General education and the teaching of children are both taken very seriously in Japan and students are under pressure to succeed at school, college and university – so much so that in addition to their studies many students attend Juku or ‘cramming’ schools.  For expatriates with children who are thinking about moving to live and work in Japan education in Japan will be an important area to research. 

A decision will have to be taken about how to educate expat children and the options that exist are sending an expatriate child to a state school, a private Japanese school or a private international school; this article examines the options further and the fundamentals of education in Japan.

After the Second World War the education system in Japan that was loosely based around the French and German systems was overhauled and updated by the Americans and to this day the Japanese school structure is more akin to the American school structure than any European nation’s structure.  It is compulsory for pupils to attend school from grades 1 through to 9 and schools are divided into Elementary, Middle and High school.  The school year starts on April the 1st and is divided into three terms each separated by a short holiday.  Children generally average around 195 days of pure schooling annually with many other days’ attendance given over to festivals, athletic days, ceremonies etc.

Currently education in Japan is not streamed or grouped, therefore no emphasis is given to the teaching of those with specialist abilities or learning difficulties which can mean some pupils get left behind and others are unfairly restricted.  There have been calls for reforms that will allow for the streaming of children and the teaching according to ability methods but at the moment such calls are falling on deaf ears!

For expatriate parents living and working in Japan the most likely choice for the education of their children is attendance at a private international school.  Sending an expat child to a state or private Japanese school is really only an option for those expats with very young children who will adapt more easily and for those planning on remaining in Japan throughout their child’s years in school.  Private international schools in Japan are widely available particularly in the main international employment centres such as Tokyo for example, but the curriculum they follow, the fees they charge and the reputation they enjoy can vary dramatically and so a certain amount of research has to be done into each option. 

Apart from Tokyo there are various international school options available in Yokohama, Hokkaido, Sendai, Niigatab, Nagano, Gunma, Saitama, Yamanashi, Numazu, Nagoya/Aichi, Nara, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka/Kyushu and Okinawa and the Japan with Kids website is a great place to begin research into the curriculum studied in each school, the fees payable and the reputation afforded each institution.