How to Choose an International Preschool in Tokyo: 7 Comparison Points
You start out looking for "a school where our child can spend the day in English" — and quickly find that Tokyo has an overwhelming number of international preschools, each describing itself in its own terms. Every website looks appealing. Every visit ends with "that seemed like a nice place." Many families tell us they lose their footing somewhere in the middle of that process.
This is not a research problem. International preschools sit outside the unified regulatory framework that governs licensed nurseries and kindergartens in Japan, and each one is designed around a different idea of what early childhood should look like. In other words, no common yardstick has been provided.
So we built one. Below are seven comparison points for choosing an international preschool in Tokyo, drawn from research on language acquisition, international work on the quality of early childhood education, and Japanese public guidance. We also cover what you can verify through publicly available records before you visit, and what to look for on the day.
In this article
What is an international preschool — and why does Tokyo have so many?
"International preschool" is an umbrella term for settings where children below kindergarten age spend their day in a primarily English-speaking environment. It is not a legal category, so what sits behind the label varies widely.
Most of these settings operate as ninka-gai hoiku shisetsu (childcare facilities outside the licensing system) and are required to file notification with the prefecture. That notification is not optional — it is also a precondition for receiving free-education subsidy payments1.
It is worth separating "international preschool" from "international school" as well.
| International preschool | International school (school age) | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical ages | Roughly 1–3 (up to 6 at some settings) | Roughly 5/6–18 |
| Legal status | Usually notified as a childcare facility outside the licensing system | Varies — miscellaneous school, unaccredited, etc. (often not an ichijō-kō) |
| Compulsory schooling | Not yet relevant (pre-school age) | Needs checking from primary level onward |
| What to weigh | Quality of the daily environment, language exposure, logistics | Curriculum, outcomes, qualifications |
Because compulsory-schooling questions do not yet apply at this age, what the day actually looks like is the whole of the decision.
Tokyo has so many options partly because of concentrated demand, and partly because the format is unusually free. Settings that grew out of English conversation schools, settings built around a particular pedagogy, long-hours childcare settings, inquiry- and STEM-led settings — all sit under the same label. That is the real source of the difficulty.
Seven points for comparing international preschools in Tokyo
These seven are ordered as a sequence to work through, not a ranking. Where the weight falls will differ from family to family.
1. Language environment — ask for the proportion, not the label
Phrases like "English environment" and "all English" cover an enormous range in practice. What you want is not the label but the share of the day actually spent in English.
Research on bilingual development consistently finds that acquisition is strongly shaped by the amount of exposure. In their review, Professor Erika Hoff of Florida Atlantic University and Cynthia Core note the claim that a language accounting for less than 20% of a child's input tends not to be acquired — while also reporting that two-year-olds receiving roughly 20% exposure did acquire some of that language, meaning there is no clean threshold5.
The point is not the number 20% but that exposure works on a continuum. One hour a week and five days a week are both "contact with English," but what reaches the child is entirely different5.
It also helps to know that conversational English and academic English develop on different timelines. Professor Jim Cummins of the University of Toronto distinguishes basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) from cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), and notes that the latter takes considerably longer to reach grade-appropriate levels6. Two years of preschool mainly build the foundation of the former. Thinking about what comes after changes how you weigh a setting.
On a visit, ask when Japanese is used during the day, and what language staff use when a child is crying or unwell. The second question matters most — the language used when a child needs reassurance tends to reveal a setting's actual philosophy.
2. Quality of care — separate "structural" from "process" quality
The OECD distinguishes two kinds of quality in early childhood education and care. Structural quality covers conditions: staffing, qualifications, group size, physical environment. Process quality covers what children actually experience — the interactions and activities of the day. Process quality is described as the most proximal driver of children's development, learning and well-being7.
This maps directly onto choosing a school. Brochures describe structural quality. Process quality can only be seen on a visit.
For structural quality, a floor does exist. Japan's national standards for facilities outside the licensing system require that roughly one third or more of caregiving staff hold a childcare worker or nurse qualification2, and Tokyo's standards specify approximately 1.65 m² of room space per child, with staffing of about one adult per three children under one, and one per six children aged one and two3.
These are minimums. Many settings exceed them comfortably; some sit close to the line. Rather than "how many teachers are there," ask "in the one-year-old room today, how many children and how many adults?" — a question that yields comparable answers.
Process quality resists numbers. During a visit, watch whether adults come down to the child's eye level, and whether a child's discovery is met with a response rather than an instruction.
3. Cost — compare the annual total, and check subsidy eligibility
Fees vary enormously, and comparing monthly tuition alone is misleading. Lining up the annual total — enrolment fee, materials, meals, facility fees, extracurriculars, bus, annual renewal — often reverses first impressions.
The second question is whether free early childhood education and care payments apply. For facilities outside the licensing system, Japan's Children and Families Agency sets out the following1.
| Child | Monthly ceiling | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 3–5 | Up to ¥37,000 | Municipal certification of the "need for childcare" |
| Ages 0–2 (resident-tax-exempt households) | Up to ¥42,000 | Same |
Crucially, an eligible facility must have filed notification with the prefecture and meet the national standards1. Whether a setting has filed that notification therefore bears directly on your household budget.
Some Tokyo wards and municipalities also run their own fee assistance. Because these change annually, please confirm with your local ward or city office.
4. The path after graduation — where does age three lead?
Most preschools cover roughly ages 1.5 to 3. That makes what follows something to establish before you enrol, not after.
Broadly there are three routes.
- Continue into the same setting's kindergarten (ages 3–6) — environment and relationships carry over, and English exposure is easier to sustain
- Move to a Japanese kindergarten or nursery — a return to a Japanese-language environment; timing and admissions schedules need checking
- Move to another international school — subject to selection and availability
This is where the BICS/CALP distinction becomes practical. Conversational fluency emerges relatively early, while the language that supports academic learning accumulates over years6. Whether you are planning a two-year chapter or a longer arc changes which setting fits.
For how preschools, kindergartens and nurseries differ as institutions, see what a preschool is, and how it differs from nurseries and kindergartens.
5. Curriculum — what are children doing in English?
Given that the environment is English, what that English is being used for is where settings diverge most.
| Type | What sits at the centre | Fits families who… |
|---|---|---|
| Language-led | Phonics, songs, picture books — English itself | want to prioritise an English foundation |
| Inquiry / STEM-led | Observation, experiments, asking questions — in English | want thinking skills and English together |
| Pedagogy-led | Montessori, Reggio and similar approaches | identify with a particular philosophy |
| Care-led | Long hours and daily-living routines | need working-hours coverage above all |
None of these is better than the others. What matters is whether what your family wants from these two years overlaps with what the setting cares about.
On a visit, instead of "what is your curriculum," try "what did the children actually do last week?"
6. Logistics — is this sustainable for two years?
In Tokyo, a commute involving trains becomes a real weekly load. Check the range of attendance days (can you start at two days a week, or is five fixed?), hours and the latest pick-up time, whether meals are provided or packed, whether there is a school bus, and how it all fits with siblings' arrangements.
However good the programme, two years cannot be completed if the daily journey cannot be. Families expecting another baby may want to think through that period specifically.
7. Family fit — Japanese, and your own involvement
The last point is the division of labour between setting and home.
How Japanese is handled differs by setting: some build in Japanese time, some are English-only, some leave Japanese to the family. Each is a legitimate position, to be weighed against your home language environment.
How much parents are expected to participate is worth establishing too — event frequency, parent associations, how communication happens (app or paper, Japanese-language support), and how the day is shared with you. For dual-income households this often decides whether a setting works.
Before you visit: three things Tokyo's public records will tell you
This is not widely known, but in Tokyo there are things you can verify before setting foot in a school — a practical way to see what brochures do not cover.
Step 1: Confirm the facility has filed notification
Facilities outside the licensing system must file notification with the prefecture, and lists of notified facilities are published by Tokyo and by individual wards and cities. Notification is also a precondition for subsidy eligibility1. You are also perfectly entitled to ask the setting directly.
Step 2: Read the on-site inspection results
Tokyo conducts on-site inspections of notified facilities at least once a year as a rule2 and publishes the outcomes. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's welfare bureau site lets you review inspection results for the past three years4 — findings you will never see on a school's own website.
Step 3: Look for the certificate of compliance
Facilities confirmed to meet the standards can be issued a certificate of compliance2. Many display it, so it is worth looking at what is posted on the wall during your visit.
These three steps confirm the floor of what the OECD calls structural quality7. Working from that shortlist, comparing process quality — the texture of daily interaction — on your visits is the efficient order.
A checklist for the day of your visit
Most visits last about an hour. To avoid leaving with only an impression, decide in advance what you are looking at. The list below maps to the seven points.
Language environment (1)
- When Japanese is used during the day, and why
- Number and role of English-speaking and Japanese-speaking staff
- Language used when a child is crying or unwell
Quality of care (2)
- Actual child and adult numbers in the relevant room
- How many staff hold childcare or nursing qualifications
- How adults respond to what children say
- How disagreements between children are handled
Cost (3)
- Annual total, including enrolment, materials, meals, events and bus
- Whether the facility is eligible for subsidy payments
- Mid-year increases and renewal fees
After graduation (4)
- Whether classes continue past age three, and on what conditions
- Where graduates typically go
Curriculum (5)
- What children actually did last week
- How often children are outdoors
Logistics (6)
- Range of attendance days and hours
- Meals or packed lunch; latest pick-up time
Family fit (7)
- Number of parent-attended events per year
- How the day is shared, and whether Japanese-language contact is available
And one more thing: watch your child's face while you are there. Every condition can be met on paper, but two years is a long time in a room where a child cannot settle. Where a trial session is offered, take it.
Reducing the "we didn't expect this" — common mismatches
These are the stumbles we hear about most often. None of them is a failing on the setting's part; all of them come from a gap between expectation and reality.
Making "speaking English" the measure of success
Rates of language growth vary widely, and the same environment shows up differently in different children. Comprehension often runs well ahead of production, which is simply harder to see. Judging a setting on speech alone leads to poor decisions.
Deciding from the information session alone
An information session is a setting at its most composed. Where possible, also ask to visit during ordinary hours and see an ordinary day.
Underestimating the commute
A distance that feels manageable before enrolment feels different in the rain, or with a younger sibling in tow. Plan around an average day across two years.
Enrolling without a view of what follows
As covered in point 4, enrolling without a hypothesis about age three onwards can narrow your options when transfer time arrives.
What matters is not deciding which setting is best, but putting your family's priorities into words first. Once those are settled, comparison gets much easier.
Laurus, viewed through the same seven points
What does this framework look like applied to a real setting? As a worked example, here is our own environment run through it. Applying the same format to other settings should make comparison considerably easier.
The Laurus International School of Science preschool serves children from 18 months to three years in an all-English environment, built on three pillars: science (scientific inquiry), language and mathematics8. In the terms of point 5, that places it in the inquiry/STEM-led category — English used for observing and experimenting.
On logistics (point 6), families choose anywhere from one to six days a week, with a five-hour course (9:00–14:00) or a full-day course (8:30–18:00)8. Campuses across Tokyo and Kanagawa mean the commute can be chosen around home or work.
On what follows (point 4), the same environment continues into kindergarten (ages 3–6) and on through primary — an arc long enough to accommodate the gradual shift from conversational to academic English within one setting6.
This design is not the right answer for every family. Households planning to move on to a Japanese kindergarten, or whose first priority is childcare hours, may well find another setting fits better. Choose the setting with the greatest overlap when laid out across the seven points — that, we think, is what choosing well looks like.
For attendance patterns and the application process, see admissions.
In summary
There is no common yardstick for comparing international preschools in Tokyo. That is exactly why holding your own set of seven — language environment, quality of care, cost, what follows, curriculum, logistics and family fit — makes the comparison tractable.
And what a brochure can tell you stops at conditions. What sits closest to a child's development is the quality of daily interaction7 — and that can only be seen in person.
Laurus holds school visits and information sessions throughout the year. Please do compare several settings using the same seven points.
Questions & Answers Frequently Asked Questions
9 questionsFees vary widely by format, hours and days, so monthly tuition alone is not comparable. We suggest lining up the annual total, including enrolment fee, materials, meals, events and bus. Where a facility has filed notification and the household holds municipal certification of the need for childcare, subsidy covers up to ¥37,000 a month for ages 3–5 and up to ¥42,000 for ages 0–2 in resident-tax-exempt households1.
A preschool is generally for children below kindergarten age (roughly one to three) spending the day in an English environment, and most operate as facilities notified outside the licensing system. "International school" usually refers to institutions from around age five or six upward, where the relationship to compulsory schooling needs checking. The difference is one of age range and legal status.
There are a great many, and private portal sites publish directories. It is also worth consulting the lists of notified facilities published by Tokyo and by individual wards and cities, which show whether notification has been filed. The Tokyo welfare bureau site also publishes on-site inspection results4.
It varies: some settings accept children from around one, others from two or three. Some require toilet independence, others that the child can separate from a parent, so please check the admissions guidelines. Developmental pace varies from child to child, and age in months alone is not the whole picture.
Most settings expect to receive children encountering English for the first time. Acquisition in a bilingual environment is shaped by the amount of exposure5, so how much English follows enrolment matters more than the level at the start. It is common for speech to be limited for the first few months while comprehension is already moving ahead.
Use of a facility outside the licensing system qualifies for subsidy up to the ceiling where the household holds municipal certification of the "need for childcare" and the facility has filed notification with the prefecture and meets the national standards1. Some municipalities add their own assistance. Because these change annually, please check your local ward or city guidance.
Where a child has ample contact with Japanese at home, growing up with two languages is not in itself understood to cause developmental delay. Acquisition reflects the amount of exposure to each language5, so how Japanese is sustained at home is the real focus. Developmental pace varies from child to child; if you have concerns, municipal developmental consultation services are one option.
There is no set number, but around three seen through the same lens tends to steady your criteria. One gives you no baseline; too many blur together. Printing the checklist in this article and completing the same items for each setting works well.
Start by sharing specific observations with the class teacher and hearing how the setting sees it. Many children take time to settle, and things often ease within a few months. If the situation does not change, it is also worth asking whether attendance days or hours can be reduced to lighten the load.
- Overview of Free Early Childhood Education and Care Children and Families Agency, Japan
- Partial revision of "Implementation of Guidance and Supervision for Childcare Facilities Outside the Licensing System" (Notification, 31 Jan 2023, Ko-hatsu No. 131006) MHLW / Children and Families Agency · Notification
- Appended Table 1 — Guidance and Supervision Standards for Childcare Facilities Outside the Licensing System Tokyo Metropolitan Government · Standards
- Publication of On-site Inspection Results (facilities outside the licensing system) Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Bureau of Social Welfare
- Hoff, E., & Core, C. (2013). Input and Language Development in Bilingually Developing Children. Seminars in Speech and Language, 34(4), 215–226. Florida Atlantic University · Peer-reviewed
- Cummins, J. (2008). BICS and CALP: Empirical and Theoretical Status of the Distinction. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd ed., Vol. 2, 71–83. Springer. OISE, University of Toronto
- OECD (2019). Providing Quality Early Childhood Education and Care: Results from the Starting Strong Survey 2018. OECD · TALIS Starting Strong
- Preschool (official page) — Laurus International School of Science Laurus International School of Science