Tokyo’s Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen System (Childcare for Any Child): Monthly Hours and Fees in 15 Wards, Up to 64 Hours (2026)

This page is general information from the official guidance of each ward and does not decide whether your child qualifies. For your own case, ask your ward office or the facility.

The Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system (“childcare for any child”) started in municipalities across Japan in April 2026. It lets a child aged 6 months to under 3 who does not attend a nursery or similar attend a facility for up to 10 hours a month, whether or not the parents work. In Tokyo’s 23 wards, the ward’s own top-up lets families use up to 48 hours a month in Setagaya and Nerima and up to 64 hours a month in Shibuya, and many wards make the user charge free when residents use a facility in their own ward.

In short

The national allowance is 10 hours a month, with a standard user charge of about ¥300 an hour. Unused hours cannot be carried over to the next month.
Before using it, you get “Infant Support Benefit” (nyuji-nado shien kyufu) certification from the ward where you live, find a facility on the national “Tsuen Portal”, and have a first interview.
You can also use a facility outside your ward, but in most wards the ward’s extra hours and free use apply only to facilities inside the ward.

Checked with official pages on October 27, 2026 (Japan time). Prices and hours may change.

Video explaining the Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system (Children and Families Agency)

1. How to choose a ward’s Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system in Tokyo (hours, fees, applying)

To attend for many hours a month: Shibuya (64 hours a month), Setagaya and Nerima (48 hours), Koto (40 hours), Shinagawa (30 hours).
To attend on a regular schedule twice a week: Minato (in principle 2 days a week, up to 24 hours a month). Edogawa also allows 24 hours a month across all facilities combined.
To book a facility with space each time: “flexible use” on the Tsuen Portal. In wards where facilities in the ward have regular-use slots, you may need to apply to the ward separately (for example, Sumida’s regular-use slots).
To keep using it after your child’s third birthday: Setagaya (38 hours a month), Koto (30 hours) and Shibuya (54 hours) keep the ward’s allowance after the national allowance ends.

2. Comparison of the Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system in 15 Tokyo wards

The monthly limit for residents using a facility in their own ward ranges from the national base of 10 hours to 64 hours in Shibuya, a difference of more than six times between wards. The hours in the table are the limit when a resident uses a facility in the ward.

Ward	Monthly limit	Resident user charge (facility in the ward)	Facility outside the ward
Shibuya	64 hours	In principle free for Tokyo residents	—
Setagaya	48 hours	Free	Up to 10 hours
Nerima	48 hours	Free (for the time being)	Up to 10 hours
Koto	40 hours	Free	Up to 10 hours
Shinagawa	30 hours	Free	—
Minato	24 hours (in principle 2 days a week)	Free	—
Edogawa	24 hours	Free	Up to 10 hours (paid)
Toshima	16 hours	Free	Up to 10 hours
Bunkyo	Once a week	Free	Subsidy for the user charge
Nakano	10 hours (up to the facility’s limit at facilities selected by the ward)	¥0 at selected facilities	Up to 10 hours
Sumida	10 hours	Free	—
Suginami	10 hours	Free	User charge subsidized later
Adachi	10 hours	Free	Subsidy for the user charge
Itabashi	10 hours	Effectively ¥0	—
Arakawa	10 hours	About ¥300 an hour (varies by facility)	—

Sources: the official pages of each ward (checked on October 27, 2026). A “—” in the table means the ward’s page gave no guidance on facilities outside the ward. Actual costs such as meals, snacks and diapers may be charged separately even in wards where the use is free.

3. How the national system works

It covers children from 6 months to under 3 years old who do not attend a nursery, a certified center for early childhood education and care, a community-based childcare service or a company-led childcare facility. Children who attend an unlicensed childcare facility are covered, while children who attend a company-led childcare facility are not. The national benefit limit is 10 hours a month, and the standard user charge is about ¥300 an hour. Children and Families Agency page on the Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system (Japanese)

It started in some municipalities in fiscal 2025, and from fiscal 2026 it is run in municipalities nationwide as a benefit under the Act on Support for Children and Child-Rearing. How far you can use it beyond 10 hours a month is decided by each municipality. Children and Families Agency guide to implementing the Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system (PDF) (Japanese)

There are two ways to use it: “regular use”, where you decide days and times and attend the same facility, and “flexible use”, where you book a facility with space each time. The steps are: apply to the ward where you live for certification, receive a Tsuen Portal account, find a facility and have a first interview, then book.

4. How it differs from temporary childcare

Temporary childcare (ichiji azukari) is for leaving a child because of the parents’ errands, while the Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system is a benefit whose main purpose is to support a child’s growth through experiences that are hard to get at home. The Children and Families Agency guide points to this difference in purpose and the difference in structure, a “service” versus a “benefit”. The same facility may offer both, and families are advised to use each according to their purpose.

For leaving a child while a parent goes to a clinic or hair salon, you can use the ward’s temporary childcare, Family Support, or Tokyo’s babysitter subsidy. Subsidies for leaving children in care in 5 Tokyo wards (babysitters up to ¥2,500 an hour, temporary care fees) (Japanese)

5. Things to know when using it in Tokyo (ward top-ups, facilities outside the ward, after age 3)

The ward’s extra hours apply only when residents use a facility in their own ward. In Setagaya, Koto, Toshima and Edogawa, a resident using a facility outside the ward, or a non-resident using a facility in the ward, is limited to the national allowance of 10 hours a month (Nerima also limits facilities outside the ward to 10 hours a month).
Using a facility outside the ward can involve a user charge. Bunkyo, Suginami, Adachi and others later subsidize the charge residents paid. Suginami’s subsidy is capped at ¥300 times 10 hours a month.
Households exempt from resident tax, and households whose ward and municipal resident tax income-based amount is under ¥77,101, may have the user charge for facilities outside the ward reduced or waived (Shibuya, Toshima and Itabashi give this guidance).
Popular facilities are full. In Shibuya every slot at ward-run nurseries shows no availability, and in Bunkyo users are already decided for every day of the week at ward-run facilities.

6. Wards where you can use 30 hours or more a month (Shibuya, Setagaya, Nerima, Koto, Shinagawa)

Shibuya, Setagaya, Nerima, Koto and Shinagawa add the ward’s own allowance to the national 10 hours a month, so residents can use a facility in the ward for 30 hours or more a month. The limit is the maximum you can contract for, and the actual hours are decided in consultation with the facility.

Shibuya Ward: up to 64 hours a month, 54 hours from the day before the third birthday

The ward adds its own regular care allowance to the national 10 hours a month, so each child can use up to 64 hours a month. From the day before the child’s third birthday the limit becomes 54 hours a month. The user charge is about ¥300 an hour, and in principle it is free for Tokyo residents.

Certification applications are online only, and a receipt email arrives about 10 business days after applying. Ward-run nurseries and childcare rooms involve selection by the ward, and applications to ward-run nurseries are due by the 10th of the month before the month of use. For private nurseries, you ask each facility. Shibuya Ward, 2026 Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen page (Japanese)

1. How to choose a ward’s Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system in Tokyo (hours, fees, applying)

2. Comparison of the Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen system in 15 Tokyo wards

3. How the national system works

4. How it differs from temporary childcare

5. Things to know when using it in Tokyo (ward top-ups, facilities outside the ward, after age 3)

6. Wards where you can use 30 hours or more a month (Shibuya, Setagaya, Nerima, Koto, Shinagawa)

Shibuya Ward: up to 64 hours a month, 54 hours from the day before the third birthday

Setagaya Ward: up to 48 hours a month, free for residents in the ward

Nerima Ward: about once a week, up to 8 hours a day, 48 hours a month

Koto Ward: 40 hours a month with “Azukaaru”

Shinagawa Ward: 30 hours a month, free for residents at facilities in the ward

7. Wards with 10 to 24 hours a month (Minato, Edogawa, Toshima, Bunkyo, Nakano)

Minato Ward: regular use, in principle 2 days a week, up to 24 hours a month

Edogawa Ward: 24 hours a month across all facilities combined

Toshima Ward: 16 hours a month under the “Kodomo Tsunagaru Regular Childcare Project”

Bunkyo Ward: once a week, free for residents

Nakano Ward: ward-selected facilities up to the facility’s limit, ¥0

8. Wards with the national base of 10 hours a month (Sumida, Suginami, Adachi, Itabashi, Arakawa)

Sumida Ward: regular-use slots are applied for on the ward’s page from the 1st to the 8th of the previous month

Suginami Ward: about 2 weeks from registration to starting use

Adachi Ward: free for residents at facilities in the ward

Itabashi Ward: ¥300 an hour, effectively ¥0 for residents

Arakawa Ward: 10 hours a month, about ¥300 an hour

Frequently asked questions

Sources

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