Setagaya: a child of foreign nationality enters a ward elementary school by application
世田谷区 外国籍のお子さんの区立小・中学校への就学申請
- Applies to
- Setagaya only世田谷区
- Source last checked
- , Open the Japanese source
- Official source
- 外国籍のお子さんで区立小・中学校への就学を希望する方へ
Rules for Setagaya only. Other wards differ: check with your ward office.
In Setagaya (世田谷区), a child of foreign nationality who wants to attend a ward elementary or junior high school needs an application to the Board of Education's School Affairs section (教育委員会事務局学務課, gakumuka). If someone other than a parent applies, they need a letter of attorney (委任状, ininjō). If you are moving in from outside Setagaya, file your move-in at the ward first (転入届), then apply.
If you cannot register your address for some reason, phone 03-5432-2683 before you come.
Starting first grade in April 2027
- New first graders for April 2027 were born 2 April 2020 – 1 April 2021.
- A child of foreign nationality who is registered in Setagaya by the end of September is mailed a guide to the application from October.
- The pre-entry health check for new first graders (就学前健康診断, the page's term) runs from early October to late November at each ward elementary school. If you want your child to take it, apply early. After you apply, the ward mails the health-check papers.
- If you apply by the end of November, the school entry notice (就学通知書, shūgaku tsūchisho) you need for the entrance ceremony is mailed around January 2027.
- A child now in grade 6 at a ward elementary school must apply again to go on to a ward junior high.
Where and how
- Counter: School Affairs, enrolment desk (学務課就学係), window 53, 5th floor, Ward Office Building 2, 4-21-27 Setagaya. Weekdays 8:30–17:00, not on public holidays or over the New Year. Branch offices cannot take this application.
- Online: the page links an electronic application. After it is received, staff may phone the parent in Japanese. If they cannot reach you, or cannot confirm the details, the ward may not be able to send a result. If you need an interpreter, the page suggests applying at the counter with someone who speaks Japanese.
- Consultations in other languages go through the ward's foreign residents' consultation service, linked from the page.
What the application is
It is a formal application to enter, not a trial. The school is set by your address. In principle you cannot choose it. If you applied and your child will not attend a ward school after all, tell School Affairs.
The Returnee and Foreign Children's Education Consultation Room (帰国・外国人教育相談室) helps with entry, questions about the next school, and supplementary classes. The page also links translated guides, including English and Vietnamese.
Verify with the enrolment desk: phone 03-5432-2683, fax 03-5432-3067.
Your child's dates, not the general ones
Add your child and ward. The timeline does the rest.