Club activities (部活動) are moving to the community: the national guideline, the hour limits, what it costs

The after-school club, 部活動 (bukatsudō), is the heart of junior high for many children: practice most days, matches at weekends, a teacher as coach. That model is changing. Japan has fewer children each year and teachers carry the clubs on top of their work, so the national plan is to move club activity out of the school and into community clubs, 地域クラブ活動 (chiiki kurabu katsudō), starting with weekends.

The guideline now in force (December 2025)

The Ministry of Education published a new national guideline on its Sports Agency site in December 2025:

部活動改革及び地域クラブ活動の推進等に関する総合的なガイドライン

The Sports Agency calls it the new guideline for the implementation period that began in April 2026; a December 2022 guideline came before it. It is aimed mainly at public junior highs. National and private junior highs and high schools are asked to use it as a reference, but its section on how school clubs are run, including the hour limits, applies to all junior and senior high schools.

The guideline also renamed the change. What was called 地域移行 (chiiki ikō, transfer to the community) is now 地域展開 (chiiki tenkai, opening out to the community): moving students' sport and arts activity from school clubs to community clubs. The other form, 地域連携 (chiiki renkei), keeps the school club but adds outside coaches (部活動指導員, bukatsudō shidōin) or joint clubs with other schools.

The timetable

Period	What the guideline sets
FY2023–FY2025	改革推進期間 (reform promotion period), now ended
FY2026–FY2028	改革実行期間 (implementation period), first half. Every local government that has not started must start moving weekend clubs
End of FY2028	Mid-term review; a new policy for weekdays is set
FY2029–FY2031	Implementation period, second half

Weekends: within the implementation period, the aim is that, in principle, every school club's weekend activity moves to the community:

改革実行期間内に、原則、全ての学校部活動において地域展開の実現を目指す。

Mountain areas and islands where this is hard may keep school clubs with outside coaches for now.

Weekdays: no deadline. The government first tests what is workable and sets a policy at the mid-term review.

Your ward (区, ku) or city is responsible for the change and is told to explain its plan to students and parents.

The hour limits, by type of club

	School club (all junior and senior highs)	Accredited community club
School day	about 2 hours at most	about 2 hours or less
Weekend or holiday	about 3 hours at most	about 3 hours or less
Rest days	at least 2 a week	at least 2 a week
Whole week	about 11 hours	about 11 hours
Long holidays	an off-season

If your child does both a school club and a community club, or two clubs, the 11 hours is for everything added together. A club may instead run no more than three weekdays plus two weekend days in a row, as long as the week stays within about 11 hours with two rest days.

Joining is voluntary

The guideline is explicit that a club is not for every student by rule:

部活動は、全ての生徒が一律に加入すべきものではなく、あくまで生徒の自主的・自発的な参加により行われるものである

Schools must not force a student to join. The ministry also amended the teaching guidelines' commentary in December 2024 to say schools are not legally required to run clubs at all.

High-school entrance

For students heading to 高校受験 (kōkō juken):

• A school club and a community club must be treated the same in high-school entrance.
• Not joining, quitting, or switching activity should not, on that alone, count against a student.
• Each prefecture's entrance rules or each high school's website should say whether and how club activity is assessed.

Community clubs: what accreditation checks

Under the new system the ward or city accredits clubs, 認定地域クラブ活動, for up to three years. An accredited club must, among other things:

• take in students who want to join, with no selection;
• keep to the hours above;
• set fees as low as running the club allows;
• prevent violence, abusive language, harassment and bullying, including by using the system the guideline calls 日本版DBS (Nihon-ban DBS), with coaches trained and registered by the ward or city;
• carry injury insurance and personal liability insurance for students and coaches;
• not be run mainly for profit, and share plans and the child's activity with the school.

Clubs run mainly to build competitive level are meant to be told apart from accredited ones.

What it costs

There is no national fee. The guideline says families will pay part of the cost, that the national government will show a guide amount so fees do not vary widely between areas, and that support for low-income households must be provided.

One ward's numbers: Nerima, in FY2026, runs seven community clubs through local sports clubs (総合型地域スポーツクラブ, SSC) every Sunday from May 2026 to March 2027, open to any student at a ward junior high. Sessions are two hours, mostly at ward school gyms and grounds: volleyball, dance, basketball, table tennis, soft tennis, futsal and badminton. The fee is 500 yen per session, paid in cash on the day; injuries are covered by the club's insurance. Other wards set their own clubs and fees.

What to do now

• In 小6 or before 中1 entry: look up your ward's or city's 地域展開 page and ask at the 入学説明会 (entry briefing) how weekend clubs will work from your child's first year.
• When a club notice arrives: check who runs it (school or community club), the fee, the insurance and whether it is accredited.
• Count the week. If practice regularly runs past about 2 hours on school days or about 11 hours a week, ask the adviser how it fits the guideline.
• In 中3: check your prefecture's entrance rules for how club activity is used, and do not keep your child in a club only out of fear for the 内申 (naishin).
• If money is tight, ask the ward what support it offers for community-club fees.