The entrance ceremony is an April morning, and the school entry notice is handed in that day

The entrance ceremony (入学式, nyūgaku shiki) is the formal start for new first graders. The Ministry of Education's guidebook for foreign children places it in April: １年生に入学する児童生徒の入学を祝う行事です。１年生の児童生徒の保護者も出席します。 It is a celebration of entry, not a class. The same guidebook puts an opening ceremony (始業式, shigyō shiki) in April as well, including for later terms. Your ward publishes the actual day. Two Tokyo sources show how far apart those days can be, and what you are holding when you walk in.

The day a ward published

Setagaya's page for the school year that runs April 2026 through March 2027, last updated 15 December 2025, sets the ward elementary entrance ceremony on Monday 6 April 2026, the same morning as the first-term opening. Ward junior highs on that page are a day later, Tuesday 7 April 2026, except schools the page names on their own: Kitazawa Gakuen Junior High's ceremony is Tuesday 14 April 2026, and Mishuku Junior High's night class is Monday 6 April 2026. The page says the dates can still change. It does not print an April 2027 ceremony. When you need that day, it is the next edition of the same schedule, from School Education Guidance (教育指導課), 03-5432-2706.

So a ward date is a ward date. One Tachikawa school, Dai-go Elementary, told its own new parents that their ceremony for that same April was Wednesday 8 April 2026, 14:00 to about 15:30, reception strictly from 13:30 to 13:45 at the east entrance, in the gym. Two schools, eight days apart in the published record. Ask the school on your notice.

What happens in the room

Nerima's page for foreign-national families describes the ceremony in plain steps: new first-years, parents, teachers and local people attend; you hear the principal and the guests; the class teacher is introduced; the new class and the teachers take a photograph; you hand in the school entry notice (就学通知書, shūgaku tsūchisho) or, for junior high, the admission notice.

Dai-go's handout is more minute, and it is that school's script for April 2026:

1. At the gym, pick up the class list and find the class.
2. Hand the school entry notice in at reception. Tachikawa had already posted it.
3. One parent pins on the child's name tag, puts outdoor shoes in the named box, takes the child to the toilet and to the classroom seat, then goes to the gym.
4. Parents sit and wait. The children come in from the classroom with the teacher.
5. After the ceremony: a photograph, a class briefing, then home. During the class briefing the parent goes into the classroom and checks textbooks and handouts.

Photographs at the gate sign and at the school gate wait until that classroom briefing is over. The handout asks families not to film inside the classroom. Two adults per family, because of the gym. Younger children who are not yet in school are discouraged. If one comes, they sit on a lap. Children already at the school do not attend. If you cannot come, phone the school. Dai-go's number on the sheet is 042-523-5238, by noon on the day.

What the child carried that day: indoor shoes and the randoseru. What the parent carried: the entry notice, a large bag because textbooks go home, indoor shoes and a shoe bag. The yellow hat was given out at school, and worn from the second morning.

What it costs

None of these pages charges a fee for the ceremony. The cost sits in the week around it: the bag and shoes the briefing listed, and the materials transfer if your school asks for one before the day. Textbooks at Dai-go were issued by the state and checked in the classroom after the ceremony. Write the name on them when you are told to. The entry notice is the document. A photocopy is not what Dai-go's reception asked for.

What goes wrong

The notice is still in a drawer, so reception cannot mark the child in. Too many adults arrive and there is no chair. Photos at the gate jam the entrance the school asked you to keep clear. A family assumes every Setagaya school shares 6 April, and misses a school the ward listed on another day. A family treats 6 April 2026 as the date for April 2027. It is the date Setagaya published for the earlier intake. Missing the day without a phone call leaves the school holding a place and no child. Dai-go asked for that call by noon.

What to do now

• Keep the school entry notice where you can find it on the morning. It is handed in at reception.
• When your ward posts the next April's schedule, read the line for your school, including the exceptions.
• Ask the briefing how many adults may come, what the child carries, and where to stand.
• If you cannot attend, phone the school the same morning, at the number they gave you.
• Plan a bag for papers coming home, and a quiet exit. The class briefing is part of the day, not an optional extra.