Education

International schools in Japan

What this entry covers

Families moving to Japan usually start with Tokyo, then widen the search to Yokohama, Kobe or Osaka once they see fees and waiting lists. The listing we point to is the international schools in Japan section of International Schools DB, which groups schools by city and shows curriculum and age range on each school page. For the capital there is a separate Tokyo list.

Terms worth knowing before you compare

Japanese schools that follow the national curriculum are called Article 1 schools (ichijo-ko), after the article of the School Education Act that defines them. Most international schools are not Article 1 schools. Many are approved by their prefecture as miscellaneous schools (kakushu gakko), and some have no Japanese approval at all and rely on overseas accreditation instead.

This matters most for Japanese nationals and for families who may later want a child to move into the Japanese system, because time at a non-Article 1 school is not always counted as compulsory education. For a family staying a few years and then moving on, accreditation from a body such as the Council of International Schools or a US regional accreditor is usually the more useful check.

Calendar

The Japanese school year starts in April. Most international schools run from August or September to June, so a mid-year move often lines up better with an international school than with a local one.

Editor's notes

• Ask each school how it handles Japanese language classes, since provision ranges from a few lessons a week to full bilingual streams.
• Commute times in Tokyo are long, and school buses do not reach every district. Shortlist schools after you know roughly where you will live.
• Waiting lists are common in the early years. Apply to more than one school.

Entry last checked: October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Use the contact page.