Sample decision review: international-track entry for a Kawasaki grade-3 family

Dear parents,

Thank you for the answers you saved. This is our written review of your child's 中学受験 (chūgaku juken, junior-high entrance exam) decision. Every rule, date and yen figure comes from a published source, linked where it appears or listed at the end. School rules are those published for April 2027 entry, checked on 7 October 2026.

1. Your situation, as we read it

• You live in Nakahara ward, Kawasaki (川崎市中原区). Your child is in grade 3, so junior high starts in April 2030 and the exams fall in February 2030.
• Japanese reading and writing (国語, kokugo) is your child's weaker subject. Maths is strong; English is conversational.
• Both parents are Vietnamese. The parent who answered reads Japanese at about N2.
• Your child has not lived abroad. You expect to stay in Japan five years or more.
• You can spend ¥30,000 a month on preparation.

If any of this is wrong, tell us: most of what follows turns on nationality, time abroad and kokugo.

2. Our recommendation and why

Aim for international-applicant entry (国際生入試, kokusaisei nyūshi) at private junior highs, and keep the no-exam path open until you decide this winter.

• Three schools on our list accept your child for this exam under their published rules; five more may, once you ask.
• These tracks are built for families with your background, and they ask for less Japanese than the four-subject exam (国語, 算数, 理科, 社会). That matters most. The four-subject exam leans on Japanese reading, and the public combined schools' aptitude test (適性検査, tekisei kensa) is long reading and essay writing in Japanese, so we rate both a poor fit today.
• The exams are set in English: essays, interviews, sometimes maths. Conversational English is a start; reading and writing need three years of building.
• The returnee route (帰国生入試, kikokusei nyūshi) is a poor fit: your child meets no returnee rule on our list outright.

Our confidence is medium. The close second is no junior-high exam: the local public junior high, then the high-school exams in grade 9. It costs least, and three more years of Japanese school build kokugo. Talk it through before February 2027.

Whichever way you go: Japanese universities' special entry for international students is for students who finished school outside Japan. A child who finishes high school in Japan usually cannot use it, whatever the passport (University of Tokyo Q&A).

3. Your shortlist

We checked all 43 schools on our list against your answers, each against its own April 2027 admissions material (募集要項, boshū yōkō), read on 7 October 2026. Your child applies for April 2030: expect the same shape, not the same dates.

International-applicant entry: meets the published rule

Keimei Gakuen (啓明学園中学校, Akishima, Tokyo; coed). International applicants exam, 2 February 2027.

①2014年4月2日～2015年４月１日に生まれた者 ②保護者のもとから通学が可能な者 ③本校の教育方針を理解する者 ④次のいずれかの要件に該当する者 (1)国内インターナショナルスクールに２年以上在籍している者 (2)多言語環境にある者 (3)１年以上合法的に滞在できる外国籍の者

In English: born in the right school year, commuting from home, accepting the school's policy, and one of: two years at an international school in Japan, a multilingual home, or foreign nationality with the right to stay a year or more. Your child qualifies under the last, if they hold Vietnamese nationality. Exam: an English essay, a Japanese essay or a test matched to their Japanese, and an interview in English and Japanese, after a Zoom pre-interview with a parent. Five places. Exam fee ¥27,000; entrance fee ¥320,000; ¥871,200 a year plus deposits and international-class fees. 2027 guide

Shiba Kokusai (芝国際中学校, Minato, Tokyo; coed). International course exam, 3 February 2027.

① ②の条件をすべて満たす者。① 2027 年 3 月に小学校教育課程もしくは同等の課程を修了見込みの者。② 本校の教育方針を理解し、これに賛同するご家庭の児童であること。

In English: finishing primary school in March 2027, in a family that supports the school's policy; no nationality or time-abroad condition. Exam: English, Japanese, maths set in English, and an interview in English and Japanese. It is the only one of your three with a Japanese-language paper. 2027 planned fees: ¥897,500 a year (regular course) or ¥1,067,500 (international course); entrance fee ¥300,000. 2027 guide

Fujimigaoka (富士見丘中学校, Shibuya, Tokyo; girls only). International applicants exam, 2 February 2027.

2027年３月　小学校卒業見込みまたはそれに準ずる女子

In English: girls finishing primary school, or equivalent, in March 2027; no other condition. Exam: an English essay, a basic Japanese essay and an interview. Five places, in the English special course. The guide states only the entrance fee, ¥250,000 (2026 figure); the school's 2025 fees were ¥540,000 tuition, ¥108,000 education fee and ¥120,000 facilities in year 1. 2027 guide

International-applicant entry: ask first, or does not meet

• Mita International Science Gakuen (三田国際科学学園中学校): ask for its separate guidance for English-exam applicants, which may add conditions. Guide
• Hiroo Gakuen (広尾学園中学校) and Hiroo Gakuen Koishikawa (広尾学園小石川中学校): the AG rounds need Eiken grade 2 (英検2級) or equivalent; ask what counts. Hiroo · Koishikawa
• Kogakuin University (工学院大学附属中学校): needs a year abroad, or three years at an international school in Japan; ask only if your child has those. Guide
• Otsuma Nakano (大妻中野中学校; girls): children who learned English in Japan qualify with a certain level of English; ask what level. Guide
• Does not meet: the foreign-resident places at Tokyo Metropolitan Hakuo (東京都立白鷗高等学校附属中学校) and Tokyo Metropolitan Tachikawa Kokusai (東京都立立川国際中等教育学校) are for recent arrivals living in Tokyo. Hakuo · Tachikawa

The other 33 schools we checked

Other routes, best verdict per school; each name links to the guide we read. English-based: open to any applicant, partly or wholly in English.

School	Route	Verdict	One-line reason
Tokyo City University Todoroki	English-based	Meets	Open; English only, or English with kokugo and maths
Kaetsu Ariake	English-based	Meets	Open; English essays and pair work, no kokugo paper
Bunka Gakuen University Suginami	English-based	Meets	Open; English plus kokugo or maths
Tokyo Jogakkan	English-based	Meets	Girls; kokugo and maths, with points for 英検準2級
Shibaura Institute of Technology	English-based	Meets	Commuting from home; English and maths only
Toin Gakuen	4-subject	Meets	Open, but kokugo-heavy; its Global exam needs about 英検3級
Kanagawa University	English-based	Meets	Live in its commuting area; an English score can replace kokugo
Yokohama Kyoritsu Gakuen	4-subject	Meets	Girls; four subjects, kokugo-heavy
Kumon Kokusai Gakuen	English-based	Meets	Open; maths and English avoids a Japanese paper
Yamate Gakuin	4-subject	Meets	Open; a preference for CEFR A2 English
Kawasaki Municipal Kawasaki	Public combined	Meets	You live in Kawasaki; aptitude test in Japanese
Kanagawa Prefectural Sagamihara	Public combined	Meets	You live in Kanagawa; aptitude test in Japanese
Senzoku Gakuen	Returnee	Ask	Girls; briefing says no time abroad needed, papers ask for overseas reports
Toko Gakuen	English-based	Ask	Needs 英検3級
Seigakuin	English-based	Ask	Boys; needs 英検3級 or CEFR A1
Kosei Gakuen	English-based	Ask	Boys; needs 英検準2級, contact the school first
Shoei Girls'	English-based	Ask	Girls; needs 英検3級 as a digital certificate
Seikei	English-based	Ask	Needs 英検3級, any date
Yokohama Municipal Minami	Public combined	Ask	Outside Yokohama: principal's consent, within 30% of places
Kaichi Nihonbashi Gakuen	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Hosei University Daini	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Shibuya	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Kogyokusha	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Gakushuin Boys'	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad and a Japanese parent
Gakushuin Girls'	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Keio Shonan-Fujisawa	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Yokohama Futaba	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Morimura Gakuen	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Kanto Gakuin	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Aoyama Gakuin Yokohama Eiwa	Returnee	Doesn't meet	Needs time abroad
Tokyo Metropolitan Koishikawa	Public combined	Doesn't meet	Tokyo residents only
Tokyo Metropolitan Ryogoku	Public combined	Doesn't meet	Tokyo residents only
Yokohama Science Frontier	Public combined	Doesn't meet	Yokohama residents only

4. The money, through grade 6

Our figures for juku from February 2027 to the exams:

• ¥2,242,147 over 36 months, the average reported by 500 parents [1]: ¥62,282 a month.
• Grade 6 alone: ¥1,260,000 to ¥1,380,000 at the four large chains, seasonal courses included; standard grade-6 courses run ¥44,972 to ¥77,275 a month [2].

These are four-subject juku figures. International-track preparation is a different mix (an English school, a returnee juku), so treat them as a ceiling. We found no published figure for that mix.

For scale, the Ministry of Education's fiscal 2023 survey (corrected 16 January 2026) puts average juku spending for public elementary children at ¥80,935 in grade 4, ¥106,550 in grade 5 and ¥145,161 in grade 6, averaged over all children, 61.0% of whom paid nothing [3].

Your ¥30,000 a month does not cover a standard four-subject plan: it is below the cheapest grade-6 standard month and less than half the three-year average, so our check marks your budget as over. It may go further on the international track. Ask any juku or English school for its written fee schedule for the full year before you sign.

After entry, school costs more than preparation: private junior highs averaged ¥1,128,061 a year (fees, trips, uniforms, commuting), public ones ¥150,761 [4]. Entrance fees at your three schools are ¥250,000 to ¥320,000; Keimei's is never refunded. On the no-exam path, grade-9 juku averaged ¥341,220 [3].

5. The next 30 days

Nothing here is an application. These steps let you decide by February.

1. Decide about juku before 1 February 2027, when the large juku start their new grade-4 courses (新4年生, shin-yonensei), the usual start for junior-high exams [5]. Their entrance tests (入室テスト, nyūshitsu tesuto) are booked by 31 January 2027 [6]. None of your three international-track exams tests science or social studies, so you are not tied to that intake. Decide whether you need a four-subject juku at all, or English writing and interview practice instead.
2. See schools. There is no cross-school 2027 calendar yet; each school posts its own information sessions (学校説明会, gakkō setsumeikai), and many need booking [7]. For a sense of the season, Hiroo Gakuen's 2026 calendar has a school session on Saturday 17 October and exam-trend sessions on 8 November and 12 December 2026 [8]. Check Keimei Gakuen, Shiba Kokusai and Fujimigaoka's sites for theirs.
3. Consider a first Eiken sitting. The third 2026 session takes individual applications from 30 October 2026 to 14 December 2026 [9]. Grade 3 (英検3級) is the level your list names most often.
4. Gather documents. Keimei's guide asks international applicants for passport and residence-status copies, report cards from grade 4 term 1 to grade 6 term 1, and a history form (国際生履歴データ) [10]. Keep every report card from grade 4 on, and write one page on each school your child has attended, its teaching language, and the languages you use at home.
5. Ask the current school, at the next one-to-one conference (個人面談, kojin mendan; you can ask for an interpreter [11]), whether it teaches Japanese as a special curriculum (特別の教育課程) and whether your child would be considered. The ministry's notice covers children whose home language is not Japanese when their Japanese is not yet enough for class work; the principal decides [12].

6. Questions to ask each school

From each school's own 2027 guide.

Keimei Gakuen (international education centre, kokusai_info@keimei-std.jp):

• Does our child's residence status meet 「１年以上合法的に滞在できる外国籍の者」?
• Does our home count as a multilingual environment (多言語環境)? The guide does not define it.
• Will our child sit the Japanese essay or a test matched to their Japanese (日本語能力に応じた試験), and who decides?
• In what language is the parent pre-interview held?
• The heritage-language classes are Chinese, Korean, French, German and Spanish. Is there support for Vietnamese?

Shiba Kokusai:

• What level does the 50-point Japanese paper expect?
• The interview is in English and Japanese (英語・日本語で対応). How is it split?

Fujimigaoka (if your child is a girl):

• The guide says the exam is mainly for international-school pupils and returnees. How does it treat a child from a Japanese public school?
• What are the 2027 annual fees? The guide states only the entrance fee.

All three: Will these rules hold for April 2030 entry, and when is that year's guide published?

7. What this review does not do

• It does not promise admission. Meeting a rule lets your child apply; the exam decides.
• It does not rank schools. The order above follows your answers, not a league table.
• It does not judge your child. "Weak kokugo" is your own description, used only to match exam formats.
• It is not visa advice. Where a rule turns on residence status, ask the school.

Your Shinro Map advisor

Sources

1. MoneyGeek survey of 500 parents (PR TIMES, via ReseMom)
2. Diamond Education Lab, big-four juku fees
3. MEXT, 令和5年度子供の学習費調査, results summary corrected 16 January 2026
4. MEXT, 結果の概要-令和5年度子供の学習費調査
5. Waseda Academy, new grade-4 course
6. Yotsuya Otsuka, entrance tests
7. Tokyo private-school association, 学校説明会の歩き方
8. Hiroo Gakuen, 2027 admissions guide
9. Eiken, individual-applicant schedule
10. Keimei Gakuen, 2027 admissions guide
11. MEXT, school guidebook for foreign children
12. MEXT, notice on the special curriculum for Japanese-language instruction