Public school enrollment in Kumamoto City, Kikuyo Town and Ozu Town: April entry and transfers (2026)

This page is general information from official sources. It cannot decide which school or grade your child joins. For your own case, ask the Board of Education (教育委員会) where you live.

If you move to Kumamoto with a child aged 6 to 15, you will want to know how to get a place at a local school, and how fast. This guide covers public elementary schools (小学校) and junior high schools (中学校) in Kumamoto City, Kikuyo Town and Ozu Town. It explains starting first grade in April, transferring partway through the year, and what a child arriving from abroad needs. It uses pages from the three Boards of Education and from Japan’s education ministry (MEXT, 文部科学省).

City or town	Desk	First-grade checkup 2026
Kumamoto City	School Affairs Support Section	Oct–Nov, at each school
Kikuyo Town	School Affairs Division	Oct 21 and 22
Ozu Town	School Education Division	Sep 29 to Nov 27, by school

1. Can my child go to a public school?

Official rule (Japan)

Yes. MEXT says that parents of foreign children are not required to send them to a Japanese school. But if the parents wish, public elementary and junior high schools accept them without tuition fees, in the same way as Japanese children. Families can also choose an international school or another foreign school.

Children start elementary school in the April after their 6th birthday and study there for 6 years. Junior high school follows for 3 years. MEXT’s English Guidebook for Starting School (PDF, 2015) adds that textbooks are free. Other materials used at school are paid by families. If school costs are hard for financial reasons, the Board of Education can help with school supplies and school lunches (就学援助, shugaku enjo).

MEXT also made a short animated video in English about daily life at a Japanese elementary school: school events, rules and what children bring each day.

2. How does school entry work?

Kumamoto City, Kikuyo Town and Ozu Town

Each address belongs to a school district (通学区域). Your child goes to the school for the district where you live. A different school needs permission from the Board of Education, and each city or town has its own rules for this. Kumamoto City says permission is not always given, so ask before you plan around it.

There are two main ways in:

• First grade in April. Children who will start school next April have a school health checkup (就学時健康診断, shugakuji kenko shindan) in the autumn. Kumamoto City and Ozu Town send an admission notice (入学通知書, nyugaku tsuchisho) by the end of January.
• Transferring in. If your child is already of school age, you do the procedure after you register your address. For a child moving from another school in Japan, Kumamoto City and Kikuyo Town ask for two papers from the old school: a certificate of enrollment (在学証明書) and a textbook certificate (教科用図書給与証明書).

3. Kumamoto City

Kumamoto City

3.1 A child arriving from abroad

1. Register your address at a ward office (区役所). The city asks families to come to the Board of Education after this step.
2. Go to the School Affairs Support Section (学務支援課). It handles the school procedure and gives you a form that names your child’s new school. The city’s English Living Guide says this is accepted at any time of the school year.
3. Take the form to the school.

A child coming from a Japanese school overseas (日本人学校) is handled differently. If you bring that school’s two certificates, the ward office can give you the school form when you register. Without them, go to the School Affairs Support Section. The city does not list documents for a child coming from a school abroad, so phone the section before you go.

3.2 Moving from another town in Japan

If you register the move and change schools at the same time, you can do the school part at the ward office’s Residents Section (区民課) or a general branch office (総合出張所). Show the two certificates from the old school. You then get a form that names the new school. Hand all three papers to the new school; as a rule, your child can attend from the next working day. If the move and the school change happen at different times, only the School Affairs Support Section can do the procedure.

3.3 First grade in April 2027

The school health checkup is for children born from April 2, 2020 to April 1, 2021. It takes place at city elementary schools in October and November 2026. The notice comes from the school for your district between September and early October. The checkup includes medical, eye, dental, sight and hearing checks. A parent or guardian, or someone in their place, must come with the child. The dates for each school are on the city’s checkup page (Japanese).

• If the notice has not arrived 2 weeks before the date, contact the school or the Health Education Section (健康教育課) at 096-328-2728.
• If you are moving to Kumamoto City from somewhere else, the city asks you to have the checkup at a school where you live now.
• The city posts the admission notice at the end of January. For the procedure, the English Living Guide asks you to finish by the day before the entrance ceremony.
• If a new first grader moves into the city from February, contact the school; the ward office gives you the school form when you register.

Phone: 096-328-2716 (School Affairs Support Section, Kumamoto City Board of Education)
Official page: children from abroad (Japanese) · Official page: entry and transfers (Japanese)

4. Kikuyo Town

Kikuyo Town

The School Affairs Division (学務課) of the Kikuyo Town Board of Education handles town elementary and junior high schools. The town explains the school transfer when you file your moving-in notice at the Town Office or the Western Branch Office (西部支所).

1. Fill in the town’s online form. It is called 転校児童・生徒情報連絡 and asks for your child’s details. The division checks it and contacts you.
2. Get the papers. The town’s chart shows three papers: the certificates from the old school, a transfer-out notice from your old city or town, and a transfer-in notice (転入学通知書) from Kikuyo Town.
3. Hand the papers to the new school as the chart shows. Ask the division if you are not sure which paper goes where.

If your child now goes to a national, prefectural or private school, contact the division before you start. If the move and the school change happen at different times, you may need a separate application for attending outside your district. Kikuyo Town’s pages describe moves within Japan. They do not say what a child arriving from abroad needs, so ask the division.

First grade in April 2027. The checkup for children born from April 2, 2020 to April 1, 2021 is at the Kikuyo Town General Gymnasium (菊陽町総合体育館). Reception is 14:00–14:40.

• Wednesday, October 21, 2026: for Kikuyo Chubu, Kikuyo Minami and Kikuyo Kita elementary schools.
• Thursday, October 22, 2026: for Musashigaoka, Kikuyo Nishi and Musashigaoka Kita elementary schools.

The town mailed the notice by late August to families registered in Kikuyo. Bring the papers sent with it and a plastic bag for shoes. If you are moving, your child normally has the checkup on the day for the school named in the notice; ask the division if you want it in the area you are moving to.

Address: Kikuyo Town Office, 2800 Oaza Kubota, Kikuyo-machi, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto 869-1192 · Google Maps
Phone: 096-232-4918 (School Affairs Division)
Official page: transfers (Japanese)

5. Ozu Town

Ozu Town

The School Education Division (学校教育課) of the Ozu Town Board of Education handles school entry and transfers. The districts follow the local community areas (行政区), not the address block names. Check the town’s school district table (Japanese) or ask the division.

1. File your moving-in notice within 14 days at the Town Office, as the town asks of every new resident. Foreign residents bring their residence card.
2. Contact the schools and the division early. When a school change is decided, the town asks you to tell the current school, the new school and the School Education Division as soon as possible.
3. Ask which papers to bring. Ozu Town’s pages do not describe a separate procedure for a child from abroad.

First grade in April 2027. Each elementary school holds its own checkup between Tuesday, September 29 and Friday, November 27, 2026. The town sends the notice about a month before. Bring the notice and slippers, and come with an adult who knows the child’s health. The dates are on the town’s checkup page (Japanese). The town sends the admission notice by the end of January; contact the division if it does not arrive or your address changes.

Attending outside your district needs approval under the town’s criteria. Ask your current school or the division first.

Address: Ozu Town Office, 1233 Oaza Ozu, Ozu-machi, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto 869-1292 · Google Maps
Phone: 096-293-3349 (School Education Division)

6. Can my child get help with Japanese, and can I ask in English?

• Kumamoto City says Japanese classes (日本語教室) run at base schools and also at other local schools. Ask the School Affairs Support Section how this works at your child’s school.
• Kikuyo Town told MEXT in its report for the 2025 school year that Musashigaoka Elementary School and Musashigaoka Junior High School are its base schools for Japanese teaching. Ask the School Affairs Division what this means for your child.
• Ozu Town’s school pages do not mention Japanese-language support.

None of the three school desks say which languages they can use. Kumamoto City’s English Living Guide has a short section on school entry. In Ozu Town, the Foreign Residents Consultation Desk on the 1st floor of the Town Office plans an English interpreter on Wednesdays; check its monthly calendar, because days can change. For the other desks, see Where to get help in your language in Kumamoto.

Common questions

Does my child have to go to a Japanese school?

No. MEXT says the duty to send children to school does not apply to parents of foreign nationality. Your child may go to a Japanese public school, an international school or another foreign school.

Can my child go to a school outside our district?

Only with permission from the Board of Education, under each city’s or town’s criteria. Kumamoto City says permission depends on each family’s situation, and you should talk to the School Affairs Support Section first.

Is there a short trial attendance in Kumamoto City?

Kumamoto City runs trial attendance (体験入学) of about one month for children such as those temporarily back in Japan (一時帰国者等). Children join the grade for their age at the local school. Ask the school directly; no Board of Education procedure is needed.

Our child will go to a private or international school. Is the checkup still needed?

Yes, in Kumamoto City. The city says children going to national, private or other schools, including international schools, also have the checkup at their district school.

Sources (checked October 6, 2026)

• Kumamoto City Board of Education: children from abroad and trial attendance, entry, transfers and other schools, school health checkup for April 2027; Kumamoto City Living Guide for Foreign Residents (English, chapter 3)
• Kikuyo Town: school transfers, school health checkup for April 2027, school districts
• Ozu Town: school districts, school health checkup 2026, attending outside your district, child-rearing handbook 2026 (chapter 9), moving-in notice, Foreign Residents Consultation Desk
• MEXT: school entry for foreign children (Q&A 13), Guidebook for Starting School, videos for foreign children and parents, Kikuyo Town’s report for the 2025 school year (PDF, Japanese)