"Will our child be able to go to a regular elementary school?" is the question most parents carry. This page explains how the decision is actually made in Japan, so that you go into it informed — and with time.
| Option | What it is |
|---|---|
| Regular class 通常の学級 | An ordinary class at the local elementary school. |
| Regular class + special-support classroom 特別支援教室／通級 | The child belongs to a regular class and leaves it for a few hours a week for specialised teaching in a separate room — for language, social-emotional, attention or learning needs. In Tokyo every elementary school has a special-support classroom for this, so it usually happens at the child's own school. |
| Special-needs class 特別支援学級 | A small class inside a regular elementary school, with teaching matched to each child; children join regular classes for some subjects and activities. |
| Special-needs school 特別支援学校 | A separate school with the smallest classes and the most intensive support, including life skills and independence. |
These differ in how much support is built in. None of them is a permanent label: children move between them as they grow, and the choice is reviewed.
In the year before your child starts school, the ward's board of education runs a school-entry consultation (就学相談, shūgaku sōdan) for families who want to think about which option fits. In Shinjuku it is handled by the Special Needs Education Section of the Education Support Division (教育支援課 特別支援教育係, Shinjuku Cosmic Centre 4F, 03-3232-3074); applications are accepted from 1 April to 30 September of the year before entry, online. Other wards have the same process under their boards of education.
In Shinjuku the consultation runs in six steps: application → interview and developmental testing → interview with a doctor → a visit to the child's daycare or kindergarten → the school-entry support committee → the result is explained to the parents and the placement is decided. The consultation is described by the ward as "thinking together about the place of learning", looking at the child from psychological, medical and educational angles.
What helps families most is going into the consultation with a clear picture: what your child can do, what they find hard, what support has worked. The records from daycare, from the classroom's individual support plan, and from any assessments are useful here. We can explain, in English, what the consultation will ask.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Your child turns 6 between 2 April and the following 1 April | They start elementary school that April. |
| Spring–summer of the year before | Apply for the school-entry consultation (Shinjuku: 1 April – 30 September). Interviews, testing and visits follow over the summer and autumn. |
| Autumn of the year before | The school-entry health check (就学時健康診断) at the designated school — every child has this. |
| Winter | Placement confirmed; school explains the start. |
| April | School starts. Child development support ends; school-age children can use the after-school day service. |
The consultation looks at a child as they are in the year before school. The preschool years are when the language and group-life skills that consultation will look at are built — and that is exactly what child development support is for. Our purpose is that you go into that consultation with a child who has grown, and with a clear, documented picture of what they need. Whichever option is chosen, that preparation is not wasted.
Sources: Shinjuku City — school-entry and transfer consultation (Japanese) · Ministry of Education — educational consultation and school-entry decision materials (Japanese) · Ministry of Education — special-needs education (Japanese)
FAQ
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You do not need a diagnosis, a certificate, or fluent Japanese to take the first step. Send us a message in English, tell us your child's age and what you are noticing about their speech and language, and we will take it from there.
