Moving house inside Japan: tell the school before you file the move

If you move inside Japan and the child has to change public schools (転学, tengaku), the Ministry of Education's guidebook lists this order. It also says to talk to the current school or the municipal board of education before you move. The board and the school coordinate with the next municipality.

The steps the guidebook prints

1. Tell the current school you are moving.
2. The school gives you a student-registration certificate (在学証明書, zaigaku shōmeisho) and a textbook-provision certificate (教科用図書給与証明書).
3. File the move-out notice (転出届, tenshutsu todoke) at the resident registration counter of the municipality you are leaving.
4. Within 14 days of the move, file the move-in notice (転入届, tennyū todoke) at the counter of the new municipality.
5. Take the two certificates to that new counter.
6. The new municipal board of education gives you a transfer permit (転入学許可書) or an enrolment permit (入学許可書).
7. Take that permit to the new school. From there, the guidebook says the rest matches a mid-year enrolment.

The grade in Japan follows age, not the grade the child was in before. Children born from 2 April through 1 April of the next year are in the same grade. The guidebook says the new grade may not match the grade back home. If Japanese is not yet enough and the age-group curriculum is not suitable, a child may be placed in a lower grade for a time. Some areas change the assigned school so the child can get enough Japanese instruction. Ask the municipal board. The guidebook also says to consult that board if a disability means a special-needs school or a special class might be considered. This article cannot assess a child.

Verify the papers with the school you are leaving. Do not wait until after you have moved to tell them.