The money map: which child payments exist, who runs them, and what to file

Several different offices pay money toward a child in Japan. They do not share one application, and enrolling at a school does not start them. This page is the map: what each payment is, the figure printed on the page that states it, and where the steps live. Read the linked article before you file.

Cash each month

Child allowance (児童手当, jidō teate) is national. The Children and Families Agency's fiscal 2026 budget paper (令和8年度) says that from October 2024 (令和6年10月分) there is no income limit (所得制限なし). The same paper, and the agency's parent guide, print these monthly amounts:

Child's age	1st or 2nd child	3rd child and later
Under 3	15,000 yen	30,000 yen
From 3 through the March after the 18th birthday	10,000 yen	30,000 yen

The municipality pays it (a civil servant's workplace pays that parent). It is not automatic. The filing window after a move is in child allowance and Tokyo 018.

Tokyo 018 support (０１８サポート) is separate, and only if the child lives in Tokyo. The Tokyo 018 site's fiscal 2026 FAQ prints 5,000 yen a month per child (60,000 yen across a full year), with no income limit. It does not replace the national allowance. Same article as above.

The clinic

Child medical aid is municipal. On the Tokyo welfare bureau's compulsory-school page, updated 1 April 2026 (the start of fiscal 2026), an outpatient visit under マル子 (maru-ko) or マル青 (maru-ao) is at most 200 yen, and some municipalities charge nothing at the window. Kawasaki's page, updated 1 September 2026, grants the insurance copay in full and prints no income limit. Yokohama's page, updated 2 October 2026, also says a full grant of the insurance copay, from 1 June 2026 through the March after the 18th birthday. Ages, exclusions and how to get the card are in child medical subsidies.

School, from age 3

Stage	What exists	Where the steps are
Approved daycare and kindergarten	A national fee system, including the free-fee rule for ages 3–5 at approved facilities	How licensed daycare, kindergarten and the free-fee rule fit together
Public elementary and junior high	Tuition is free. Textbooks for those years are issued free. Supplies and lunch can be helped if the municipal board agrees (就学援助, shūgaku enjo)	Public school tuition is free
High school	National tuition support (高等学校等就学支援金) has to be applied for. A student who is not a Japanese national files on paper	High-school tuition support
Private high school, Tokyo residents	Tokyo adds its own grant on top of the national support. Residence status decides part of who qualifies	Tokyo private high schools: national support plus Tokyo's top-up

Those four articles carry the rules. This map does not restate the fee formula, the income line for 就学援助 (the guidebook does not print one), or the yen caps on high-school support.

What parents still pay

Payments above do not zero the household's school spending. The Ministry of Education's survey of children's learning costs (子供の学習費調査) for fiscal 2023 (令和5年度), corrected on 16 January 2026, puts the average amount parents of a public elementary child paid in that year at 366,599 yen. That average includes children whose families paid nothing for juku. The path from kindergarten through high school, public and private, is in the cost of the whole path.

What this means for a foreign family

The national allowance needs an address in Japan and an application at the municipality (or at a civil servant's workplace). Tokyo's 018 FAQ says a foreign national who meets the rules is included on the same terms as a Japanese national. High-school support is the payment where residence status is a listed condition; use the two high-school articles rather than guessing a status. A child on a short stay, with no resident record, is not in the address-based payments yet. That step is in residence status and school.

What goes wrong

• Treating 018 and the child allowance as one deposit. They are two programs, two applications, and only one of them exists outside Tokyo.
• Waiting for the school to file them. The school files neither the allowance nor the medical card.
• Missing the 15-day allowance window after a move, then discovering the missed months are not replaced.
• Assuming every Tokyo ward charges the 200 yen, or that Kawasaki still charges 500 yen a visit. The September 2026 Kawasaki page abolished that 500 yen charge.
• Using a high-school support figure from a neighbour's year. The linked articles are the fiscal 2026 rules.

What to do now

1. At city hall, ask for three counters if you have just arrived: resident registration, child allowance, and the child medical card. In Tokyo, file 018 as well, online or through the call center on the 018 site.
2. If your child is already in school, ask the municipal board whether a 就学援助 application is open, and use the paper the board sends.
3. The year before high school, ask the school when tuition-support forms go out. Do not wait for a bill you hope will shrink on its own.
4. Keep one folder of what you filed and the month it covers. The even-month allowance deposit and the three Tokyo 018 deposits in fiscal 2026 will not match each other.

---