Preparing Your Child for School in Japan: Japanese and Routines
To prepare your child for school in Japan, start Japanese lessons a few months before the move, focus on the spoken Japanese they will need on day one (greetings, asking to go to the toilet, saying they don’t understand), learn hiragana so they can read their name and simple notices, and talk them through school routines like school lunch, cleaning time and indoor shoes. Children often pick up spoken Japanese quickly once they are in class, but a head start makes the first weeks much less stressful.
Which school, and when it starts
Foreign children can usually enrol in local public elementary and junior high schools; you arrange this through the city or ward office and the local board of education. See Japanese at the ward office. The Japanese school year starts in April, but children can join part way through. International schools teach mainly in English and are a different path; this guide is for families choosing a Japanese school.
Japanese your child needs first
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| おはようございます。 | Good morning (to the teacher). |
| トイレに行ってもいいですか。 | May I go to the toilet? |
| わかりません。 | I don’t understand. |
| もう一回言ってください。 | Please say it again. |
| 気持ちが悪いです。 | I feel sick. |
| いっしょに遊ぼう。 | Let’s play together. |
| いただきます・ごちそうさまでした | Said before and after eating. |
Practise these out loud through games and role play, not lists. Younger children remember songs and routines far better than vocabulary drills.
School routines to talk through
- Indoor shoes (上履き), changed at the entrance.
- School lunch (給食), often served by the children themselves, eaten in the classroom.
- Cleaning time (掃除), when students clean their classroom and corridors.
- Walking to school, often in groups, and school events like sports day (運動会).
- Morning and end-of-day meetings with set phrases such as 起立、礼 (stand, bow).
Knowing what to expect is often as important as the language. Looking at photos or videos of a Japanese school day together can help.
Reading and writing
Japanese children learn hiragana before or in their first year, then kanji grade by grade. Older children joining a Japanese school will be behind classmates in kanji, so daily reading practice matters. Start with hiragana and katakana (see learning hiragana and katakana), then the kanji for their grade, little and often. Many schools and cities offer Japanese support classes for children who are new to the language, but the amount of help varies a lot, so ask early.
Supporting your child after the move
- Keep up their home language too. It helps them learn Japanese, not the opposite.
- Ask the teacher about a contact book (連絡帳) and how to reach them. See Japanese for parents in Japan.
- For important meetings about your child’s needs, consider an interpreter. See an interpreter for school meetings.
- Expect a quiet period. Many children understand a lot before they start speaking.
How Hanabuddies can help
Our native Japanese tutors teach children online, with short, playful lessons built around school life in Japan: greetings, classroom phrases, school lunch, friends and reading the notices they will bring home. We can start before your move and keep going after you arrive, supporting homework and kanji. A parent is welcome to join. See also Japanese lessons for kids and teens and our moving to Japan checklist.