Kawasaki daycare points: ranks A to H, then an adjustment index

Kawasaki (川崎市) does not add one point total the way many Tokyo wards do. It gives each parent a rank (ランク), A to H. The household's rank is the lower of the two parents. Only a tied rank uses an adjustment index (調整指数, chōsei shisū). The rules are the fiscal-2027 standard in the September 2026 daycare guide. They apply in every Kawasaki ward.

How an offer is ordered

When a room has more applications than places, the city sorts in this order. A is the highest rank and H is the lowest. The index is capped at 15.

1. The higher household rank.
2. If the rank ties, the higher adjustment index.
3. If those tie, the higher item score on the third table.
4. If that ties, a household raising three or more children.
5. If that ties, the lower income.

The rank is fixed from the papers held at the deadline. For the April 2027 first round that is 17:00 on Monday 26 October 2026 online, a postmark of that day by mail, or the counter through Friday 6 November 2026. A change before the start date has to be filed. If the rank would have been lower and you stayed silent, the offer can be cancelled. A parent who ticks that childcare leave can be extended if there is no place is ranked lower, whatever the letter. A vacancy can still produce an offer.

The city's example: both parents at B beat a household where one parent is A and the other is C, because the household keeps the lower letter.

You can name up to 20 daycares. Each room is ranked on its own. If more than one could offer a place, you get only your highest listed choice.

The rank, from hours of work

For a job outside the home, or for the principal of a self-employed business, overtime is not counted. Under 64 hours is not "work". A self-employed helper, including piecework at home, is one letter lower: 140 hours is B, and a job that is only fixed is G. Shortened hours that stay at 64 or above are ranked on the hours from before the shortening.

Monthly hours actually worked	Rank
140 or more	A
120 to under 140	B
100 to under 120	C
80 to under 100	D
64 to under 80	E
Job fixed, starting in the entry month	F

Pregnancy and birth are rank D, from about two months before the due date (14 weeks before for a multiple birth) until about two months after. Job-seeking is rank H, short-time, for no more than two months. Bed rest or a month in hospital is rank A, as is a handbook the guide treats as severe: physical grades 1–2, any 療育手帳, or any mental-health handbook. A month of rest at home is C. Longer chronic illness is E. Care of a relative is A to E on the same hour bands, not counting time a care service covers. A single parent the city treats as needing support, or a main earner who lost a job other than by choice, uses the work bands once the next job is fixed.

Two reasons on one parent: the city uses the main one, and adds hours that change the rank. Work-history points are not added when the main reason is disability.

The adjustment index, if the rank ties

Household-situation rows do not stack. A 10-point or 15-point item blocks the smaller ones. The total cannot pass 15.

Item	Index
Both parents absent, and likely to stay so	15
Single mother, or single father on the same definitions	10
Left a licensed place for the parent's childcare leave, and applying to return there. Siblings are excluded	10
Welfare-office head judges care is urgent, including a protection history	15
Sibling already enrolled, or applying together, for the same facility	7
Public assistance, or income around that level	7
Parent with a severe disability handbook, per such parent	5
Parent with a milder handbook (療育手帳 B, or mental-health grades 2–3), per such parent	3
In unlicensed care because of work, or transferring for the same reason	2
One year or more of work at the same rank, each parent ranked for work	2
Six months or more, on the same terms	1
Returning from maternity or childcare leave	2
A relative under 65 in the home	−3
A relative 65 or over in the home	−1

The relative's minus can be dropped if they cannot watch the child. Unlicensed-care points do not stack with return-from-leave points. A medical-care child is handled as rank A and index 15, then compared on the ordinary rank if several tie. The health committee can still decide the child cannot attend.

If the index is still tied, the third table adds one point for a child with a disability the guide defines, for a parent away on a long posting or in hospital, and for unlicensed care that will continue; one extra point for each year of that care, up to five; one point if leave continues until the child turns 1; and from 0 to −3 if fees are unpaid. Unemployment or a disaster can stop that minus.

What changed for April 2027, and the income tie

From the April 2027 round the old adjustment for income that matches the work history is abolished. A tie on income uses taxable income for the year before entry, including during childcare leave. For fiscal 2027 that is income from January through December 2025.

Three or more children means children you live with and care for, through 31 March after the 18th birthday. The last tie-break is the parents' combined income.

No municipal-tax return means you are treated as the highest income. Overseas income has to be declared. Either one can lose the last tie-break and put the fee on the top band. The documents article covers the papers. An application from outside the city, without a certain move-in by the start date, sits behind residents regardless of rank.

What goes wrong

A higher rank is offered first. It is not a promise of a place. An offer can be cancelled if the papers and the household no longer match.

What to do now

1. Re-read pages 19–21 of the guide in the year you apply.