BILINGUAL OR TRILINGUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION SCHOOLS

BILINGUAL OR TRILINGUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION SCHOOLS AND OTHER SCHOOLS THAT ACHIEVE HIGH LEVELS OF PROFICIENCY IN THEIR FIRST TWO LANGUAGES UNDER STUDY

The following are schools that have a structured programme or method for the focused delivery of a bilingual or trilingual education to its students. This list includes schools that are reputed to achieve in their students a high level of proficiency in their first two languages under study.

The list below includes: ~ International schools that have either a language immersion programme or a structured programme or method for the focused delivery of a bilingual or trilingual education to its students. ~ Local private schools that are reputed for developing greater proficiency in their students in English (relative to other schools in the country). ~ Local public schools that are reputed for developing a greater proficiency in their students in English (relative to other public schools). Note:1. “International school” in other countries usually refers to a school predominantly designed with the foreigner’s requirements in mind. The traditional usage of “international schools” is blurred in Japan. The word “international” is often attached to many Japanese schools and to schools catering to a predominantly Japanese community but that either have an international outlook, internationalization as its stated goal, or a curriculum that has world standards or merely that offers English instruction or classes with multicultural content. This broad use of “international school” will be evident as you will notice many local schools that cater to Japanese families are called “international schools” in the listing below.

2. The level of proficiency of English learning varies from school to school in this listing and is relative to the kind of school. For example, in the case of local public schools, the level of English proficiency in students considered high for Japanese students may be low relative to that achieved in students from traditional international schools. If you are searching for schools for your children please check out their websites and look at their curriculum. A good indicator is the number of hours or credit given to English language lessons. In cases of public schools, language immersion programmes may only be a matter of a weekly English lesson supplemented by English Club.

International Schools with Immersion Programmes or Bilingual Programmes or Bilingual Instruction: AICHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (K – 9) 3-4, Nijigaoka, Meito, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture
Phone: 052-788-2255 Email

The AIS elementary programme follows a hybrid Japanese-North American curriculum, and is currently seeking accreditation from accreditation from Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Subjects include English language, Japanese language Math, Science, Social Studies, Music, Physical Education, Life Skill, and Moral Education. All subjects, with the exception of Japanese language and Social Studies, are taught in English. Focused on gaining accreditation from the MEXT, AIS uses government-approved textbooks that have been translated into English. In addition, these texts are supplemented with textbooks form overseas. The AIS curriculum is challenging. In addition to the two language classes (English & Japanese) the 9-year curriculum has been condensed to 7 years, to allow Junior High students to put their energy into focused subjects, cross-subject studies and SAT preparation. accreditation from Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Subjects include English language, Japanese language Math, Science, Social Studies, Music, Physical Education, Life Skill, and Moral Education. All subjects, with the exception of Japanese language and Social Studies, are taught in English. Focused on gaining accreditation from the MEXT, AIS uses government-approved textbooks that have been translated into English. In addition, these texts are supplemented with textbooks form overseas. The AIS curriculum is challenging. In addition to the two language classes (English & Japanese) the 9-year curriculum has been condensed to 7 years, to allow Junior High students to put their energy into focused subjects, cross-subject studies and SAT preparation. The accreditation from Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Subjects include English language, Japanese language Math, Science, Social Studies, Music, Physical Education, Life Skill, and Moral Education. All subjects, with the exception of Japanese language and Social Studies, are taught in English. Focused on gaining accreditation from the MEXT, AIS uses government-approved textbooks that have been translated into English. In addition, these texts are supplemented with textbooks form overseas. The AIS curriculum is challenging. In addition to the two language classes (English & Japanese) the 9-year curriculum has been condensed to 7 years, to allow Junior High students to put their energy into focused subjects, cross-subject studies and SAT preparation. The AIS kindergarten program draws on Montessori techniques to help foster independence and self –confidence and primary focuses on immersing the children in English and surrounding them with a large variety of stimulating activities filled with music, movement, stories, show-and-tell, art, math, observation, experimentation, and some introduction to reading and writing). Although the school was designed for Japanese students it has roughly 30% of its student body from overseas.

AMERASIAN SCHOOL IN OKINAWA (for all ages, K – High School)
3-13-16 Ohyama, Ginowan-shi, Okinawa 901-2223
Phone: 098-892-8283 Fax: 098-892-0116 Email
With a new building at the AmerAsian School in the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture in April 2003, the school was established mainly to provide both an English and Japanese education for children of all age groups born to U.S. military personnel and Japanese women. Some 60 students from kindergarten to junior high school levels attend the school, while around 10 other children are planning to enroll, according to the school officials. The cornerstone curriculum is the English one. Classified as a “free school”. The school was begun as a means of providing an education for Amerasian children who were bullied at school, see article by the principal. Related info.

AMERICAN KINDER (3 – 6 years)
3-37-6 Nakai, Takasaki, Gunma 370-0852
Phone: 027-353-4664 Fax: 027-353-3670 Email
Featuring its bilingual education (Japanese/English) for children between 3-6 years and the right-brained curriculum designed by a Harvard-trained educator and teacher at the school. The classes are taught by a full-time native English speaker and bilingual (J-E) assistant teacher. Other special features are cultural classes (Kodaly-method music, Japanese taiko and dance) physical education (includes swimming, karate, ballroom dance and aerobics).

AMERICAN MONTESSORI ACADEMY OF NAGANO (3 -6 years)
Konabe Tanarioki 3642-2 Nagano City 380-0875
Phone: 026-223-8841 School 235-1496 Fax: 026.235.1496 Email
A rural international preschool in Nagano City with a full English curriculum in a country setting. The Academy offers 3 – year olds a full Montessori education in English and Japanese. Materials and activities in Japanese and English for the development of writing, reading, oral, and written expression. The fundamentals of Spanish are also introduced which help train for future foreign language acquisition.

ASHIYA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
4-1 Yoko-cho, Ashiya 659-0034
Phone: 0797-35-5011 Fax: 0797-35-5013 Email
The school invests in students so that they will be fluent in English and Japanese. The program based on Christian principles provides for the physical, mental, spiritual, and social development of each child as he/she learns basic reading and writing skills, sings, dances, listens to stories, draws, colors, solves puzzles, recognizes number relationships, and plays so that he/she will be ready for elementary school. The school is working with Hyogo prefecture to become an approved school by the Japanese Ministry of Education. The school expanded to 1st and 2nd grades in September 2005. Aims to provide an English speaking, reading, writing, and playing environment especially for two to five year old children who live in the Kobe-Osaka city in Hyogo prefecture.

BILINGUAL KIDS INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL (18 months – 6 years)
5-12-7 Sakai, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0022 (Musashisakai, Mitaka, Kichijoji area)
Phone / Fax: 0422-54-1898 (Japanese or English) Email
Applies the Reggio Emilia method where learning activities are child-led. Standard kindergarten practices (all areas) are built upon, expanded and refined using extensive documentation of each child’s daily experiences. Full day preschool operating between 9 am – 2 pm with 5:1 student-teacher ratio. Flexi-programme with 2, 3, 4 or 5 day-week options. Particularly geared to cater for bilingual and multilingual children with one English speaking parent in the home. After school programme is available for children between 3 and 6 attending a Japanese kindergarten.

BLUE DOLPHINS INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL (2-6 years)
1F, Belde-Omiya Bldg, 1-624-1 Higashionari, Kita-Ku, Saitama-shi.
Phone(toll free): 0120-815-185 or 048-662-2810 Fax: 048-662-2811 Email
Bilingual education with fully qualified native English-speaking staff. Based on the Total Immersion Method, utilizing, curiosity, creativity, positive interaction skills, kids learn by playing and interacting with their peers and teachers. Stresses affordability with flexible rates catering to all needs. Flexible preschool course schedules running anywhere from one to five days per week for 2- to 6-year-olds. After-school and Saturday programs are also offered.

(THE) CHILDREN’S GARDEN INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL (2.5 – 6 year olds)
3-12-9 Honcho, Kichijoji, Musashino-shi. Tokyo
Phone: 0422-20-5055 Email
The Children’s Garden is a full day English content based preschool (9:30 am – 2:30pm) along with an after school class for English speaking children who attend facilities outside, a bilingual class focusing on the creative arts and a Saturday Bilingual Drama class which includes Hula dancing. Located in Kichijoji, its mainstream programme offers an original theme-based English curriculum that encourages creative learners. Bilingual elements in the program include bilingual storytimes/singing and will be expanded gradually. Its pedagogy and philosophy share elements from the Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia (project based approach) and any other discipline which promotes the importance of child directed, experienced based learning which enhances the development of the whole child. The Children’s Garden International Preschool exposes children to a variety of subjects needed to enhance their natural curiosity and imagination. The curriculum includes regular fieldtrips to nearby Inokashira Park and provides many subject-related, hands-on experiences. The goal is to protect the children’s world, and work closely with parents to nurture each individual. This preschool program is available for two-and-a-half to six year olds. The staff comprises both native English and Japanese speakers who seek to provide a thoughtful and caring program for the development of the whole child.

DOREMI GARDEN PRESCHOOL-INTERNATIONAL (2 – 5 years)
2-15-5, 3F Takamatsu, Toshima-ku Tokyo 171-0042
Phone: 03-3554-3664 Fax: 03-3958-5444 Email
An international preschool that focuses on nurturing children’s hearts and minds in a warm and loving bilingual environment. International atmosphere. (Also has an after school English programme with structured activities.)

DREAM KIDS NETWORK (from 0 years to K)
2-9-23 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-3403-6612 Fax: 03-3403-6614 Email
A nursery, run by a working mother, offering a fun bilingual environment for kids from age zero up. A flexible schedule between 8am-8 pm with total care (milk, baby food, lunch, diapers, etc.) provided. Daily trips to nearby Jingu-Gaien Park. Dream Kids also offers from September a kindergarten program for 3-year-olds in Dream Kids Annex, a new building in Minami-Aoyama. Busy parents can combine Dream Kids’ kindergarten program with the day care service (8 am – 8 pm) before and after Kindergarten hours.

GLOBAL KIDS
102, 3F Espowarl, 4-12-12 Shinsaku, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi.
Phone: 044-852-8990 Fax: 044-853 Email
A childcare with a difference. Fun daily programmes focus on creativity through arts and crafts, outdoor activities (including harvesting sweet potatoes in the fall), dance, and playful Japanese and English instruction. Holiday-related events give a twist to learning with lessons about Japanese holidays and American observances like Valentine’s Day and Halloween. Kids also enjoy exotic field trips, including skiing in Nagano and a summer excursion to the US. Available for children 3-12, Global Kids has convenient opening hours and a Mizonokuchi location that make it perfect for working families. Parents can also take advantage of Global Kids’ Junior STEP Test (Jidou Eiken) prep program. Global Kids aims to instill a sense of friendship and cooperation, and to teach children the value of life and nature.

GLOBAL INDIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL JAPAN (Kindergarten – Grade 12)
3-20-6, Minami-Shinozakicho, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo (Mizue Station on Toei-Shinjuku Line)
Phone: 03-6202-7639 Fax: 03-6202-7676 Email
‘Currently, 134 children, are studying at the school currently K-8) where every lesson is given in English. “Our school’s selling point is not English but that we have adopted the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum, a tough and modern curriculum that is indisnesable in acaquiring the scholastic ability required to pass the competitive entrance examinations in my country,” (Niyanta) Deshpande (Director of GISS) said. //He said that as this was the major curriculum in India, children who studied under this curriculum overseas could easily adapt to local schools when they returned to India. “Not only Indian children, children from other countries can get the benefit from this curriculum to pass the examinations of international univerrsities,” he said. //”As it is quite difficult to enter a prestigious university in India, Indian parents want their children to have high academic ability and competitiveness,” Deshpande said. “In our school, students will learn three languages-English, Hindi or French, and Japanese. Lessons are conducted in Englsh, but we need to learn Hindi to live in India.”//Compared with other international schools, the tuition is quite resonably priced-￥600,000-800,000 a year. The curriculum is the same inevery school-they have adopted the Montessori kindergarten approach for very young children while using the CBSE curriculum and International Baccalaureate system, which is recognized at many universities around the world, for older students”‘-excerpts from Dialy Yomiuri article Sep 21. The GIIS in Singapore was selected as one of the best international schools in Singapore by the 2005 and 2006 Newsweek magazine surveys. Annual Schedule July to March.

GLOBAL KIDS ACADEMY (2 – 12 years / K – 6 after school)
Villa Nishi Azabu 101, 3-5-34 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-5775-6640 Fax: 03-5775-6830 Email
The school applies the Howard Gardner multiple intelligences and project theories. An Early Advantage Dual Language Programme is offered for 2 – 4 year olds in the mornings. Various after school bilingual immersion programmes are offered for kids between 2 – 12 years in a friendly and nurturing environment. The K – 6 After School Program offers both Japanese and English immersion classes for children in kindergarten to 6th grade.

GUNMA KOKUSAI ACADEMY
69-1 Nishi Hon-cho, Ota-shi, Gunma 373-0033.
Phone: 0276-33-7711 Fax: 0276-33-7710 Email
A Japanese private elementary school (1st grade to 6th grade) with English immersion education in addition to its kokugo mainstream course. (Its goals are mapped out at this page.) More info here.

IEC INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Toddler – Kindergarten)
1-15-17 Sengari, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture 038-0015
Phone: 017-782-7860 Or use the school’s online contact form
International School is a private preschool and kindergarten that provides a well-rounded bilingual program and a nurturing start and an engaging after-school experience mainly for Japanese children. Located near Aomori City (Japan). The curriculum follows a traditional American program with instruction conducted in English. Founded in 1996, the guiding principle is to help each child master the skills needed to succeed in school and in life. Day school is a structured day with stimulating activities; music, books, movement, and creative projects that provide learning group interaction. The curriculum for preschoolers gradually introduces key concepts that build literacy, using flash cards, stories, and daily activities. Monthly themes, weekly topics, and daily activities keep the curriculum focused and fun.

IMAGINE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER (preschool)
13F Yokohama Landmark Tower, 2-2-1-1, Minato Mirai, Nishi-Ku, Yokohama.
Phone:045-224-2121, fax: 045-224-2122 Email
Imagine has adapted the Project Approach a child-care methodology developed under the guidance of a professor at Harvard University. This system emphasizes acquisition of fluency in English and Japanese in a natural manner while developing a sense of creativity. Its two-pronged approach is to: build cross-cultural communication skills in a familiar environment, through contact with native speakers from a young age; and to turn questions and curiosity into creativity through the Project Approach. Numerous services provided including extended day care, temporary care, and classroom lessons, in addition to the child care and preschool classes that are the core of their program.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL (2 – 8 years)
405-1 Gokanmachi, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan 371-0813
Phone: 027-265-3922 Email
International Community School is a new trilingual school in Gunma offering a full-time and part-time English, Portuguese and Japanese kindergarten for 3-5 year olds, and part-time home language and second language classes for older children up to 8 years old. A project of the non-profit Multilingual Education Research Institute NPO. See also this page for other school info.

INTERNATIONAL YAMANOTE KINDERGARTEN (Preschool – K)
15, Yamanote 2 Jo 3 Chome, Nishi-ku, Sapporo City, Hokkaido, 063-0002
Phone: 011-641-2191 Fax: 011-644-2004 Email
Established since the sixties as a Japanese school, the school changed its emphasis on instilling the idea of “internationalization” into the minds of kindergarten children with the hope that they would be able to take on a leadership role in their communities. It offers practical English classes by a full time native speaker who also uses it throughout the day to create an environment where practical English can be acquired naturally.

J’S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (2 – 6 years)
1-16-2 Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0047
Phone: 03-3452-2078 Fax: 03-3452-2092 Email
J’s Playhouse at J’s International School is a preschool for children between the ages of 2 to 6 years. Set in a home, with warm atmosphere, the ratio between teacher to student is high and all teachers have experience with teaching as well as raising children. The curriculum is based on a “hands on” approach in which children learn mainly by touching, creating and experiencing. J’s features a cooking room and utilizes videos in play and instruction. School program involves both English and Japanese immersion as well as implementing its original curriculum to strengthen children’s knowledge. J’s teachers are multi-cultural who are all bilingual to help the children. Extended hours care available. Veteran educator Irene Koyasu and her partner have established the school in Minami Azabu.

JOY TO THE WORLD AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL & KINDERGARTEN (1.5 – 6 years)
5-3-2 2F. Koishikawa, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 112-0002
Phone: 03-5684-0247 Fax: 03-5684-0247 Email
Operates a bilingual preschool from 9.20 – 1.30 pm; 1.30 – 3 pm extended care program and after school program from 3 – 5 pm. Aims to provide children with a fun and safe environment equipped with a buffet of learning materials; to encourage imagination, experimentation, creativity, socialization, etc. The after school programme focuses on the learning of English by listening, speaking, writing and through the use of computers and daily craft activities. The school is for families, with at least one parent who has English-speaking ability, that want their children to be bilingual or grow up in an English speaking environment.

JUNIOR ATHLETIC CLUB (J.A.C.) INTERNATIONAL PRE-KINDERGARTEN (1/2 – 5 years)
Sakamoto Bldg. 2F, 2-1-17 Moto-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0046
Phone: 3445-6326 Fax: 3445-5676 Email
Bilingual learning for children from 2 to 5 years old participate in a variety of specially designed programs such as senior and junior classes for older kids, exercise, arts and crafts (both Western and Japanese), as well as Japanese culture, music and dance. J.A.C. focuses on developing both academic and creative skills, as well as musical talents. There are three music teachers on staff. Part of an educational group that has 23 locations in Japan but the Hiroo, J.A.C. School is however, the only international one in the group. School director Monique Keller, a long-time Tokyo resident is very aware of the needs to children who attend international schools says “I attended Sacred Heart and put my children through St. Mary’s, so I know the challenges involved.”

KIU (KYOTO INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY) ACADEMY (Junior high – high school)
31-1 Ichinotsubo Kusauchi Kyotanabe Kyoto 610-0311 Japan
Phone: 0774-64-0804, Fax: 0774-64-0805 Email
A bilingual Christian elementary, junior and high school that serves as a stepping-stone into English language universities. KIU Academy was created to meet the needs of missionary children, returnees and the children of other internationally-minded people. It caters for missionary families, and Japanese who have lived overseas whose children face a difficult and often traumatic re-entry into an alien and often inhospitable school culture upon returning to Japan. It boasts a well-rounded educational program that a blend of East and West – combining the Western emphasis on reasoning and logic, synthesis and self-expression with the Japanese penchant for detail. It operates on a credit system similar to American schools. English, Math, Science and Social Studies as core subjects but Japanese language and Japanese History are included in the program. The President is president of Kyoto International University hence the affiliation.

MAEBASHI INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN (2 – 6 years)
9-10 Kita Shirota, Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture 371-0055
Phone: 027-237-3400 and 027-230-9330 and Email
Opened April 2002, a school that features dual language Japanese/English Immersion Method. 2 head teachers: 1 Early Childhood specialist (MEd.) from New Zealand and 1 Japanese licensed preschool teachers; 1 Early Childhood Specialist teacher from Australia. Facilities: two rooms, the 3-6 year old room (K) and the 2-3 year old room (Prep) and a 2 year old room and 2 playgrounds. After school care is available.

MANIBIBA BILINGUAL PRESCHOOL (2- 6 years)
6 Rokubancho, Keystone Bldg, First Floor, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0085
A bilingual preschool curriculum that emphasizes a multisensory developmental approach.

MONTESSORI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (ages 2.6-6)
10-10 Minami Matsumoto-machi, Yokkaichi 510-0838
Phone/Fax: 0593-21-6181 Email(Contact: Miyoko Wordell)
A private Japanese Montessori school with English immersion teaching. Pleasant environment, lovely timbered school building located between the Suzuka Mountain Range and Ise Bay and only 35 minutes by train from Nagoya (Japan’s 4th largest city). English conversation classes also held for grade & high schoolers. The English-only intensive program caters to both native and non-native English speakers. Our school also offers non-native speakers English classes in an immersion setting. Every year, children in the Montessori program and the ESL program have an opportunity for a cultural exchange with a Montessori School in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

NAGOYA INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL(Preschool-12)
1-16 Hiroji-honmachi, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-0841
Phone: 052-853-5151 Fax: 052-853-5155 Email
The school switched from the Japanese general curriculum to an international liberal arts curriculum, with a view to introducing the International future. The school for all purposes might properly be considered as an international school.

NANZAN INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (Catholic/Christian orientation: Grades 7-12)
Address:13-45, Yatsukuchihora, Kamekubi-cho, Toyota,Aichi, 470-01 JAPAN
Phone: 81-565-46-5300 Fax: +81-565-46-5303 Email
The school began with special junior high classes in 1981 designed for children of Japanese employees to company branches dispatched on overseas assignments during the 1970s and 1980s (an educational problem often arose when the families returned to Japan for the children whose overseas experiences had exposed the children to new languages and to an international outlook making them different from their peers in Japan, and whose absence in Japan had caused them to fall behind their peers in Japanese literature and language) A year later Nanzan Senior High School followed suit. Each year the number of these students increased, and eventually special facilities had to be built. In 1993 independent facilities were put up in Toyota City, and Nanzan Kokusai High School was born with the first students arriving in April of that year. Since families return to Japan from work abroad at various times during the year, the school’s policy is to admit students as quickly as possible rather than to wait until the beginning of the semester. The classes are kept rather small to accommodate the various backgrounds of the students and to respond to their individual needs. The medium of education in the classrooms is Japanese, but in the Foreign Language classes, i.e., English, French, and Spanish, students are placed according to their language ability levels. Junior high and high school curriculum.

NEW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Pre-K age 3 – Grade 9)
3-18-32 Minami-Ikebukuro Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0022
Phone 03-3980-1057 (Eng/Jap). Fax 03-3980-1154 Email
The school offers a developmentally based multiage school environment free from the pressures and rigidity of the fixed age-grade system prevalent at most of the schools in Japan. Every child becomes bilingual or trilingual (Chinese currently being offered). At New International School, the children learn bilingually in both English and Japanese through team-taught multiage classes; a resource and thematic-based curriculum; and a combination of whole group, individual, center-based and project-based activities. There are two full time homeroom teachers for fewer than 20 children in each exceptionally well-resourced classroom. Parents are assured of their child’s progress in both languages along developmentally based continuums, through parent seminars, student presentations, student-led conferences, anecdotal reports and portfolios. The school philosophy emphasizes non-discrimination on the basis of race, sex or country of origin. The school was
accredited by Middle States at the end of their fourth year and has just received a Gakko Hojin in August 2006 from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, after their 5th year.

NEW WORLD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (1 – 12 years)
Annex II-101, Sengawa Avenue, 1-24-38 Sengawa Cho, Chofu-shi, Tokyo 182-0002.
Phone: 03-5317-3520 Fax 03-5317-3520 Email
A new multi-cultural school begun in September 2005 based in Sengawa, Tokyo strives to provide educational excellence for children aged 1 – 12 years old, using the IGS Method based on the theory of Jean Piaget, the Swiss Developmental Psychologist. Its aim is to foster intellectual curiosity, physical prowess and an appreciation for society and the environment. The school also aims to encourage bilingualism and biliteracy by providing a multicultural context in a loving and nurturing environment that will allow its children to express themselves intellectually, physically and emotionally. The school is offering an extensive programme beginning with Mum & Todd classes for children aged 1 years old, moving onto the Pre-School programme for 2 – 3 year olds, then the Kindergarten program for 4 – 6 year olds, and also an extensive After School program catering for Kindergarten and Elementary aged children. From September 2005, the Special Needs Education Programme and Adult English Programme will begin. The former will cater for children with mental or developmental disorders, aged 3 – 12 years old and the latter will be for mums and adults who wish to improve their English communication ability.

NISHIMACHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (K – 9)
2-14-7 Moto Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0046
Phone: 3451-5520 Fax: 3456-0197 Email
Unique dual-language program in English and Japanese. All students study Japanese either as First language (plus Japanese Social Studies) or Second language and the rest of curriculum is taught in English. All Japanese as First Language students also spend 3 weeks in June studying math, science, social studies, art and drama in Japanese in preparation for national achievement tests.

OKINAWA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (preschool – K)
3-22-16 Kohagura, Naha, Okinawa 904-0024
Phone: 098-835-1851 Fax: 098-835-1852 Email
A preschool for children ages 2 to 6 years old in Naha, Okinawa, OIS emphasizes that its unique blended curriculum which adopts the manipulative and interactive method, and the whole language approach to learning English is why its students, the majority of whom are from Japanese monolingual families, are able to become bilingual. The immersion of English language in the OIS curriculum provides the opportunity for the students to learn a second language at a very early age. The curriculum also gives exposure to Japanese and foreign cultures.

OSAKA CHINESE SCHOOL (K, Primary and Junior departments)
1-8-13, Shikitsuhigasi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka,556-0012, Japan
Phone: 06-6649-3655 Fax: 06-6649-3654 Email
Caters for children in the Kindergarten, Primary and Junior Departments. Besides Chinese culture and Chinese language, the children also receive an education that will enable overseas Chinese children to go to higher school and obtain employment in Japan. From kindergarten onwards, the Chinese, Japanese and English language instruction is begun. In the Primary Department and the Junior Department, greater emphasis is laid on Chinese culture and the subjects required for entering senior school. Taiwanese textbooks are used in the Primary Department and Japanese textbooks are used in the Junior Department. More info here

SHONAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (2 – 8 years)
935-5 Daigiri Fujisawa City, Kanagawa prefecture 251-0002
Phone: 0466-52-0241
Runs classes at preschool, K and elementary school grades 1-2 levels. The school is in the in the process of implementing the Primary Years Programme (PYP) part of International Baccalaureate Programme. The programme incorporates world-class standards that actively involve students in the learning process. The school offers a bilingual programme with English classes. It also offers a Japanese programme that is designed to create awareness of the Japanese culture.

SMILEY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (1 year – grade 8)
See also this URL
Yawata campus:
Princess Miyoshi Bldg. 1F, 3-8-23 Yawata, Ichikawa, Chiba 272-0021
Phone: 0120-444-645 / 324-2444 or Email
New Hirai campus in Tokyo Edogawa from Feb 2005: Phone / Fax: 3610-8080
Nishi-Funabashi campus will begin operations in September 2005
Preschool classes are geared to the development of a child’s social and sensory skills. A fun and enjoyable curriculum is taught in an international environment with foreign teachers and bilingual staff. Well-equipped classrooms. Leading up to diplomas being accredited by the Maryland State Education Department, U.S.A.

SOPHIA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (3 – 15 years)
4 F 1-19-10 Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-5958-4907 Fax: 03-5958-4905 Email
Sophia International School in Tokyo Ikebukuro offers a multiage and bilingual (English and Japanese) immersion programme for kids aged 3 – 15 years. A third language is offered in the trilingual program for interested students.

SUKUSUKU WORLD (5 months – 5 years)
2-34-6 Kosugi Building, 5F, Akebono-cho, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo 190-0012
Phone: 042-528-6550 Email
Unique free-time bi-lingual pre-school located in Tachikawa. Free-time meaning children can come whenever they want to. Bilingual staff including native English-speaking and native Japanese-speaking teachers. Curriculum includes art, cooking, music, and more. A place where children can learn through play and interaction, not lessons. A maximum of 15 children, ages 5 months -5 years old. Hourly or monthly charges. If you are interested in more information write to Caroline Li, email or phone 528-6550 to be sent more information.

WILLOWBROOK INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Ages 2 – 6)
3-8-26 KS Flat 2F Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031
Phone: 81-3-5474-8334 Fax: 81-3-3405-6484 Email
An independent preschool located in the heart of Tokyo that emphasizes “integrated learning through play” and the development of emotional intelligence and intrapersonal skills, creativity and multi-cultural awareness. The school, founded in 1998, offers an integrated educational curriculum with emphasis on human values. Established in 2002, WIS expanded to include two bilingual classes Take (Bamboo) / Takenoko (Bamboo Shoots) and Matsu (Pine trees) / Matsubokkuri (Pinecones). In its Dual Immersion Program for children aged three to five years old, two lead teachers, a native Japanese speaker and a native English speaker, alternate taking the lead on their language day. Willowbrook’s Dual Immersion Program believes in a curriculum that is taught in English half of the week and in Japanese the other half so that Japanese and English are used as the medium of instruction, and not taught as separate subjects. This school is known by some as a stepping stone school into the Nishimachi School. Parents at Willowbrook are very active in school activities, assisting with chores such as parenting seminars and the school newsletter.

YAMATO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (preschool – grade 6)
6-1-12 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-5488-7888 Fax: 03-3466 Email
Note this school operates an English curriculum (hence it is not a truly bilingual immersion school) but each month children study a foreign country learning about cultural differences and native cuisine. Yamato’s multicultural curriculum is supported by the multicultural background of its multilingual teachers, from Australia, England, France, Japan and the US. The school’s openness also extends to accommodating children with special physical and mental needs. Academic lessons like reading, math and writing are balanced by practical, real-life lessons that include how to safely ride buses and trains. Lessons are conducted not only via structured learning but also through song, dance and games. Working parents can take advantage of Early Bird Play Care and Extended Play Care, available for kids starting from 1-2 years old. After school activities optional from 15:00 – 18:30. Fully inclusive school encouraging the enrollment of kids of all abilities. Certified teachers trained to work with children with autism, cerebral palsy and other special needs. Also operates the Hug Club for newborns up to two years old.

YOKOHAMA ENGLISH PRESCHOOL
40-House No.4 Negishi Asahidai, Naka-ku Yokohama 231-0854
Phone: 045-663-6817 Email
Teaching staff are carefully chosen they are not only bilingual but, perhaps more importantly, bicultural. Emphasizes multicultural awareness and diversity. Caters for international or bicultural families. Very low student/teacher ratio with a maximum of 6:1. This ratio allows for teachers to interact with each child individually. 3 – 4 year olds are offered the 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. or a full-day session from 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m and 5 – 6 year old age group classes are from 9:00 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. daily Monday through Friday. Flexible schedules and after school classes. Afternoon classes are available from 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday are suited to children attending regular school during the day. There is also a longer session that meets from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Summer programmes available.

YOKOHAMA OVERSEAS CHINESE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Newborn – preschool- Grade 12)
142, Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-City, Kanagawa-Prefecture 231-0023
Phone: 045-681-3608 Fax: 045-671-1070 Email
The school caters for newborns in its nursery, kindergarteners, and students in its primary, junior and senior departments. Its unique programme emphasizes the mastery of three languages – Chinese, Japanese and English. More info here.

YOKOHAMA YAMATE CHINESE SCHOOL (Kindergarten, primary and junior departments)
43-2, Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama 231
Phone: 045-641-0393
Yokohama Yamate Chinese school separated from Yokohama Overseas Chinese School over the issue of the political conflict between the main land of China and Taiwan. The faculty and the students of the Yokohama Chinese School that left, continued their activities in private Huaqiaos’ houses and later, in their new school called “Yokohama Chinese School, Yamate Division” which was renamed in 1957 the Chinese School of Yamate. Aiming at language teaching and culture transmission, Yokohama Yamate Chinese School provide its students, including Huaqiao and their children, with scientific knowledge and help them in developing aesthetic sentiment and noble morals through the courses of Moral Education, Knowledge Education, Fine Art and Physical Education. Quite a lot of its graduates are making considerable contribution to the friendship between China and Japan, as bilinguals. In the kindergarten, nursing is carried on in the language of Japanese. In the primary and secondary department, different languages: Huaqiao or English, is used according to specific subject. Students are helped to cope with the Japanese entrance examinations, and at the same time, receive an education in the Chinese language and on Chinese culture. Language texts are by the staff from the Chinese Language Education Academy of Beijing. Japanese texts used in native Japanese schools are also used for learning Japanese. Besides Huaqiao teachers, native Japanese teachers and native Chinese teachers, coming from the Chinese Language Education Center in Beijing, work together in the program. The school introduced a student-based teaching style, simplifying teacher’s instruction and intensifying students’ output. Almost half of the students are Japanese nationals, and one fifth of the students are native Japanese. More info here.

Local Private Schools with Bilingual Immersion or Intensive Language Instruction Programmes:

AZABU GAKUEN, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Grades 7 -12)
The private high school sends its students abroad and accepts students from abroad to help its students broaden their international horizons. It has regular exchanges with the following schools: Winchester College, a British boarding public school (founded in 1382 and located in Winchester, Hampshire) and Ningbo Li Huili Vocational High School, which has a Japanese department, in China in Ningbo City. In addition, some of our students go abroad to study every year through such non-profit agencies for studying abroad as YFU(Youth For Understanding), AFS(American Field Service), and PIEE(Program of International Education Exchange). The school also accepts foreign students through the YFU…

AOYAMA GAKUIN KINDERGARTEN – AOYAMA GAKUIN UNIVERSITY
A comprehensive educational institute called Aoyama Gakuin, which includes kindergarten, elementary school, junior/senior high school, and women’s junior college.

DENENCHOFU GAKUEN (DENENCHOFU FUTABA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; DENENCHOFU JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL)
This is the prestigious school which Crown Princess Masako is known to have attended.

GYOSEI GAKUEN, Chiyoda-ku
An expensive prestigious Catholic boys school in Chiyoda-ku, founded by French missionaries in the 19^th century. A private comprehensive system from K –through high school.

GYOSHU JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
1361-1 Nakamiyo, Okanomiya
Numazu, Shizuoka 410-0011 Japan
The school is designated a SELHi* (Super English Language High School) and features a six-year consecutive curriculum that delivers Humanistic education with English immersion programme. Students are prep’d for university entrance examinations. The school spells out help for coping with English immersion programme at this webpage
*Designated Project School “Japanese who can use English” by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, & Technology.

GUNMA KOKUSAI ACADEMY, Gunma (Grade 1 – 6)
69-1 Nishi Hon-cho, Ota-shi, Gunma 373-0033.
Phone: 0276-33-7711 Fax: 0276-33-7710 Email
Japanese private elementary school (1st grade to 6th grade) with English immersion education in addition to its kokugo mainstream course. (Its goals are mapped out at here)
The school has received much press attention, see the following articles: In Pursuit of English / Private Schools Blaze Trails Source: The Daily Yomiuri, Feb. 7. 2005 and Gunma Prefecture school pioneers English-language immersion

HIROO GAKUEN (previously Junshin Girls’School), Hiroo-Azabu
Located in one of the most internationalized areas in Tokyo, Hiroo has a long history of hosting international exchange students. In 1973, MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology) appointed Hiroo Gakuen as one of the first designated schools for returning students who have studied abroad. This appointment was granted due to the school’s ability to provide a Japanese language program for students who lacked in their studies abroad. The school is so confident it seems that the school motto is “100% satisfaction after the admission, 200% satisfaction after the graduation” and it holds itself out as providing “the most efficient ways to educate the students to be promising persons”. JSL (Japanese as a Second Language) classes are offered not only to exchange students but also to students who had had education in the non-Japanese language environment. Advanced English courses are also offered to maintain and improve their English language skills. The school also provides special classes on Saturdays for students to improve their study skills for 3 major subjects; Japanese, English and Mathematics – a key selling point since one of the criticisms of public schools is that the decrease of schooling hours due to the yutori policy of giving more leisure time to kids to encourage creativity has resulted in declining literacy standards and international test rankings.

HIROSHIMA KOKUSAI GAKUIN HIGH SCHOOL
2-8-1, Kanihara, Kaita Cho, Aki-Gun, Hiroshima 736-0022
Native speakers teach English conversation (Oral Communication) once a week. They are from United Kingdom, America, are Australia Recently, university entrance examinations have included listening tests, so these lessons have aided the students’ study tremendously. Native speakers also run on English club twice a week plus two-week homestays in Australia every year. The school emphasizes courses in technical and technology. Affiliated to the Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin University.

HOSEN GAKUEN JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The school has regular homestays abroad and participates in a student exchange programme.

IEC INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Toddler – Kindergarten)
1-15-17 Sengari, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture 038-0015
Phone: 017-782-7860 Online contact form at: http://www.iec-japan.org/en/ask.html
IEC is a private preschool and kindergarten that provides a well-rounded bilingual program and a nurturing start and an engaging after-school experience mainly for Japanese children. Located near Aomori City (Japan). The curriculum follows a traditional American program with instruction conducted in English. Founded in 1996, the guiding principle is to help each child master the skills needed to succeed in school and in life. Day school is a structured day with stimulating activities; music, books, movement, and creative projects that provide learning group interaction. The curriculum for preschoolers gradually introduces key concepts that build literacy, using flash cards, stories, and daily activities. Monthly themes, weekly topics, and daily activities keep the curriculum focused and fun.

IMAGINE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER (preschool)
13F Yokohama Landmark Tower, 2-2-1-1, Minato Mirai, Nishi-Ku, Yokohama.
Phone:045-224-2121, fax: 045-224-2122 Email: imagine@lfa.ne.jp
Imagine has adapted the Project Approach a child-care methodology developed under the guidance of a professor at Harvard University. This system emphasizes acquisition of fluency in English and Japanese in a natural manner while developing a sense of creativity. Its two-pronged approach is to: build cross-cultural communication skills in a familiar environment, through contact with native speakers from a young age; and to turn questions and curiosity into creativity through the Project Approach. Numerous services provided including extended day care, temporary care, and classroom lessons, in addition to the child care and preschool classes that are the core of their program.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL (2 – 8 years)
405-1 Gokanmachi, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan 371-0813
Phone: 027-265-3922 Email: ics@aioros.ocn.ne.jp
International Community School is a new trilingual school in Gunma offering a full-time and part-time English, Portuguese and Japanese kindergarten for 3-5 year olds, and part-time home language and second language classes for older children up to 8 years old. A project of the non-profit Multilingual Education Research Institute NPO. For more, see The Japan Times article

INTERNATIONAL YAMANOTE KINDERGARTEN (Preschool – K)
15, Yamanote 2 Jo 3 Chome, Nishi-ku, Sapporo City, Hokkaido, 063-0002
Phone: 011-641-2191 Fax: 011-644-2004 Email
Established since the sixties as a Japanese school, the school changed its emphasis on instilling the idea of “internationalization” into the minds of kindergarten children with the hope that they would be able to take on a leadership role in their communities. It offers practical English classes by a full time native speaker who also uses it throughout the day to create an environment where practical English can be acquired naturally.

KAISEI ACADEMY
A privately owned Japanese boys’ school founded in 1871 which has consistently and notoriously produced the largest number of successes in terms of entrants to elite universities.

KAIYO ACADEMY, Gagamori, Aichi
“About 120 students, recruited from all over Japan through very competitive selection, attended the ceremony for Kaiyo Academy, a boys-only boarding school offering junior high and senior high school education. Aimed at grooming future leaders of Japan, the school is mainly sponsored by Toyota Motor Corp. Central Japan Railway Co., and Chubu Electric Power Co., all based in the prefecture.” Read more here. Dubbed the Eton of Japan as it is modeled on Eton College in the UK, it is expected to produce future leaders of Japan. It is located in Aichi’s seaside and has fabulous facilities.

KARIYA HIGH SCHOOL, in Kariya, Aichi
A private school that is also said to be modeled on UK’s Eton College and an Etonian spirit is fostered in the school. Kariya has a tradition of exchanges between Eton College. The school also has a dormitory a rarity among boys. The school offers 6 hours of English langage instruction per week at every grade level.

KATOH SCHOOLS (K – High School)
Phone: 055-921-4805 Email
An index of links to Katoh schools may be found here.
1979 Jiyugaoko, Ooka, Numazu, Shizuoka 410-0022
A private Japanese school(K-grade 10) that has won a reputation for being the first school in the nation to have initiated immersion teaching for English. Katoh Kindergarten’s classes each have both a native English speaking teacher as well as a Japanese native speaker. English immersion programme children interact with Japanese programme children. The Katoh Schools include Katoh Elementary, Gyoshu High School and Katoh igh School Accredited by MEXT, the Japanese national curriculum is adhered to using English translated textbooks.The English immersion program through high school culminate in the International Baccalaureate Program. More than 50% of the curriculum is conducted in English. Students study Japanese (Kokugo) at first language native level.After noon programmes are also available for working parents, offering soccer, rhythmic gymnastics and violin classes.
The bilingual immersion programme is explained here. The school is popular with returnees and bicultural families and hence has large numbers of such students.

KEIMEI GAKUEN ELEMENTARY, JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
See also this page which offers info in English.
5-11-15, Haijima-cho, Akishima-shi, Tokyo
Phone (grade school): 042-541-1003 / (Kindergarten):042-541-7818 Fax: 042-542-5441 Email
Founded in 1940, a Christian coeducational institution open to foreign and exchange students, sanctioned by the Ministry of Education to provide individually based education for the children of Japanese and foreign diplomats, businessmen and others who return to Japan from abroad Japanese students who have studied abroad (45% of the Junior & Senior High School comprise ‘Returnees’ and foreign students from 20 countries). Later the school was expanded to include Japanese students who had not lived overseas. Founder of Keimei Gakuen, Takasumi Mitsui started school the because his own children who were educated in England before the Second World War were unable to share their experiences abroad with other students since the study of English and international understanding was discouraged by the government in the name of national unity. The school is situated on a high plateau, surrounded by many trees, with a beautiful view of the Tama River and has a modern gymnasium, athletic fields and tennis courts. Of special note is the International Division where students are offered individualized instruction by native speakers in Japanese (JSL 1-3), as well as advanced courses in English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Hangul. Included is a special Japanese language and culture program for foreign exchange students. College preparation: Emphasis on Social Sciences, Natural Science, Humanities and Languages. Over 90% attend universities or colleges. Keimei graduates have gone on to Tokyo Univ., Keio Univ., International Christian Univ., Sophia Univ., Chuo Univ., Brown Univ., Amherst, McGill Univ., and many other fine universities and Colleges.

KEIO YOCHISYA – KEIO UNIVERSITY chain schools
The Keio private school chain from elementary to university is the most famous private school system though not the most academically rigorous. Affiliated with the Keio University as the name suggests, its student population consists largely of privileged children from an elite class of celebrities and wealthy executives.
Note: KEIO ACADEMY OF NEW YORK, is the overseas afffiliated school where 70% of classes at the school are conducted in English. Education is almost entirely done by ‘immersion’ program. ‘Immersion’ education is an educational program aimed to let the learners naturally acquire the second language through teaching ordinary subjects in the second language.

KOBE COLLEGE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (KOBE JOGAKUIN)
A school traditionally famous among Japanese for its level of English instruction.

KINCARN INTERNATIONAL PRE-SCHOOL (2 – 6 years)
10-14 Shinkawa-dori, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Phone: 044-233-3970 Fax: 044-233-3970 Email
The school has as its goal and mission the fostering of the truly cosmopolitan child. Its preschool curriculum includes music and movement and gymnastics exercises, arts and crafts, the developing English language skills and the fostering of an understanding of the cultures of both Japan and other countries in the English world. Preparation for elementary school entrance examinations is also provided. Full-day or half-day courses. With full-day course running from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm.

KIU (KYOTO INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY) ACADEMY (junior high – high school)
31-1 Ichinotsubo Kusauchi Kyotanabe Kyoto 610-0311 Japan
Phone: 0774-64-0804, Fax: 0774-64-0805 Email
A bilingual Christian elementary, junior and high school that serves as a stepping-stone into English language universities. KIU Academy was created to meet the needs of missionary children, returnees and the children of other internationally-minded people. It caters for missionary families, and Japanese who have lived overseas whose children face a difficult and often traumatic re-entry into an alien aad often inhospitable culture upon returning to Japan. It boasts a well-rounded educational program that a blend of East and West – combining the Western emphasis on reasoning and logic, synthesis and self-expression with the Japanese penchant for detail. It operates on a credit system similar to American schools. English, Math, Science and Social Studies as core subjects but Japanese language and Japanese History are included in the program. The President is president of Kyoto International University hence the affiliation.

KOSEI GAKUEN in Suginami-ku, Tokyo
2-6-29 Wada, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-0012
Phone: 03-3381-7227 Fax: 03-3380-5656 Email
The private school is known to conduct immersion teaching.
Phone: 03-3381-7227 Fax: 03-3380-5656 Email

KYOTO GAKUEN SENIOR AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
8 Teranonkamachi, Hanazono, Ukyoku, Kyoto 075-461-5105
One of the oldest high schools in Japan located in the ancient captial, Kyoto, it has a long tradition of international exchange dating back to the school founder who studied and worked in the U.S. The students choose from a variety of courses including International, Honors, Informational Technology, and Sports Courses. Kyoto Gakuen has a wide variety of international programmes with different countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK. The International course, for example, provides English immersion classes in which different subjects are taught in English. At the age of 16-17, the students spend 7 months staying with British families and study at a school in East Sussex. In the future, the school is hoping that another course, IT application class, will lead to the creation of a web site in English.

LCA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (preschool through elementary)
See also their preschool pages (in English)
LCA International Preschool:
1-27-16 Yokoyamadai, Sagamihara-city, Kanagawa-prefecture 229-0039
Phone: 042-776-8570 / Fax: 042-776-8571 Email
LCA International School Elementary Division:
2-3-15 Yokoyamadai, Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture 229-1121
Phone: 042-758-1921 Fax: 042-758-1931
Established 15 years ago as a cram school, this preschool features the exploration of nature as a vehicle for education and has as its goal to educate through teaching children about the joy of life. LCA痴 curriculum is geared toward a progressive mastery of functional English. All classes are taught in English by native speakers except for Japanese lessons which are based on the national curriculum. The school also strives to introduce aspects of different cultures into the learning experience. LCA now serves children below preschool age through elementary school as well as providing English conversation lessons to adults. LCA assures that their graduates will have the option of continuing onto a Japanese public or private junior high school, or attending an exchange program abroad. Tuition fees per year: 936,000 yen, can be paid monthly at 78,000 yen. Enrollment fee: 800,000 yen. Also deposit of 78,000 yen and 20,000 yen per term additional fee. Take a bus No.6 from the station and get off at the fourth stop “Hikanezawa Ue” You will get our school by 5-minute walk from there. School bus is available from Odakyuu Sagamiono Station, Machida, Fuchinobe, Hashimoto Stations (JR Yokohama Line) for preschool children. The fee for the bus is Y4,000 for Fuchinobe and Hashimoto and Y6,000 for Machida and Sagamiono respectively.

LILY YOCHIEN & LILY FOREST KINDERGARTEN & LILY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Mito city

LILY YOCHIEN
Phone: 029-226-0206 Fax: 029-228-1880 Email
LILY FOREST KINDERGARTEN & ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Mito City
1397-3 Nakahara Mito city,
Phone:　(029)259-2585　FAX　(029)259-5981 Email
More info here

LINDEN HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
6-16-58, Gojo Dazaifu City, Fukuoka 818-0125
Phone: 092-918-0111 Fax: 092-918-0101 Email
Opened in spring 2004 in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, provides almost all classes under the immersion education method. At Linden Hall Elementary School, English Language Immersion Teaching will be employed, and classes in all subjects other than Japanese Language will be conducted in English. The curriculum puts a focus on listening and speaking, not just reading and writing. Teaching staff with impressive credentials, composed of Japanese who have been successful internationally and outstanding foreign teachers. The school has as its advisor, the Nobel Laureate, Leon Esaki. Take a peek at its curriculum

MEIKEI JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
An exclusive private Japanese school that has large numbers of returnees and foreign students.

MONTESSORI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
10-10 Minami Matsumoto-machi, Yokkaichi 510-0838
Phone/Fax: 0593-21-6181 Email
A private Japanese Montessori school for children ages between 2.5-6, with English immersion teaching, pleasant environment, lovely timbered school building located between the Suzuka Mountain Range and Ise Bay and only 35 minutes by train from Nagoya. Our school also offers non-native speakers English classes in an immersion setting. Every year, our children in the Montessori program and the ESL program have an opportunity for a cultural exchange with a Montessoir school in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Our English-only intensive program caters to both native and non-native English speakers. English conversation classes also held for grade & high schoolers.

MURASAKI PRIMARY SCHOOL
The school has a curriculum that conforms to the national curriculum requirements set by MEXT but conducts a dual English-Japanese language immersion programme. Classes in each subject are offered in English and Japanese in equal amounts of time.

MUSASHI KOKUSAI GAKUEN HIGH SCHOOL(MUSASHI JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL) (Grades 7 – 12) in Tokorozawa, Tokyo

NAGOYA INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL(Preschool-12)
1-16 Hiroji-honmachi, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-0841
Phone: 052-853-5151 Fax: 052-853-5155 Email: nisdev@nisjapan.net
The school switched from the Japanese general curriculum to an international liberal arts curriculum, with a view to introducing the International future. The school for all purposes might properly be considered as an international school.

NAKAMURA SHIRAYURI KINDERGARTEN (3-6 years)
5-31-1 Nakamuraminami, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki 300-0843
Phone: 029-841-5885 Fax: 029-842-1780 Email
A Japanese Kindergarten that conducts English immersion classes as well as an English club. English immersion begun in April. The school offers 2 and 3 preschool programs for boys and girls aged 3 – 6 years old. In the same grounds, Kids Club provides daycare services for kids aged 2.5 onwards. Since 1998, English was introduced into the program. All children now have an English class during most weeks of the school year, and many children learn English several times a week, in Nakamura Shirayuri English Club. In April 2004, an English immersion program was begun for 4 year olds with a native English-speaking homeroom teacher and all class activities are carried out in English.

NANZAN INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (Catholic/Christian orientation: Grades 7-12)
Address:13-45, Yatsukuchihora, Kamekubi-cho, Toyota, Aichi, 470-01 JAPAN
Phone: 81-565-46-5300 Fax: +81-565-46-5303 Email
The school began with special junior high classes in 1981 designed for children of Japanese employees to company branches dispatched on overseas assignments during the 1970s and 1980s (an educational problem often arose when the families returned to Japan for the children whose overseas experiences had exposed the children to new languages and to an international outlook making them different from their peers in Japan, and whose absence in Japan had caused them to fall behind their peers in Japanese literature and language) A year later Nanzan Senior High School followed suit. Each year the number of these students increased, and eventually special facilities had to be built. In 1993 independent facilities were put up in Toyota City, and Nanzan Kokusai High School was born with the first students arriving in April of that year. Since families return to Japan from work abroad at various times during the year, the school’s policy is to admit students as quickly as possible rather than to wait until the beginning of the semester. The classes are kept rather small to accommodate the various backgrounds of the students and to respond to their individual needs. The medium of education in the classrooms is Japanese, but in the Foreign Language classes, i.e., English, French, and Spanish, students are placed according to their language ability levels. Junior high and high school curriculum.

NEW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Pre-K age 3 – Grade 9)
3-18-32 Minami-Ikebukuro Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0022
Phone 03-3980-1057 (Eng/Jap). Fax 03-3980-1154 Email
The school offers a developmentally based multiage school environment free from the pressures and rigidity of the fixed age-grade system prevalent at most of the schools in Japan. Every child becomes bilingual or trilingual (Chinese currently being offered). At New International School, the children learn bilingually in both English and Japanese through team-taught multiage classes; a resource and thematic-based curriculum; and a combination of whole group, individual, center-based and project-based activities. There are two full time homeroom teachers for fewer than 20 children in each exceptionally well-resourced classroom. Parents are assured of their child’s progress in both languages along developmentally based continuums, through parent seminars, student presentations, student-led conferences, anecdotal reports and portfolios. The school philosophy emphasizes non-discrimination on the basis of race,sex or country of origin. The school was accredited by Middle States at the end of their fourth year and has just received a Gakko Hojin in August 2006 from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, after their 5th year.

NISHIMACHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (K – 9)
2-14-7 Moto Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0046
Phone: 3451-5520 Fax: 3456-0197 Email
Unique dual-language program in English and Japanese. All students study Japanese either as First language (plus Japanese Social Studies) or Second language and the rest of curriculum is taught in English. All Japanese as First Language students also spend 3 weeks in June studying math, science, social studies, art and drama in Japanese in preparation for national achievement tests.

PRINCE EIBEI GAKUIN (affiliated with BIG APPLE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF ENGLISH)
Kohgakusha Co., Ltd 1-1-1-5F Manpukuji, Asao, Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Phone: 04-959-4002 Fax: 044-959-6661
Varied curriculum and methods and activities.

RIKKYO PRIMARY, NIIZA and IKEBUKURO MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITY Ikebukuro and Niiza
Rikkyo is considered to have one of the top primary schools in Japan and the rest of the chain is thought to be well-run too.

RITSUMEIKAN UJI JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The comprehensive private school affiliated with Ritsumeikan University offers immersion classes and has many student exchanges with sister school connections overseas.

S & S INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN (0 – 6 yrs)
2-79 Boshimachi, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama City 240-0013
Phone: 045-331-3301 Fax: 045-331-4675 Email
Run by Nakamura Kazuko, this preschool was featured on NHK TV as a maverick new school in which creative learning is emphasized. The school delivers an educational pedagogy that is based on the most current brain research and educational methods internationally. Its other unique feature is that it emphasizes English learning from 0 years, has bilingual language immersion classes and foreign English language teachers to teach. The preschool hours are longer than most, but the children have an accelerated content-rich curriculum.

SATOE GAKUEN in Saitama.
Phone / Fax: 0480-25-8000
A private school in Saitama that offers language immersion classes.

SEIBI GAKUEN & Meguro Seibi Gakuen Junior High School, and other SEIBI GAKUEN schools (K, primary school, Junior –senior high school)and JOSEI GAKUEN(K-primary)
2-17-6 Himonya, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan 152-0003
The Seibi Gakuen chain has schools in Tokyo’s Kitaku, Meguro-ku, Setagaya-ku, and also in Shizuoka, Oita, Nagasaki, Chofu and Omura cities. The Meguro-ku school features lovely Italian style facilities the curriculum features teaching of English from the first grade, to be prepared for the international society. Intensive lessons of special courses English, religion and music from the first grade are taught by specialist teachers. Physical education, science, art from the third grade.

SEIKO GAKUEN PRIMARY SCHOOL in Tokushima City.
A private school in Tokushima that has introduced an English immersion system (similar to Katoh school’s). For 11 years the school has been giving math and science classes in Japanese using government-authorized Japanese textbooks. Additional classes are given in English during what is called “developmental teaching.” Teaching materials originally developed by the school as well as U.S. and Australian materials are used in the classes. Students attend seven 40-minute classes a day starting their first year. They come to school every other Saturday and have about one week less for summer vacation than students at public schools. Each class averages a little over 10 students, which allows for greater attention to each student to help their learning. Seiko Gakuen is one of the few schools in Japan that gives students the opportunity to learn English through regular immersion classes. The school consists of two kindergartens, an elementary school, a junior high school and a high school; English immersion courses are offered at all levels. Seiko Gakuen is located in Tokushima City. Source: Daily Yomiuri. More info here

SENRI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL(grades 7-12)
A Japanese private junior high and senior high school that is geared to returning students who have attended school overseas for a number of years. Its curriculum follows the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Course of Study for Secondary Schools. Located on the same campus is the Osaka (OIS) International School where instruction is provided in English mainly for non-Japanesestudents. SIS and OIS students share many facilities classes and exchanges.

SHIBUYA KYOIKU GAKUEN MAKUHARI SENIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL, Makuhari, Chiba1-3, Wakaba, Mihama-ku, Chiba City, Chiba 261-0014
See this link for the school curriculum.
A coeducational three-year upper secondary private school providing general courses for those who are aiming at higher education after graduation. The school tries to cater for the needs of returnees in the school. A private school that offers six hours of English classes a week (this is twice as much time as public middle schools) and that has sent all its 3^rd graders to NZ for homestays. The school’s high school curriculum offers English as the 2nd Language and American and English Literature．It also offers a Global Education programs are as follows：Homestay　in Oregon， Homestay in England；Study　Abroad Programin U.S., U.K., Canada and NewZealand；Japanese　Language　Tutoring　for　visiting　students；Japanese Returnee Students Courses（Advanced Placement in English，and additional　Foreign　Language　Courses（Chinese，Spanish，French，German and　Korean. The school has exchanges with Makuhari-Nishi Elementary School students.
SUKUSUKU WORLD (5 months – 5 years)
Info in English here or info in Japanese here
2-34-6 Kosugi Building, 5F, Akebono-cho, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo 190-0012
Phone: 042-528-6550 Email
Unique free-time bi-lingual pre-school located in Tachikawa. Free-time meaning children can come whenever they want to. Bilingual staff including native English-speaking and native Japanese-speaking teachers. Curriculum includes art, cooking, music, and more. A place where children can learn through play and interaction, not lessons. A maximum of 15 children, ages 5 months -5 years old. Hourly or monthly charges. If you are interested in more information write to Caroline Li, via email or phone 528-6550 to be sent more information.

KOMABA TOHO SENIOR AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
4-5-1 Ikejiri, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 154-0001
Phone: 03-3466-8221The school has a good reputation as an academic institution whose students frequently go on to the best or most prestigious universities in the country. Affiliated to Toho University.

TAMAGAWA GAKUEN
Forms a comprehensive private school system with international education as one of the educational precepts since its foundation. Efforts have been made to encourage students to think internationally. In recent years, Tamagawa Gakuen has formed alliances with more than 20 schools abroad. The number of international education and exchange programs has increased each year, at each of the schools from Kindergarten to the University. The schools are actively focused on developing people who are in demand in the age of globalization, through international exchange aimed at fostering international awareness and broader views. Tamagawa’s unique English curriculum “RISE & SHINE” is developed and implemented for the K – 12 school curriculum, taking advantage of its comprehensive school system. Tamagawa is known for the excellence of its English education, and has always been an academic leader in this area (statement from Tamagawa Gakuen’s website)

TAMAGAWA SEI GAKUIN JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
TamaSei is an all-girls junior and senior school in Tokyo. The girls study English each week as well as study oral communication once a week. Third years also also have a senior third year elective English course.

TOHO GAKUEN SCHOOLS
Located in Nagoya’s industrial hub, the mission of the chain of institutions is to create young innovators who will lead community businesses and local development. All affiliated to Toho Gakuen University. The high school has a reputatiopn in both academic and athletic fields, the baseball teams having won four national championship leagues in the past.

TOKYO DALTON PRESCHOOL (ages 2 to 5)
3-28-18 Uehara, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 7-101-1 (3 minute walk from Higashi Kitazawa station on the Odakyu line)
Phone / Free Dial:0120-3065-4301; Fax: 03-3465-6581
Located in Shibuya-ku. Preschool for ages 2-5. Not strictly an international school but a Japanese preschool with an English class every day taught by a North American teacher. The school is reputed to be a stepping stone to prestigious private schools.

TOKYO JOGAKKAN MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL
3-7-16 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Phone: 03-3400-0867 Fax: 03-3407-5995
Founded in 1888 by a group of Japanese and non-Japanese leaders in Japan to help Japanese women attain equal footing with Western women, it is one of the oldest private schools for girls in Japan. The school which has a modest number (about 18) of returnees, began a bilingual international course for its junior high school class fairly recently, and seeks to add a class every year. Its three pillars of education are: communication ability; problem solving and intercultural understanding.

TOKYO MUSASHIKOYAMA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Preschool – elementary)
21-19 Koyama Shinagawa-ku Tokyo 142-0062 Japan)
Phone: 0120-47-4444 Fax: 03-3786-9675 Email
A nurturing environment with native English speakers where English is spoken daily. The school emphasizes learning and appreciating cultures and customs from around the world. Phonics and reading activities are incorporated from the preschool classes which operated between 9 – 2 pm for the 2 – 6 year olds. After school activities (music & movement, Headstart program, ESL from 2.30 – 3.30 pm) and extended daycare services (until 6 pm) are also available. Elementary school activities are said to incorporate various activities such as science experiments, but their nature is not clear from the website.

TSUKUBA INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL, Chiyoda Branch
The school preps students for entrance to prestigious universities. The school is reported by the press to be conducting English immersion classes in pursuit of its internationalization goals.

WASEDA UNIVERSITY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
3-31-1 Kamishakujii, Nerima-ku, Tokyo, 177-0044, Japan
Phone: 03-5991-4151 Fax: 03-3928-4110
Apart from English, Waseda high school students must study German, French or Russian for three years.This school has been designated a SSH (super science school), an indicator of elite educational policy.

WASEDA HIGH SCHOOL, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
This school is affiliated with Waseda University and about 50% of the graduates of high school are recommended to Waseda University. Others take entrance examinations and are admitted to the universities of their choice, such as the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Keio University, Tokyo Medical University and so on.

Local Public Schools that Offer Bilingual Immersion Programmes or Intensive Language Instruction:

The local public schools listed below also use immersion in some of their classes. Some schools introduce immersion to subjects that require practical skills while others give math and science classes in immersion:

CHIBA KEIAI HIGH SCHOOL, Chiba prefecture
Yonban-gai dori, Chiba Prefecture 1522 Phone: 043-422-0131
Students from Chiba visit Pittwater House School in Sydney in an exchange programme. The school school has its own gym fitness training room, pool as well as good PC facilities.

CHUO SECONDARY SCHOOL in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture.
Run by Gunma prefecture is the first prefectural secondary school with a 6 year curriculum for the students corresponding to other junior and senior high school students. The ultimate goal of Chuo Secondary School is to provide each student with a quality education that will enable him or her to become a world citizen and to make a valuable contribution to society. Students are encouraged to hold an international perspective, to understand his or her own culture and to have an ability to communicate freely with people all over the world. Language immersion classes are offered.

FUKUOKA DAIICHI HIGH SCHOOL
22-1 Tamagawa-machi, Minami-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka 815-0037
Phone / Fax: 092-511-5060 Email
The school’s Department of International Education offers students from English-speaking countries the opportunity for Japanese and overseas students to live and study alongside each other in the city of Fukuoka. At any one time, there are approximately 20 students from English speaking countries throughout the world, as well as over forty Japanese students living together in the school’s Guest House to attend the school for one academic school year. Scholarships are available. More info here.

GUNMA PREFECTURAL CHUO SECONDARY SCHOOL in Takasaki is a public school that offers immersion education in some of its classes.

HIBIYA HIGH SCHOOL, Chiyoda-ku
The school ranks among the best top 10% academic high schools in Japan.

HIROSHIMA KOKUSAI GAKUIN in Hiroshima
2-8-1, Kanihara, Kaita cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima
Native English speakers give English lessons (Oral Communication) once a week plus run an English Club. Students participate in 2 week Homestays in Australia every year.

KITATOSHIMA JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The school has intensive English lessons three times a week for developing communication skills, English Camps at Hawaii, England (Harrogate) and New Zealand.

KOFU MINAMI
Nakakogawara-cho 222, Kofu, Yamanashi prefecture.
Phone: 055-241-3191
Located about 1.5 hours west of Tokyo by train, Kofu Minami High School is one of the top academic High Schools in the prefecture. The school has an English speaking Assistant Language Teacher and an English Club.

MATSUDO KOKUSAI KOUKOU (MATSUDO INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL)
Phone: 047-386-0563 Fax: 047-386-0518 Email: matsudokokusai-h@chiba-c.ed.jp
A public high school established by the prefectural government that is popular with students who are interested in learning foreign languages.

MIDORIGAOKA GIRLS’ JUNIOR HIGH & HIGH SCHOOL
10-1 Midorigaoka-machi, Nagasaki
The school has sixteen classes, with boys and girls. 520 students at Midorigaoka Junior High School. Midorigaoka has many club activities; a band and sports clubs including judo, kendo, soccer, baseball and swimming. The school holds English immersion classes. More info the links here.

NAHA KOKUSAI HIGH SCHOOL
The school has an exchange program with St Martin’s Episcopal School in Louisiana and a collaborative webpage.

NARITA KOKUSAI KOUKOU (CHIBA PREFECTURAL HIGH SCHOOL)
3-16 Kanabe, Narita-city, Chiba 286-0036
The high school has enhanced foreign language education in response to internationalization and actively welcomes Japanese students returning from abroad and foreign students. It teaches other subjects in English in order for students to be exposed to the language for a longer period of time. For example, teachers plan on having English-language musicals during music classes and conducting cooking lessons in English during home-economics classes. Students are placed according to their language ability levels. The school has a junior high as well as a high school curriculum.

NIHON UNIVERSITY FIRST JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
1-5-2 Yokoami Sumida ward, Tokyo 130-0015
Phone/03-3625-0026 fax/03-3625-5856
See its curriculum at this link. The school has many international student exchanges.

OSAKA PREFECTURAL NAGOYA HIGH SCHOOL, Kawachi, Nagano, Osaka
533 Harada Kawachinagano, Osaka. Phone: 0721-53-7371
This school was designated two years ago, one of the nation’s Super English Language High Schools (SELHis).

SHOTO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL run by Shibuya Ward, Tokyo offers some English language immersion classes.

SOUSEI SECONDARY SCHOOL
Showa-machi 3-7-27 Maebashi City, Gunma prefecture.
Phone: 027-231-8117
A new secondary school with a British and a full-time member of teaching staff at Sousei. The school organizes school trips for its students to England and Canada.

TOKYO GAKUGEI UNIVERSITY affiliated schools including SETAGAYA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, OIZUMI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, and TOKYO GAKUGEI UNIVERSITY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

TOKYO METROPOLITAN KOKUSAI HIGH SCHOOL
2-19-59, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0041
Phone: 03-3468-6811
A highly competitive entrance exam is required to enter the selective school that ranks among the top 10% best municipal high schools in Japan. The school says that 75% of its graduates are able to enter the university of their first choice, a figure way above the 50% of other top public high schools. See its website for more info. The curriculum is designed to endow able students with a rich, well-balanced international outlook and a proficiency in foreign languages.  A wide variety of specialized subjects and courses are provided for students with various backgrounds to expand their horizon. The curriculum pursues the study of General Subject Areas in the first year, while in the second and third years they have a wider choice of elective subjects in Specialized as well as General Subject Areas. The students of the school must earn 20 credits in foreign languages before graduating (compared with the 10 needed for Japanese). The high school accepts foreigners living in Tokyo Municipality and Japanese returnee students from overseas countries. Classroom language is basically Japanese and – with exception of English classes and other foreign language classes. However, the school offers SAT and TOEFL preparatory classes as well as counseling for those students who wish to seek admission to the universities abroad. The school is now aiming for International Baccalaureat authorization for its program, see this page.

UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA affiliated schools include OTSUKA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (1090-1 Minami-Otsuka, Daito area, Kawagoe city); SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL AT OTSUKA, UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA; UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA LABORATORY SCHOOL KOMABA HIGH SCHOOL AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL; TSUKUBA INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL, Chiyoda branch

YAMAMURA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
A public school reported by the press to be conducting English immersion classes.

To find out more information about Private High Schools – contact the Private Junior and Senior High School Association, Phone: 043-241-7382 See also our article “Private School Appeal – The Track to Elite Universities” and listings of private schools here.

In the News:
Three immersion schools are in the works – the first being the proposed Aomori International School at Rakosho village, Aomori. to be established by several private schools, and the second and third to be established by the Okinawa Prefectural　Government and by Nago City – the proposed Nago Bilingual Elementary School, Nago city, northern Okinawa. See article TIS Founder Participates in Okinawa English Language Programs

Note: This page was formerly published at the EDUCATION IN JAPAN website which is now closed, and its contents have now been moved over to this blog