Let’s start with a more general look at the kindergarten system in Japan. Education system in Japan and in Europe are like two different planets.
Generally speaking, the first thing to do in Japan is to distinguish between two types of kindergartens. Yochi-en and Hoiku-en. Yochi-en is for children who attend kindergarten part-time. This kindergarten is more oriented towards the children’s mother housewives, known as shufu sangyo, i.e. the housewives’ industry. In this type of kindergarten, the children are not fed, which means the parents have to prepare lunch boxes. Children are also picked up from the kindergarten just after lunch. In some cases, buses take the children to certain points. The point is that this kindergarten is for children whose parent is not working, but who want to spend the first half of the day tidying up the house, shopping or doing some of the other million things that belong to the housewives’ clan. Hoiku-en, meanwhile, is a traditional full-time kindergarten, very similar to Europe’s.
In recent years, let’s say a decade, due to changes in the work structure, i.e. both parents working in major cities, especially Tokyo, have been faced with the problem of the taiki-jido, i.e. the problem of children waiting for nursery school. This latter issue has been thrown around like a hot potato from one election cycle to the next, at least in Tokyo. When there is a problem, there is an opportunity for politicians to express themselves. At least in Tokyo, Suginami, the municipality where I live, is a real monster of a scrubbing system. In this municipality, there are all sorts of decisions that get national media attention. For example, the teachers’ union once protested against the singing of the national anthem in schools. The residents of Suginami-ku are the real freaks when it comes to children’s education. At least in my area, more than half of the primary school children are planning to take the exams for private secondary school. There are some where they come to the first grade having already hammered out the multiplication table or knowing the hieroglyphics for the fourth graders. In a word, the children are drawn into the learning process like squirrels in a circle. If one squirrel runs faster, the others catch up and the learning circle goes faster and faster. A colleague of mine told me that maybe a sophomore in an English after-school club was asking the teacher about the difference between “the” and “a” in English.
So Suginami-ku started to tackle the problem of peaceful judo from the ground up about seven years ago. Suginami-ku has a population similar to that of Vilnius, i.e. almost 600,000 inhabitants. Tokyo, i.e. the metropolis, consists of more than twenty different municipalities. In the context of the kindergarten issue, the municipal level is very important.
Firstly, only residents and their children who are registered in the municipality can go to kindergarten. The municipality’s share of the personal income tax is attributed to the municipality as a kuminzei, i.e. a municipal resident’s tax. I am not a big tax expert, but the bottom line is that Japan has a progressive tax system with a 0 income rate if you earn less than about EUR 10,000 per year. Incidentally, for this reason, many housewives working odd jobs or hourly jobs calculate that they will not over-earn, because at the end of the year they may have to pay tax if they go over the zero-rate threshold.
If you live in a particular municipality (officially registered) on the first day of January, you are liable to pay tax to that municipality. Sometimes there are cunning people who migrate between the first day of January. Theoretically, if you live in Japan from 2 January to 30 December, you might not have to pay income tax, but this is more theoretical. There are two inevitabilities in life. Death and taxes.
The more people, especially those on good incomes, live in a municipality, which means the more money that goes into the coffers of that municipality. There is another logic alongside. There is such a thing as shohizei, i.e. value added tax accounted for as part of the national VAT. Although it is accounted for by the national tax authorities, I understand that it is then attributed to the municipality as part of the source of revenue. So the more residents, the more local VAT the municipality has.
There is also such a thing as koteishisanzei, a property tax. The tax is compulsory everywhere and for everyone, and on property of any value. This tax is a veritable spawning ground for municipal revenue.
Putting all these logical chains together, the situation is that the more children in a municipality, the more parents, presumably working parents, who pay their share of the personal income tax, and who consume while living in the municipality, and hence pay VAT. Also, if they buy a property, they also pay annually for their chambers. So it is in the municipality’s enormous interest to have as many children as possible in its own house, because that stimulates the economy in many ways, through taxes and other channels.
Let’s go back to the Suginami municipality. I have read that in the last decade, in this municipality, there used to be between 50 and 150 children who did not get into kindergartens. So the municipality said, ‘We will do our best to reduce the number of unfortunates to zero. And sure enough, for the last four years, the number of those chioldren has been zero. in other words, everyone who wants to go to kindergartens, they can go. The result has been achieved very simply – a rapid increase in the number of nurseries. In the last four years, the number of kindergartens has increased from 106 to 179, with a corresponding increase in the potential number of children admitted from 9 000 to 14 000. I do not know all the nuances, but the municipality has, for the first three years or so, been allocating additional funds to the establishment of new kindergartens. From a parent’s point of view, this is very encouraging, because you do not have to be afraid that you will have to sit at home for six years because there are simply no places in kindergarten.
Next we will see how children are assigned to kindergartens. It’s very simple and basic. You go to the municipality. You get a map of the municipality with all the kindergartens. Look at what is near your home. Then you cycle a few laps, listen to others, go to the kindergarten by yourself, listen to a introductory speach of the kindergarten director and then make your choice. Whether it is a completely private kindergarten, or a kindergarten of a special legal entity, or a municipal kindergarten, it makes no difference. The fee you pay for kindergarten is exactly the same. You can choose a kindergarten within the municipality, i.e. if you want to take your child from one side of munacipality to another ridinng on a bike – no problem. Why do I say with a bicycle, because with a car it is quite difficult because of the number of public parking spaces. There is no such option as parking my car next to the kindergarten for five minutes.
More about money. How much you pay for kindergarten depends entirely on your annual income tax. The more you earn, the more you pay. I won’t list all the figures exactly like a potter right now, but kindergarten fees range from around EUR 200 to around EUR 500. That’s with all meals. For the second child, they have now abolished contributions altogether from the age of three. nother nice thing is that in our municipality, medical treatment for children up to high school student completely free. This includes medicines for the children at no cost. Communism 🙂
Back to the choice of kindergarten. You can choose from all over the municipality, but you have to specify three or five kindergartens as I recall in order to be given priority. Parents must also provide details about themselves. You get extra points if you are engaged in what is known as jieigyo, i.e. you have your own company or have registered as individual business. If one of your brothers goes to kindergarten, you also get extra points. Meanwhile, if one of the parents is not working, it is likely that the hoikuen may not available, but the path to the yochi-en is open to you. The municipality then looks at the kindergarten preferences, counts the points collected by the parents and you get a letter at the scheduled time telling you which kindergarten your child is assigned to. It’s all very simple.
To continue my recollections, I’ll tell you about the most popular kindergarten in Tokyo’s Suginami municipality. As the kindergarten is next to my house, I used to have to walk past it a lot in my time. Later on, life happened in such a way that one of my children ended up in the kindergarten. When we were choosing where to take our child, we knew it was a good kindergarten. However, we really had no idea that it was so popular. The kindergarten is often visited by educators and is featured in the national press as a kind of educational model. Today I understand why.
First of all, the architecture of the nursery. When I first saw the Little Pumpkins Kindergarten, I thought it was some kind of hotel or at least a luxury retirement home. Very interesting, unconventional architecture, a lot of decisions that you notice much later. From the outside, it is not a boring traditional grey building. The kindergarten area is not fenced (only part of the inner courtyard). Security is ensured by regulating the access of children to the inside of the building. There is a green meadow of several dozen square metres next to the nursery. The kindergarten has its own gardener who is responsible for weeding the grass and looking after all the plants. In our case, he is also involved in the education of the children. Firstly, because I am a foreigner, it is naturally a huge object of interest for all children and their parents. A 190cm man, in the Japanese world, is like an alien from another planet. The little ones look up and wonder. The first reaction is waaauuu. You see a toddler with his head up, a snot running around, and he’s in real dissonance. What’s come over here. Then the second stage, everybody wants to touch my nose. Our Euro-American noses, or rather the bridge of the nose, is much higher than the Japanese, so they are very fascinated by it. Of course, next are eyes eyes eyes. Blue eyes are also wow. The little pumpkin gardener is that daily brain stimulant in the children’s subconscious. And since he is also an English-speaker, he is generally a human fossil. In this context, it is important to say that all kindergarten staff, from the gardener, to the classroom teachers, to the cooks, must be sure to introduce themselves if they see kindergarten customers.
There are various plants at the entrance to the kindergarten. The plants are not random. There is an olive tree and a bay leaf bush. When the time comes, we find bay leaves placed in the reception area to take home. There is also rosemary. Rosemary not only serves as an excellent spice plant in the Japanese climate, but also scares away mosquitoes. There is a lighting system at the entrance. The soothing light creates the impression of a home environment.
The building itself is quite bright. You can see the dining room for lunch as you walk outside.
There are about 15 bicycle parking spaces next to the kindergarten because, as I mentioned, it is forbidden to bring your child to the kindergarten with a car. In fact, you can bring it, but then you have to park in the paid parking lots.
A coded electronic lock is used to gain access, with codes changed every month. Once inside, you are greeted by a large lobby. Here you have to take off your outdoor shoes. In the Japanese education system, outdoor shoes are not worn in school, let alone in kindergarten. All kindergarten children are required to wear what are known as uwabaki, which are indoor shoes. It is difficult to call them shoes, although you can hardly call them tap shoes.
There is a long story about taking off your shoes, but briefly, in Japanese culture, when you take off your shoes, you have to turn them around to face the door. I don’t remember all the nuances now, but there’s even a sequence for the correct way to get out of your shoes. Since I am a foreigner, I am forgiven for any mistakes.
Each child is assigned an NFC reader card. A scanner and two tablets are placed on a table in the reception area, like a hotel lobby. Touching the card to the reader records the time of arrival. You must also indicate your child’s temperature, the time you intend to pick your child up from the nursery and who will pick him/her up. The Japanese are very responsible about pick-up times. If you are five minutes late, you must call the kindergarten to let them know you are late or you may cause inconvenience to the staff. Staff workflows can be planned around pick-up times. For me, as a foreigner from the land of jazz, miniature planning is a complete cosmos. Five minutes left or right makes no difference. Who has to pick up the child is also quite strictly regulated. If you write that the mother is coming, it is called a mother. When you go home, you have to tap the card again. The time of departure is recorded. Time recording is necessary because free education is provided for about eight hours. If you exceed this time, an extra charge is automatically added every fifteen minutes. If you are very late picking up your child from the nursery, he/she is entitled to a snack or dinner, which is also subject to a fee.
When the time is up, the little one must put his outdoor shoes in the locker (open shelf) and put on his uwabaki. Only the smallest ones, if I remember correctly, don’t wear shoes or socks until they are two years old. Whether in summer or winter, the little ones are inside the kindergarten without socks. Kind of a Spartan way of parenting. Sometimes I see them already a little bit blue, with a running snout.
Next to the entrance lobby, you can also see an ikebana composition or a six-storey hina matsuri composition. T
The entrance to the canteen lobby is cold. This is a very atypical solution for Japanese kindergartens. It is usually eaten in groups. In the Pumpkin Kindergarten, meanwhile, there is a separate room where children have to serve themselves. By the way, in the Pumpkin Kindergarten, one thing that immediately catches the eye is that there are no cooks. The cooks here are called meal care person, the ladies who take care of the food. Of course, the whole menu is not only written down, but when you come to pick up your child, it is also displayed in the exhibition. The food is balanced. The menus are drawn up by a nutritionist who works in each kindergarten. Menus are drawn up a month in advance and parents receive separate menu sheets. The point is that they have to try to avoid duplication of meals at home.
The wall of the reception area has a mirror about two metres high and one metre wide. When you look in the mirror, you can see yourself full height. After kindergarten, you have to run to work, so you have to assess whether you look neat.
Another interesting practice is the celebration of birthday. When a child enters kindergarten, his or her card is linked to the day of birth. When the card is put in the scanner, it immediately sounds Happpy Birthday to You. Then all the staff come out of the adjacent teacher/staff room and say happy birthday. The kindergarten director knows all the children’s names. All. In this kindergarten, as in other kindergartens, it is about a hundred names. She also knows which child is which parent. The other teachers also know more or less the names of most of the children.
In the Little Pumpkins kindergarten, children are admitted from the age of zero. I don’t remember exactly, but maybe around half a year olds can already be brought to the kindergarten. The groupings are quite interesting. First of all, the names of the groups. Usually in Japanese kindergartens the names of the groups are sakura, roses, and other flowers. I don’t know why, but we have some really interesting group names here: the chamomile group, the melissa group and the marjoram group. I think this is the only kindergarten in Japan where you can find the name of the melissa and marjoram group.
The chamomile group is made up of children up to two years old, the melissa group is made up of two-year-olds, and the marjoram group is a real mix of children aged three to five years. The classes themselves are not very strictly divided, and depending on a child’s level of maturity and other circumstances, a one-and-a-half-year-old can go to the two-year-old group. The kindergarten decides everything.
The facilities in each group are quite similar, as in most kindergartens. However, in this kindergarten, one’s eye is immediately drawn to the furniture. Here, brightly coloured furniture or other interior features are not avoided. It’s like a Scandinavian hyge concept. I found the staircase in the middle of the daisy group the most interesting. It is a design very similar to the stairs for rehabilitation with handrails. Logically, once the children start to walk, these steps with handrails are used to develop the children’s walking abilities. There are also book corners in all classrooms. Children, whether in kindergarten or at school, are strongly encouraged to read.
A shelf is provided for parents to put things away when they bring their child to the group. They can only put as many items as can fit on the shelf. In some cases, there are private kindergartens where older kindergarteners wear uniforms. They look very cute with dresses and suits.
When handing the child over to the group teacher, of which there are more than one and more than two, it is always asked if everything is all right and how the child is.
Children’s information is uploaded to the Pipio app. Here, every parent can see how their child did on a given day. The app contains all the information about the kindergarten’s activities, as well as the child’s day at kindergarten. It shows when they ate, how much they ate, when they slept, when they pooped, how much they pooped and so on. Another interesting observation that surprised me is that in Japan, parents do not play the role of parents. In Japanese, parents are ryoshin (written in hieroglyphics as the two closest people). Meanwhile, in both school and kindergarten, the phrase hogoshia is used, which is more of a protector. This is probably not intended to offend the children if both parents are absent. The mother or father is referred to as the guardian.
When a child is admitted to a group, the phrase azukari-masu is used, which means temporary pick-up. Linguistic nuances, but for me as a foreigner they are very interesting, because you can use other words in these contexts. Speaking a little bit more about linguistic things, which was surprising, during the interview with the kindergarten director, a very polite construction of address is used when talking about a child. Usually all boys are kun and all girls are chan. For example, Monic chan and Tom kun are both OK. However, in this kindergarten, the most polite construction used with the caregiver to refer to the children is sama. Something like Tomas sama. In Japanese, a more polite address than sama would be sensei. Sensei refers to a teacher, a doctor, a distinguished specialist in his field, a particularly meritorious character. The phrase sensei is also used when addressing a politician. This indicates a linguistically special respect for the office of politician. He may be criticised, but he will still be a sensei.
Let’s go back to the subject of kindergarten. The Melissa and Chamomile groups have about 20-25 children. A child in kindergarten is an absolute value. I have always been surprised when a little toddler catches a cold somewhere, or if there is even the slightest scratch, parents are always informed. There have even been situations where they say here is a scratch, they look wide-eyed, but there is nothing to see. In Japanese culture, and especially in kindergartens and businesses, there is a principle called HO REN SO, which is an abbreviation of three hieroglyphics meaning “inform (report)”, “contact”, “consult”. So carers must be informed about everything.
Young children in the Melissa and Chamomile groups are treated very nicely as if there are kings. The situation changes somewhat in the marjoram group. In the little pumpkin kindergarten, the marjoram group – the three to five-year-olds have their own group on the second floor of the building. Here, they start to be moulded into the biorobots of Japanese society. What I mean. When you go up to the second floor, you immediately enter a slightly different planet. Here, you immediately feel that every toddler has a responsibility. For example, every child has to stand up straight when he or she enters the group, the teacher also stands up straight, and then the child has to say ohayogozaimas, good morning, and bow to the teacher, who does the same. When the child is picked up, the same ritual again – sensei sajonara, good morning to the teacher, and a 45 degree bow. Well, it looks very interesting when a three-year-old child bends like a company employee. Meanwhile, I am not required to do anything like that. A child must feel respect and responsibility towards his teacher. The teacher is God. Strictness is intertwined with responsibility, duty.
I’ll tell you about another ritual that particularly surprised me. When I first started taking my child to the marjoram group, I usually picked him up around 5 pm. I see two tatami mats in the middle of the classroom. All the children are in seiza sitting style, i.e. with their legs tucked under their buttocks like martial artists, sitting and kneeling in a circle around the tatami. At the same time, one child slowly walks by kneading the edges of a three centimetre wide mat. And so they go round in a circle. One child slowly passes, then sits down and another child gets up. A deathly silence. I’m thinking maybe a religious ritual 🙂 Or biorobot zombification. I don’t remember exactly what it’s called, but it’s an exercise in walking slowly in silence. At the end of the day in kindergarten, the children have to concentrate, focus their attention. I am trying to imagine what such a process would look like in my home country.
One of the more interesting aspects of the kindergarten system is the information system of the municipal education committee. For either the kindergarten or the school, both guardians have to provide their e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. The contacts are entered into the municipal education system. If someone sees a person with a masked suspicious face 🙂 or a parent informs that he/she has seen a suspicious type in the street and informs the kindergarten/school, a special report is prepared and the education committee sends out e-mails to parents of kindergarteners and schoolchildren in that district. In general, the system is mainly designed for the communication of emergencies caused by natural disasters. In the event of a major earthquake, parents receive notifications through the system.
What a typical day in kindergarten looks like for the children in the marjoram group. Three-five year olds.
7：30 The kindergarten opens. Children of this age must have backpacks with two towels and a cup for drinking water. The towels are for wiping washed hands before and after meals. It is also compulsory to bring a water bottle. Dehydration is a serious problem, especially on hot summer days, so children should always carry around a one litre drink from an early age. They must also bring their own rucksack, not be carried by their parents. Independence is encouraged.
9：30 physical activities. In principle, the daily programme starts from this hour.
9：40 Morning assembly. A book is read, attendance is taken, and the children’s well-being is noted.
10：00 core activity. These are usually Montessori-type activities, outdoor walks, games in kindergarten or outdoors, songs. There are also cooking classes once a month. Children as young as two years old have to bring a hankie on their head (to prevent any hair from falling into the pot) and an apron on cooking days. There are different cooking sessions for each age group. For example, the youngest may be introduced to rice. Nobody gives the children the rice to cook, but everyone puts the apron on their head, puts on the cap, listens to a story about the rice, and is given the rice to feel, wash, dry, etc. A process is underway in which the children are introduced to the food both verbally and physically.
11：30 lunch. Children in this group go to the canteen to eat. Children have to bring their own food to their table. They have to take it back after they have eaten. They are encouraged to eat everything.
13：00 naping time. I didn’t mention it, but due to the limited size of Japanese kindergartens, there are no special rooms for sleeping. So-called bunk beds are used here. The beds are stacked on top of each other and when it’s lunchtime they are arranged in the group rooms. Parents must bring a sheet (all measurements etc. are given in the kindergarten’s handbook) with a special tag with the child’s name on it on Monday. The child must also bring his/her own blanket or similar. On Friday you take everything home with the uvabaki and wash it.
15：00 Time to get up. It’s time to tidy up. By the way, the oldest children don’t sleep because they are getting ready for the first grade of school.
15：30 Snack time
16：00 free activities. Children play, read books, etc.
18：30 Extended kindergarten activity groups. Dinner.
20：30 end of kindergarten day
What are the main events of the kindergarten year.
In Japan, the school year, like the fiscal year, starts on 1 April. Children’s height and weight are measured at the start of the school year and regularly every month thereafter. An ophthalmologist and a dentist also come to the kindergarten at least once a year to examine potential clients.
April is the introductory month to get to know the life in the kindergarten.
In May, at least one further outing is organised, called an ensoku. Usually the children leave the kindergarten for the day to go to a nearby park or playground.
There is a parents’ day in June. Parents can spend a few hours watching how their children are doing in kindergarten.
The pool season starts in July. The kindergarten uses an inflatable pool where children of different ages splash around on different days. One of the bigger festivals is Tanabata Matsuri, a traditional religious festival. You have to write your wishes on a piece of paper, hang it on a branch and then your wishes come true. There is also a summer festival in July. It’s serious business. The kindergarten becomes a big attraction for the whole day. Different corners of the kindergarten are dedicated to different activities. In one corner there’s a play corner, in another there’s a watermelon sale, and somewhere there’s a sale of ground ice cubes with syrup topping. Everyone comes dressed in summer kimonos called yukata.
August can be distinguished as Mud Play Day. Dirty child happy child. In addition there is one day dedicated to body painting. The smallest ones just leave their hand and footprints on paper, while the bigger ones do body painting.
In September there is ohagi cooking, a traditional sweet made from sticky mochi rice and sweet beans.
October is one of the more interesting months. In addition to the traditional picnic, there is of course the Helloween celebration. But even more important is the sports day. Sports Day, undokai, is one of the most important days in kindergartens and schools. In schools, pupils in the older grades, and in some cases in some schools, build pyramids three or even four people high. Well, when you climb on the shoulders then others climb again, then others climb again, and if you get out you climb a fourth floor. And of course all kinds of running races. The four by one hundred metre relay is the crowning diamond of the sports day.
Preparations for the December holidays take place in November. Although it’s hard to call the Japanese Catholic, Christmas and Santa Claus are a sacred affair in the life of a kindergarten. The children prepare presentations, plays, etc. And of course everyone looks forward to presents. January is a quieter month, as preparations for the events in February are underway.
In the 3rd of February there is the traditional Setsubun celebration. This is a celebration of the return of spring, when beans are thrown indoors and shouts are given – devil out, happiness in. In February, the Little Pumpkins Kindergarten organises one of its biggest celebrations, called seikatsu happyo kai, a celebration of the presentation of activities. Unlike other kindergartens, this kindergarten pays special attention to this event. A concert hall in the local municipality is rented for the whole weekend. The children perform, dance, sing, etc. on the big stage. The whole event lasts two to three hours.
March is Parents’ Day, when you can come and see how your child is doing again. Hinamatsuri is a traditional girls’ festival. And of course the most important event is the kindergarten graduation ceremony. The ceremony is so spectacular that everyone bursts into tears and everyone has a lot of fun. Of course there is also a reception for the newcomers to the kindergarten, but it is not as formalised as the graduation ceremony mentioned above.
That’s life in a Japanese kindergarten. We would like to share authentic photos, but due to privacy policies, photographing and uploading children to social networks is prohibited.
