常の学級	tsujo no gakkyu	The regular class. A child can receive adjustments and reasonable accommodation here without a diagnosis or a change of placement, which is where most support starts.
通級による指導	tsukyu ni yoru shido	Resource-room teaching: the child stays in a regular class for most lessons and goes out for specialist teaching, sometimes at another school. The standard is 35 to 280 hours a year, or 10 to 280 for learning disabilities and ADHD.
特別支援学級	tokubetsu shien gakkyu	A special needs class inside an ordinary school, with a small group and its own teacher. Children usually join the regular class for some subjects. Placement is decided through enrollment consultation, with the family’s views taken into account.
特別支援学校	tokubetsu shien gakko	A separate school for children with more substantial disabilities, with specialist staff and smaller classes. It is an Article 1 school, so attendance satisfies compulsory schooling.
就学相談	shugaku sodan	Enrollment consultation with the board of education before a child starts elementary school, to discuss which of the above suits them. Bookings open from spring to summer of the year before and fill up. Ask about interpretation when you book.
就学時健康診断	shugakuji kenko shindan	The pre-enrollment health check municipalities hold by 30 November for children entering elementary school the next April: vision, hearing, teeth and a short developmental check. It is also where questions get raised early.
合理的配慮	goriteki hairyo	Reasonable accommodation: changes that remove barriers for a disabled person when that person or their family asks, unless the change is an excessive burden. It comes from the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, and since April 2024 it binds private bodies too.
個別の教育支援計画	kobetsu no kyoiku shien keikaku	A longer-term plan linking school, medical and welfare support around one child, written with the family. Ask for a copy, a named review date, and a way to feed in what you see at home.
個別の指導計画	kobetsu no shido keikaku	The day-to-day teaching plan: what this term’s goals are and how they will be taught. Narrower than the support plan above, and the one that actually changes what happens in lessons.
児童発達支援	jido hattatsu shien	Child development support: sessions for disabled children before elementary school, often weekly, through the welfare system rather than the school.
放課後等デイサービス	hokago-to dei saabisu	After-school day service for disabled children of school age, after lessons and in the holidays. A welfare service, not an ordinary after-school club (学童), and content ranges from play to structured skills work.
受給者証 / 通所受給者証	jukyusha-sho / tsusho jukyusha-sho	The service user certificate your municipality issues after deciding eligibility. It states how many days a month your child may use a service and your monthly payment cap. Apply through the disability welfare section.

For more detail: Neurodivergent children in Japanese schools.

6. Money and support schemes

Public schooling is free of tuition, but the year still carries costs. Most schemes below are applied for, not given automatically, and several are decided by your municipality rather than nationally.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
就学援助	shugaku enjo	Municipal help with the costs of compulsory schooling for households on low incomes: supplies, meals, school trips and new-entrant costs. Conditions and amounts are set by each municipality. Apply through the school or the city office; forms usually go out in spring.
要保護 / 準要保護	yohogo / jun-yohogo	The two eligibility groups for the scheme above: households on public assistance, and households the municipality judges to be in similar need. The second is much larger, and where local rules matter most.
学用品費 / 新入学児童生徒学用品費等	gakuyohinhi / shinnyugaku jidoseito gakuyohinhi to	School supplies costs, and the separate new-entrant payment for children starting elementary or junior high. The April bill for a new starter is the biggest of the year, and many municipalities now pay this item before April.
教材費	kyozaihi	Materials fees: workbooks, test papers and printing, collected by the school on top of the free textbooks, often by monthly direct debit. Ask the school office for the yearly figure.
教科書無償給与	kyokasho musho kyuyo	Textbooks for compulsory education are supplied free to every child at an accredited school, including foreign-national children. Only the textbooks themselves; workbooks and materials are not included.
給食費	kyushokuhi	School meal fees, charged monthly. A growing number of municipalities have made meals free or partly free on their own initiative, so what you pay depends on where you live.
修学旅行積立	shugaku ryoko tsumitate	Monthly saving toward the school trip, often starting a year or more in advance. If your child may not go, ask early what is refundable and what has already been committed to the travel company.
高等学校等就学支援金	koto gakko to shugaku shienkin	The High School Tuition Support Fund, paid to the school and set against tuition rather than to the family. MEXT states that from April 2026 the income limit has been abolished. It does not cover support school (サポート校) fees.
高校生等奨学給付金	koko-sei to shogaku kyufukin	A grant, not a loan, for the high school costs the tuition fund does not touch: textbooks, materials, supplies, club and travel costs. Prefectures run it, so dates and paperwork differ.
児童手当	jido teate	The child allowance, paid by your municipality. Since the expansion of October 2024 it runs to the 31 March after a child turns 18, with no income limit, and it is not linked to school attendance.
子ども医療費助成	kodomo iryohi josei	Municipal subsidy of children’s medical costs. Every prefecture and municipality runs one, but the age limit, income test and any copayment are local decisions, so this is among the most variable rules in Japan.
通学定期券	tsugaku teikiken	The discounted student commuter pass, applied for by the school, not the family. A 1993 MEXT notice allows it for travel to a public facility outside school, worth citing if your child commutes to a support center.

For more detail: Attendance rules and costs.

7. After junior high: high school words

High school entry has its own vocabulary, most of it decided at prefecture level. If your child has been absent, these are the words the third-year meetings will turn on.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
内申	naishin	The everyday word for the internal grades and record a junior high sends to high schools. How much weight it carries, and how absences are treated, is set by each prefecture, not nationally.
評定	hyotei	The numbered subject grades, usually on a five-point scale, that make up the naishin. Since August 2024 the rules allow schools to reflect learning done during an absence in them, so ask how that will work.
調査書	chosasho	The formal school report the junior high sends with the application. It is the document behind the word naishin, and it is not the same as the report card you receive at home.
自己申告書	jiko shinkokusho	A self-report statement written by the student. Some prefectures accept one alongside the school report, letting a child explain an absence in their own words. Ask the junior high whether yours does.
入学者選抜要項	nyugakusha senbatsu yoko	The prefecture’s published admission guidelines for public high schools, issued each year. Dry reading, but the authoritative answer on dates, documents and how absences are handled where you live.
単位	tan-i	A credit. Every high school course requires 74 or more to graduate, plus at least three years enrolled and satisfactory results in special activities. Credits from a previous high school can usually be carried over.
レポート	repoto	Written assignments in a correspondence course, marked and returned by teachers (添削指導). The number per subject follows a national standard, and keeping up with them is the main work of the course.
スクーリング	sukuuringu	Face-to-face lessons at the school or an approved facility, officially 面接指導, and a required part of earning credits. The number of days varies a great deal, so ask before applying if travel is difficult.
通信制高校	tsushinsei koko	A regular high school course taught mainly through reports, schooling days and exams, leading to the same diploma as a full-time course. A MEXT survey of 323 such schools found 57.0% of entrants had been futoko in junior high year 3.
広域通信制	koiki tsushinsei	A wide-area correspondence school, which may accept students from three or more prefectures, so families anywhere can apply. A narrow-area school takes students only from its own prefecture or a neighboring one.
サポート校	sapoto-ko	A private organization that helps a student keep up with a correspondence high school’s work, with daily classes and staff contact. It is not a high school and grants no qualification, and its fees are extra and not covered by the tuition fund.
高卒認定	kosotsu nintei	The High School Equivalency Examination, held twice a year in August and November, open from the fiscal year in which a person turns 16, including while enrolled at a high school. It gives university entrance eligibility, not a diploma.
中卒認定	chuso nintei	The Junior High School Equivalency Examination, for people who did not complete a Japanese junior high school, including foreign-national children who never enrolled. It opens the door to high school entrance exams.
転入 / 編入	tennyu / hennyu	Transfer, from a school where the student is still enrolled, and re-entry, after withdrawing. The two words trigger different paperwork and sometimes different intake dates, so use the right one when you enquire.

For more detail: Correspondence high schools.

8. Consultation desks and public offices

Japan spreads child support across several offices, and none is the front door for all of it. This table lets you match a worry to a desk.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
教育委員会	kyoiku iinkai	The board of education, at city or prefecture level. It runs public schools, education support centers, enrollment consultation and transfers. The place to go when a school-level conversation has stalled.
教育相談室 / 教育センター	kyoiku sodanshitsu / kyoiku center	The education consultation office run by the board of education: free consultation about school worries, usually with counselors or retired teachers. Names differ by city, which is why it is hard to find twice.
児童相談所	jido sodanjo	The child guidance center, run by the prefecture or a large city. Free consultation and assessment by psychologists and social workers, covering development and upbringing as well as safety. The nationwide number 189 reaches the nearest one.
こども家庭センター	kodomo katei center	A newer municipal office bringing maternal and child health together with child welfare in one place. Setting one up became a duty to endeavor under the 2022 amendment to the Child Welfare Act, so not every city has one yet.
保健センター / 保健所	hoken center / hokenjo	Municipal and prefectural public health centers: checkups, development, sleep, eating and general health consultation, and referrals onward. A reasonable first door when you are unsure whether a worry is medical.
精神保健福祉センター	seishin hoken fukushi center	The mental health and welfare center, one per prefecture and designated city. Information and consultation on mental health services for your child or for you. Phone first; consultations are free.
発達障害者支援センター	hattatsu shogaisha shien center	The developmental disability support center, one per prefecture and designated city, offering consultation to children, adults and families. The national list is published online; services and waiting times vary.
民生委員 / 児童委員	minsei iin / jido iin	Local residents appointed by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to listen to neighbors’ worries and connect them to services. Some are designated 主任児童委員, specializing in children. Unpaid, and a low-pressure first conversation.
障害福祉課	shogai fukushi-ka	The disability welfare section at the city or ward office: the desk for the service user certificate, day services and welfare questions, as opposed to the board of education, which handles the school side.

For more detail: Where to get help and education support centers.

9. Words for foreign-national and multilingual families

These terms appear in the paperwork that reaches international families, and in the support schools can offer while Japanese is still being learned.

Term (Japanese)	Romaji	What it means in practice
就学案内	shugaku annai	The enrollment notice a board of education sends to foreign-national children of school age, which MEXT says should be based on the resident register. Receiving it is not an obligation to attend, but it is your route into a public school, so keep it.
住民登録 / 住民基本台帳	jumin toroku / jumin kihon daicho	Resident registration and the resident register. Mid- to long-term foreign residents are recorded in it, and cities use it to send enrollment notices, health check notices and vaccination reminders. Move without re-registering and school paperwork stops arriving.
在留カード	zairyu kaado	The residence card issued to mid- to long-term residents. You report your address to the city office, and schools sometimes ask to see it at enrollment. Carrying it is a legal requirement for the holder.
家族滞在	kazoku taizai	Dependent residence status, held by most children living in Japan with a working parent. It is granted on the family relationship, not on the child’s schooling, so a change of school does not by itself affect it.
日本語指導が必要な児童生徒	nihongo shido ga hitsuyo na jidoseito	“Students who need Japanese-language instruction”, the official category MEXT counts. The FY2025 survey, published in May 2026, found 84,759 in public schools: 73,313 foreign nationals and 11,446 Japanese nationals. Being counted is what unlocks support hours.
特別の教育課程	tokubetsu no kyoiku katei	The “special curriculum” under which, since 2014, a school may timetable Japanese-language lessons in place of part of the regular timetable. It is separate from special needs support, and asking for it is a reasonable request.
国際教室	kokusai kyoshitsu	The name some cities, such as Yokohama, give to a room and a designated teacher in schools with many children who need Japanese support. Which schools have one changes yearly, so ask the board of education.
母語支援員 / 通訳	bogo shien-in / tsuyaku	Native-language support staff and interpreters. Availability depends on your municipality and your language, and is arranged through the board of education or the local international association. Ask well before a meeting.
やさしい日本語	yasashii nihongo	“Easy Japanese”: short sentences, plain verbs, no honorific-heavy phrasing, numbers written out. The Immigration Services Agency and the Agency for Cultural Affairs published a written-language guideline in 2020. Saying 「やさしい日本語でお願いします」 at the start of a call is not rude, and often works better than asking for English.
国際交流協会	kokusai koryu kyokai	The local international association, usually one per city or prefecture: interpretation, translated information, consultation desks and sometimes Japanese classes. Free or low cost, and often the fastest help with a school document.
就学ガイドブック	shugaku gaidobukku	MEXT’s multilingual guidebook on entering a Japanese school. Useful for the enrollment steps and for the vocabulary of forms, which it gives in both languages side by side.
かすたねっと	Casta-net	MEXT’s search site for multilingual school documents and teaching materials, collected from boards of education across Japan. Look here for an existing translation of a standard form before translating it yourself.

For more detail: International schools and homeschooling in Japan.

For foreign-national families

Two words are worth separating. 就学義務 (the duty to enroll) applies to guardians of Japanese nationals; MEXT states that guardians of foreign-national children do not carry it. 就学 (enrollment itself) is open to you anyway: foreign-national children are accepted at public elementary and junior high schools free of tuition, on the same basis as Japanese children, and textbooks are free. You have the right without the obligation, and once your child is enrolled the school’s practical response to absence is usually the same as for any other family.

Reference

Where a word usually comes from

If you know which envelope a word arrived in, you can usually guess which section it belongs to, and who to ask.

Where you saw it	Likely section here	Who to ask
Monthly school newsletter	School life, events and things to bring	Homeroom teacher, or the school office for anything with a cost
A form about fees or a direct debit	Money and support schemes	The school office (事務室)
A letter from the city about your child starting school	Schools and school stages; words for international families	The board of education (教育委員会)
A meeting about absences	Words around not going to school	Homeroom teacher, then the vice-principal or the board of education
A letter about a health check or a developmental concern	Development and special needs education	Public health center, or the school’s special needs coordinator
A leaflet from the city office welfare counter	Consultation desks and public offices	The disability welfare section (障害福祉課) or the children and families center
A third-year junior high meeting	After junior high: high school words	Homeroom teacher, and the prefecture’s admission guidelines

A rough guide only; municipalities organize these differently. As of September 2026.

What this glossary does not do

It is not legal or medical advice, and it is not a dictionary: we have kept the words whose literal meaning is misleading and left out the rest. Where a rule depends on your municipality, prefecture or school, we say so rather than give a number that would be wrong for most readers. Terms also change: 適応指導教室 became 教育支援センター and 不登校特例校 became 学びの多様化学校, so older documents and newer websites can use different words for the same thing. If an entry is out of date or wrong where you live, please tell us through our corrections policy.

Frequently asked questions

I met a word on a city form and I cannot find it here. What now?

Copy the Japanese exactly, then ask the desk that sent the form what it is called on their website. Departments and page titles stay stable when local nicknames do not. If the word looks like a service, search it with your city’s name; if it looks like a rule, search it with 文部科学省 to find the ministry page behind it.

Does the school have an English version of its documents?

Usually not its own, but translations of standard documents often already exist. MEXT’s かすたねっと site collects multilingual school documents from boards of education across Japan, and MEXT publishes a multilingual enrollment guidebook. Ask the school or the board of education before translating anything yourself.

Is it acceptable to ask a school or city office for easy Japanese?

Yes, and it is increasingly expected. The Immigration Services Agency and the Agency for Cultural Affairs published a guideline on easy Japanese for written communication in 2020, and public offices are used to the request. Ask at the start of a call rather than halfway through, and ask for key dates and numbers in writing too.

Why does the same service have two or three different names?

Because national terms, older terms and local nicknames all stay in circulation. A municipal facility for children who are not attending may be signposted as 教育支援センター, 適応指導教室 or a local name. When someone gives you a name, ask which department runs it: that is the part still correct next year.

My child is not a Japanese national. Do these words still apply to us?

Almost all of them do, once your child is enrolled. Schools generally apply the same attendance, support and paperwork rules to every enrolled child. The differences are at the edges: the duty to enroll does not apply to guardians of foreign-national children, the enrollment notice reaches you through the resident register, and some support depends on your residence status.

Sources

e-Gov, “学校教育法” (School Education Act), Articles 1, 16, 17, 18 and 134: laws.e-gov.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “就学義務の猶予又は免除について” (school age, and postponement or exemption): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “外国人の子等の就学に関する手続について” (enrollment notice, register equivalent to the school-age register, free acceptance at public schools): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “障害のある子供の就学先決定について” (school-age register by 31 October, pre-enrollment health check by 30 November): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “学びの多様化学校（いわゆる不登校特例校）の設置者一覧”: mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, FY2024 survey on problem behaviour and futoko, summary of results (published 29 October 2025): mext.go.jp (PDF) (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “不登校児童生徒への支援の在り方について（通知）” (25 October 2019): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “出席扱いの主な要件について（義務教育段階）”: mext.go.jp (PDF) (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “不登校児童生徒が欠席中に行った学習の成果に係る成績評価について（通知）” (29 August 2024): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “令和7年公立小中学校の校内教育支援センター設置率” (15,874 schools, 58.7%, as of June 2025): mext.go.jp (PDF) (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “「教育支援センター（適応指導教室）に関する実態調査」結果” (13 May 2019): mext.go.jp (PDF) (checked September 2026)
e-Gov, “義務教育の段階における普通教育に相当する教育の機会の確保等に関する法律” (Act No. 105 of 2016): laws.e-gov.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “（参考資料3）「通級による指導」について” (annual hours standard; Enforcement Regulations Articles 140 and 141): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Government of Japan Public Relations Online, “事業者による障害のある人への「合理的配慮の提供」が義務化” (April 2024): gov-online.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Children and Families Agency, “放課後等デイサービスガイドライン” and “利用者負担の仕組み”: cfa.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “就学援助制度について（就学援助ポータルサイト）”: mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “教科書無償給与制度”: mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “高校生等への修学支援” (High School Tuition Support Fund, FY2026): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “高校生等奨学給付金”: mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Children and Families Agency, “児童手当制度のご案内”: cfa.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Children and Families Agency, 令和7年度「こどもに係る医療費の助成についての調査」: cfa.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “登校拒否児童生徒が学校外の公的機関等に通所する場合の通学定期乗車券制度の適用について” (19 March 1993): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “高等学校の卒業に関する法令” (74 credits, three years, special activities): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “令和7年度通信制高等学校実態調査” (323 schools; 57.0% of entrants futoko in junior high year 3): mext.go.jp (PDF) (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “高等学校卒業程度認定試験とは”: mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “令和8年度就学義務猶予免除者等の中学校卒業程度認定試験受験案内”: mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “「日本語指導が必要な児童生徒の受入状況等に関する調査（令和7年度）」の結果について” (25 May 2026): mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “かすたねっと” (multilingual school documents): casta-net.mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
MEXT, “外国人児童生徒のための就学ガイドブック”: mext.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Immigration Services Agency and Agency for Cultural Affairs, “在留支援のためのやさしい日本語ガイドライン” (2020): moj.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Immigration Services Agency, “新しい在留管理制度” (residence card, address notification, resident register): moj.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Immigration Services Agency, 在留資格「家族滞在」: moj.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “民生委員・児童委員”: mhlw.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Children and Families Agency, こども家庭センターポータルサイト: kokasen.cfa.go.jp (checked September 2026)
Children and Families Agency, “児童相談所虐待対応ダイヤル「189」について”: cfa.go.jp (checked September 2026)
National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, “発達障害者支援センターとは”: rehab.go.jp (checked September 2026)
City of Yokohama, “日本語指導・支援の制度一覧” (国際教室): city.yokohama.lg.jp (checked September 2026)

Written by the Nijiiro Editorial Team (corrections policy)
Published: 23 September 2026 / Last updated: 23 September 2026