How licensed daycare, kindergarten and the free-fee rule fit together

Licensed daycare in Japan sits inside a national funding system, and each city or ward still runs its own application. The Children and Families Agency (こども家庭庁, kodomo katei chō) describes that split on its overview of the child-and-childcare support system (子ども・子育て支援制度).

What the national system pays for

The page describes two benefits for facilities the municipality has approved:

• Facility-type benefit — 施設型給付 (shisetsugata kyūfu): a shared payment for certified children's centres (認定こども園, nintei kodomoen), kindergartens (幼稚園, yōchien) and daycare centres (保育所, hoikusho).
• Community-type benefit — 地域型給付 (chiikigata kyūfu): the payment for small-scale daycare and the other local programmes.

It also says there is support when a family uses a kindergarten that is not on the facility benefit, an unlicensed daycare (認可外保育施設, ninkagai hoiku shisetsu), or extended care at a kindergarten (預かり保育, azukari hoiku).

Fees for ages 3 to 5

From October 2019, the page says, fees were made free for ages 3–5 at certified children's centres, kindergartens, daycare centres and the related programmes (利用料を無償化). This page does not list lunch, extended hours or a ward's own charges. Read your ward's guide for those.

What this page does not decide

The same page says municipalities carry out local child-rearing support, including after-school clubs (放課後児童クラブ, hōkago jidō kurabu), according to local conditions. It does not rank your application and it does not set the April window. Those rules are on your ward or city's own page. Nobody can tell you from this overview whether a place will be offered.