Tokyo

Tokyo’s international schools are old institutions, not start-ups. The American School in Japan was founded in 1902 and today enrols about 1,730 students of 58 nationalities; Nishimachi dates to 1949, St Mary’s and Seisen to the 1950s and 1960s, the British School in Tokyo to 1989. Demand is anchored by multinational headquarters, embassies and a steady rotation of corporate families — which makes this market less volatile than China’s and less frenzied than Singapore’s. ↗

There is no single regulator to consult. Most Tokyo international schools sit outside Japan’s standard school-law categories and are overseen by their own boards, with quality signalled through international accreditation — CIS and WASC are the names to look for — rather than a public inspection grade. Your due diligence substitutes for a regulator’s: read accreditation reports, ask about teacher tenure, and check how long the head has been in post.

One under-appreciated feature: the market has real single-sex and faith-based depth — St Mary’s (boys) and Seisen and the International School of the Sacred Heart (girls), all Catholic foundations with mixed-faith student bodies. And a genuine newcomer: Malvern College Tokyo opened in September 2023 as the country’s first all-through IB British-branded school. ↗

Tokyo schools price in yen and publish detailed schedules. A snapshot — note how much of each bill sits outside tuition:

• The American School in Japan (Chofu): tuition ¥3,143,000 (Nursery-Pre-K) to ¥3,826,000 (Grades 9-12), plus one-time fees of ¥50,000 application, ¥300,000 registration and a ¥1,525,000 building maintenance fee, an annual ¥250,000 capital assessment, and a ¥390,000 annual bus fee. Confirm which academic year the published rates apply to when you enquire. ↗
• The British School in Tokyo (2025-26): tuition ¥2,820,000-3,030,000 by year group, plus ¥40,000 application, ¥500,000 enrolment and ¥680,000 educational-resources one-time fees and a ¥100,000 annual capital development fee. ↗
• Nishimachi International School (Moto-Azabu, K-Grade 9): tuition ¥3,129,000 plus ¥200,000 education enhancement and ¥200,000 school growth fund annually; one-time fees of ¥300,000 registration and ¥825,000 building maintenance. ↗
• Malvern College Tokyo (Kodaira): ¥22,000 application, ¥300,000 registration and ¥700,000 building development one-time fees; a ¥250,000 annual capital assessment for continuing pupils; and bus fees of ¥433,750-465,750 a year on routes serving Hiroo, Roppongi, Azabu-Juban, Meguro, Shibuya and Shinjuku. ↗
• International School of the Sacred Heart (Hiroo, girls): secondary guides put annual fees at roughly ¥1,990,000 (kindergarten) to ¥2,260,000 (Grade 12) — unusually good value in the central wards; confirm the current schedule with the school. ↗
• Seisen International School (Setagaya, girls, IB): roughly ¥2,130,000-2,270,000 per secondary compilations. St Mary’s International School (Setagaya, boys) and K. International School Tokyo (Koto-ku, IB continuum) sit in similar or slightly higher bands per the same tier tables — we flag all three as indicative until first-party schedules are verified. ↗

Also on parents’ shortlists: Tokyo International School (IB, Minato-ku), Aoba-Japan International School, Yoyogi International School and the New International School of Japan — named here without figures where we could not verify a current schedule.

Across Tokyo, one-time entry fees run ¥800,000 to ¥2,075,000 depending on the school — application, registration and building or development funds stacked on top of year-one tuition. Add the bus (¥200,000-465,750 a year on published schedules), lunch, uniform and activity fees, and a realistic first-year budget is 30-50 per cent above headline tuition. ↗

If you are on a corporate package, ask about the CCP. Some employers in Japan use the Corporate Contribution Program, which carries tax advantages when the company covers school fees for expat staff. It changes the negotiation: fees paid this way can cost the employer less than an equivalent cash allowance. ↗

The densest school-and-expat cluster is Minato-ku — Sacred Heart in Hiroo, Nishimachi in Moto-Azabu, Tokyo International School near Shirokane — with Shibuya-ku and Setagaya-ku (Seisen, St Mary’s) close behind. Families who want a walkable, central life pay central-ward rents and put children on shorter commutes. ↗

The two big western campuses play by different rules. ASIJ sits in Chofu and Malvern in Kodaira — both far out — and both run extensive bus networks into the central wards. Parents report organising housing around the bus map: the family areas along the Den-en-toshi line, Den-en-chofu above all, exist in the expat imagination largely because the ASIJ bus serves them. The practical rule: get the bus route list before the apartment lease, because a school will not add a stop for one family.

Two calendars collide in Tokyo. The Japanese school year starts in April; almost every international school starts in late August or September. If you are moving from a Japanese school — or hoping a bilingual child might move between systems — expect a half-year seam to manage in either direction. Year-group placement uses an August or September birthday cut-off at most schools (Malvern, for example, publishes an August cut-off). ↗

Most schools run rolling admissions — apply from overseas, interview and assess remotely where needed — but popular entry years at ASIJ, BST and Nishimachi carry waiting lists, and the guidance from every direction is the same: start at least twelve months out. Malvern publishes its rounds explicitly: for 2027-28 entry, Phase 1 runs 17 August to 16 October 2026 with results by 17 December 2026, followed by three further phases through April 2027. ↗

Mid-year entry is genuinely possible — corporate rotation means seats open in January and even April — but it is year-group luck, not a strategy. Kindergarten entry is the most competitive point at the central-ward schools; older-year applicants often find more room, especially at the newer campuses still growing toward full enrolment.

From r/japanlife school threads, Tokyo Weekender and GaijinPot guides, and the expat-parent groups — reported experience, not verified fact:

• Budget the first year honestly. The recurring shock is not tuition but the stacked one-time fees — parents advise modelling the full first-year invoice, then the steady state, before comparing schools.
• The bus defines childhood here. Long bus rides to Chofu or Kodaira are normal; families trade campus scale for commute time, and opinion splits on whether the trade is worth it for young children.
• Japanese-language provision varies wildly. Some schools teach daily Japanese with real progression; others treat it as a weekly token. If staying in Japan long-term is possible, ask for the language programme’s level structure.
• Waitlists move. Parents report offers materialising in June and July as corporate families confirm departures — staying warm with admissions through spring pays off.

Every fee figure traces to our research dossier. Primary sources: the official fee pages of ASIJ, Nishimachi and Malvern College Tokyo, plus Malvern’s published fee document. Aggregated fee data (BST, Seisen, Sacred Heart, St Mary’s, K International) is graded medium or low confidence in the dossier — confirm with each school before budgeting.

Fees and policies expire. This page was researched on 2 September 2026 and is re-verified each academic year — see our research standard, the school directory, the guides hub and corrections if you spot something stale.