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International School Costs in Japan

International school cost in Japan runs at a level most newly arrived families underestimate: roughly ¥2.5M to ¥3M per year for established mid-tier schools and ¥2.8M to ¥3.5M per year for elite schools, before any of the additional fees this article itemizes. Budget from the published fee pages, not from a single aggregated figure.1234

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at each school's published fee page.

Overview​

This article builds date-stamped tuition tables from four named schools' published fee schedules, stacks the fees beyond tuition, totals a two-children family year, and adds employer-support patterns plus comparison context. Every figure carries its school year; fee schedules change annually, so last year's page is never this year's quote.

No government or industry body publishes a national-average international-school tuition figure comparable to the national surveys covering Japanese private schools. Per-school published fee pages are therefore the source throughout, and ranges across schools are planning aids rather than quotes.

Annual Tuition by Tier​

Established Mid-Tier Schools​

Yokohama International School (YIS) spans ¥2,120,000 per year (half-day Early Learning Center) to ¥3,440,000 per year (Grade 12) (as of the 2026-27 school year; confirm current figures with the school).3 Canadian Academy in Kobe spans ¥2,100,000 per year (Pre-K and Kindergarten A) to ¥3,370,000 per year (Grade 12) (as of the 2026-27 school year).4

SchoolLocationLowest annual bandHighest annual bandAs of
Yokohama International SchoolYokohama¥2,120,000 (half-day ELC)¥3,440,000 (Grade 12)2026-273
Canadian AcademyKobe¥2,100,000 (Pre-K/Kinder A)¥3,370,000 (Grade 12)2026-274

From Grade 1 up, both schools report ¥2.7M per year or higher; the sub-¥2.5M bands exist only at entry level (half-day early learning and Pre-K). Aoba-Japan International School and Tokyo International School sit in this same mid-tier band by reputation, but families should confirm current figures with each school directly, since freshly verified fee pages for those two schools are not part of this article's sourcing.

Elite Schools​

The American School in Japan (ASIJ) spans ¥2,987,000 per year (Nursery through Pre-K) to ¥3,533,000 per year (Grades 9 through 12) (as of the 2025-26 school year; confirm current figures with the school).1 The British School in Tokyo (BST) spans ¥2,960,000 per year (Primary: Nursery and Reception) to ¥3,070,000 per year (Secondary Years 10 through 13) (as of the 2026-27 school year).2 St. Mary's International School spans ¥2,860,000 to ¥3,050,000 per year (as of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government portal listing).5

SchoolLocationLowest annual bandHighest annual bandAs of
The American School in JapanTokyo (Chofu)¥2,987,000 (Nursery-Pre-K)¥3,533,000 (Grades 9-12)2025-261
The British School in TokyoTokyo¥2,960,000 (Primary)¥3,070,000 (Secondary Y10-13)2026-272
St. Mary's International SchoolTokyo¥2,860,000 (Kindergarten)¥3,050,000 (High School)Portal listing5

Fees Beyond Tuition​

Tuition is only part of the bill. Application fees run around ¥30,000 to ¥90,000 one-time across the sampled schools (as of the school years above; confirm current figures with each school).1234 Registration or enrolment fees run ¥300,000 to ¥1,480,000 one-time, and capital or development charges add either a one-time building fee (up to about ¥1.5M) or an annual levy of ¥100,000 to ¥500,000 (as of the school years above).1234

Fee typeTypical rangeTimingAs of
Application¥30,000–¥90,000One-timeSchool years above1234
Registration / enrolment¥300,000–¥1,480,000One-timeSchool years above1234
Capital / building (one-time)Up to about ¥1,500,000One-timeSchool years above1234
Capital / development (annual)¥100,000–¥500,000YearlySchool years above1234

Transportation, uniforms, lunch, and optional activities sit outside tuition at every sampled school. As broad planning ranges only (confirm with each school; these are not quotes): transportation ¥200,000 to ¥400,000 per year, uniforms ¥50,000 to ¥100,000 per year, lunch ¥100,000 to ¥200,000 per year.

First-year one-time fees can rival a year of private-school tuition

Application plus registration plus one-time capital fees stack to roughly ¥600,000 to over ¥2.5M on top of first-year tuition at the sampled schools (as of the school years above). Price year one separately from steady-state years or the budget will break in month one.

What Two Children Actually Cost​

A family with two children at Tokyo international schools should plan roughly ¥6M to ¥8M per year in tuition alone, doubling the per-child bands above (as of the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years; confirm current figures with each school).1235 One-time fees roughly double as well in the enrollment year, while bus and lunch costs scale per child every year.

That total invites a comparison: a single international-school year approximates what a typical Japanese family spends on combined childcare and supplementary education across all stages of a child's schooling. The comparison is directional, not precise, but it explains why even high-earning families feel this bill.

Employer Support and Comparison Context​

Many multinational expatriate packages include a school-fee allowance, and a significant share of international-school enrollment is supported this way. Allowances sit among the compensation components beyond base salary that postings vary, and Mercer and ECA International both maintain dedicated education-cost data services for expatriate families, evidence that employer support is real and commercially benchmarked.67

For scale, private Japanese-school total learning cost (学習費総額, gakushūhi sōgaku, the national survey's broadest cost measure) runs ¥1,741,516 per year (elementary), ¥1,560,359 (junior high), and ¥1,179,261 (high school) (as of the 2023 school year, corrected 2026-01-16).8 International-school tuition alone runs roughly double those totals before any additional fees.

Ask a prospective employer about school-fee allowances early

Allowance practice varies posting by posting, and its tax treatment is a separate question for a tax accountant. Raise it during offer negotiation, when it can still move, rather than after enrollment, when it cannot.

Good to know​

One-time fees land hardest in year one​

The enrollment year combines tuition with application, registration, and capital fees, while later years carry tuition plus only the annual development levy. Any multi-year budget should model year one and steady-state years as two different numbers.1234

Bus, uniforms, and lunch are billed separately​

None of the sampled schools bundles transportation, uniforms, or food service into tuition. Families budgeting from the tuition band alone will undercount by several hundred thousand yen per child per year.1234

Fee schedules change every school year​

Each school's fee page is versioned by school year, and bands move annually. Re-check the current page at application time even when an older article (including this one) cites a figure.1234

See also​

References​

Footnotes​

  1. The American School in Japan. "Tuition & Fees." https://www.asij.ac.jp/admissions/tuition-fees ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  2. The British School in Tokyo. "Fees." https://www.bst.ac.jp/admissions/fees ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  3. Yokohama International School. "Tuition & Fees." https://yis.ac.jp/admissions/tuition-fees/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  4. Canadian Academy. "Tuition and Fees." https://www.canacad.ac.jp/joining/tuition-and-fees ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  5. St. Mary's International School profile via Tokyo International Schools Portal. https://www.intlschools.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/schools/st-marys-international-school-en ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. Mercer Mobility Exchange. "Education Cost Tables for Expatriate Families." https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/assignments/long-term-assignments/education ↩

  7. ECA International. "Education." https://eca.global/data-reports/data-calculator/education ↩

  8. 文部科学省 (MEXT). 「令和5年度子供の学習費調査結果のポイント」(corrected edition, published 2026-01-16). https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20260116-mxt_chousa01-000039333_1.pdf ↩