A school day in Tokyo

Many children in Tokyo walk to school.

Children who live on the same street walk together. Grown-up helpers watch the road crossings. Some younger children wear bright yellow hats, so drivers can see them.

In most urban areas of Japan, children at public elementary and junior high schools walk to school every day. A 2012 study found that about 98 percent of public school children in Japan travel to school actively, mostly on foot.

Children from the same neighborhood go to school together. Parents, school staff and local volunteers take turns watching busy crossings, and children raise a hand so drivers notice them. At some schools, the youngest pupils wear bright yellow hats on the way. In Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward, every home is within 2 km of a school.

Walking to school has been the norm in Japan since school siting passed to municipal boards of education in 1953. There is no national policy promoting walking; instead, boards place schools close to homes. National guidance says the commute should be within 4 km for elementary school and 6 km for junior high where possible, and five of the ten largest cities use tighter limits of 2 km and 3 km. A 2012 review in the American Journal of Public Health reported an active-travel rate of 98.3 percent among public school children.

Tokyo examples appear in that study. Shinagawa Ward sets no distance limit because all homes are within 2 km of a school, and Hachioji uses 2 km for both levels to keep walks under an hour. Children from the same neighborhood walk together, adults supervise busy crossings, and some schools ask lower graders to wear yellow hats. In Adachi Ward, one primary school had families walk the routes together to mark risky spots and safe places on a shared safety map.

In class, children learn to read, write and count.

Each lesson lasts 45 minutes. One teacher teaches most lessons. Older children also learn English.

In Japanese elementary schools, one class period usually lasts 45 minutes, and the class teacher teaches most of the main subjects. In junior high, periods are 50 minutes and the teacher changes with each subject. There are usually no classes on Saturdays or Sundays.

Since 2020, English has been a real, graded subject for fifth and sixth graders, with 70 lesson hours a year. Third and fourth graders now have 35 hours a year of English as a "foreign language activity."

MEXT sets the Courses of Study, national standards that all schools follow from kindergarten to upper secondary school, and revises them roughly once a decade. In elementary school a period is usually 45 minutes, the homeroom teacher teaches most regular subjects, and the number of periods varies by day and grade; junior high periods are 50 minutes, with subject teachers.

The Courses of Study published in 2017 took full effect in elementary schools in academic year 2020. For grades 5 and 6, English moved from an ungraded "foreign language activity" to a mandatory, assessed subject taught for 70 classroom hours a year, double the previous 35, and grades 3 and 4 began 35 hours a year of foreign language activities, where previously there were none (Hirschel and Rowberry, The Language Teacher, 2019). MEXT has also run a National Assessment of Academic Ability in Japanese and mathematics for grade 6 and junior high grade 3 since 2007.

At lunchtime, the classroom turns into a dining room.

Children help set the table. Everyone eats together. Then they clear the table.

In most Japanese elementary and junior high schools, lunch, called kyushoku, is served as part of the school day. Pupils set the table and clear it afterwards, and eating a balanced meal together helps them learn how to eat well and get along. A dietitian plans the menu.

Who pays has been changing. MEXT's 2015 guide says parents pay for lunch, but many towns have made it free. In Tokyo, Toshima City has made lunch free in all its public elementary and junior high schools since late 2023, and Shinjuku City collects no lunch fees in the 2026 school year. In December 2025, Japan's ruling parties and the Komeito party also agreed on a plan for the national and prefectural governments to pay for free lunches in public elementary schools across the country from the 2026 school year.

MEXT's guidebook describes school lunch as part of a school's educational activities: pupils set and clear the table themselves, and eating a balanced meal together is meant to teach healthy habits and good relationships. Lunches are planned daily by a dietitian, with nutrition calculated for schoolchildren (Mori et al., 2012).

Funding is changing. The 2015 guidebook says parents pay, but a MEXT survey found that on 1 September 2023, 547 of 1,794 municipalities (about 30 percent) provided completely free lunches in public elementary and junior high schools, seven times as many as in 2017; the average ingredient cost was ¥4,688 a month in elementary school. In Tokyo, Toshima City has served free lunches in all municipal elementary and junior high schools since the second semester of 2023, and the Shinjuku City Board of Education collects no lunch fees in FY2026, paying an equivalent cash benefit to families whose children attend private schools. Nationally, the ruling bloc and the opposition party Komeito agreed in December 2025 that from fiscal 2026 the central and prefectural governments would pay ¥5,200 a month per pupil to make public elementary school lunches free; where meals cost more, the extra may be paid by the town or collected from parents (Jiji Press).

At school there is a cleaning time.

Children sweep the floor and wipe the desks. They tidy the hallways and the school grounds. Everyone helps to keep their school nice.

Japanese schools have a cleaning time, called souji. Pupils share the job of cleaning their classrooms, hallways and school grounds. Like setting and clearing the lunch table, it is a job the children do themselves.

After lessons, pupils who wish to can join after-school clubs for sports or for cultural activities. Then it is time to walk home. Schools choose their own names and times for these activities, so a day in one part of Tokyo may look a little different from a day in another.

MEXT's guidebook lists cleaning time, souji jikan, as a normal part of the school day: students share responsibility for cleaning classrooms, corridors and school grounds. Like setting and clearing the lunch table, it is a job the pupils do themselves.

After school, those who wish can join club activities, bukatsudo, in athletic or cultural fields. The guidebook notes that the names, content and timing of school activities vary by region and school, so a day in one Tokyo ward may look a little different from a day in another.

In Japan, the school year starts in April.

New first graders have a welcome ceremony. There is a long holiday in summer. The year ends in March.

Japanese schools start in April and end in March of the next year. Most schools split the year into two or three terms. In a three-term school, Term 1 runs from April to July, Term 2 from September to December, and Term 3 from January to March.

The year has big events: an entrance ceremony for new first graders in April, a sports day where classes race and dance, a cultural festival with music and plays, and a graduation ceremony in March. Summer vacation lasts about 30 to 40 days.

The school year runs from April to March. Most schools divide it into two or three terms; in MEXT's three-term example, the first term runs from April to July, the second from September to December and the third from January to March, each opening and closing with a ceremony. Summer vacation lasts about 30 to 40 days and the winter break about two weeks, varying by region.

The calendar is built around shared events: the April entrance ceremony for new first graders, health checks from April to June, class observation days for parents, an athletic day of relays, ball games and dancing, a cultural festival with exhibitions, music and plays, and the March graduation ceremony for the top grade. Because the year begins in April, a child's grade depends on being born between 2 April and 1 April of the following year.