Safeguarding in Japan's international schools: a DSL guide

Japan has no law written for international schools, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) on its own website. Which rules apply depends on your school's legal status.

The School Education Act lists the standard school types in Article 1, so they are called Article 1 schools. A school that offers school-like education but is not on that list is a miscellaneous school (kakushu gakko) under Article 134. Setting up a private miscellaneous school needs the approval of the prefectural governor.

MEXT adds that some international schools are Article 1 schools, many are miscellaneous schools, and quite a few seem to hold no licence. Ask your Head which describes your school, and record it on page one of your child protection policy.

Accreditation sits on top of that status. Profiles on the Japan Council of International Schools site cite the four accreditors below, one inspection by the International Schools Inspectorate (ISI), and International Baccalaureate (IB) authorisation at several schools. Check which standards your school follows.

• Council of International Schools (CIS)
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
• Middle States Association (MSA)

Yes. Article 6 of the Act on the Prevention of Child Abuse says anyone who finds a child who seems to have been abused must report promptly. The report goes to a city, town or village office, a welfare office or a child guidance centre (jido sodanjo).

The duty sits with every person, so each member of your staff holds it personally. The trigger is a child who seems abused, and proof is not required. Secrecy rules, including those in the Penal Code, do not block a report (Article 6, paragraph 3).

Article 5 asks schools and staff to stay alert to abuse and to work for early detection. Its wording is "must make an effort", which is softer than the Article 6 duty.

The Act defines abuse as harm done by a guardian. For concerns about a teacher, coach or other adult, follow your allegations procedure and ask counsel when the police must be told. A 2021 Act on sexual violence by education staff sets duties for Article 1 schools.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 110 for the police. Call 119 if the child needs an ambulance. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell your designated safeguarding lead (DSL) the same day.

For other concerns about abuse, call 189. It is the nationwide number for child guidance centres and connects you to the nearest one. The Children and Families Agency tells callers that a mistaken report is fine.

The 189 page is in Japanese and describes no English service. Plan for a Japanese speaker to make the call. Some internet phones cannot connect to 189, so use a mobile or landline.

• 110: police emergency, to report a crime or accident, per the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
• 119: fire and ambulance. The Tokyo Fire Department runs the line in Tokyo.
• 189: child guidance centre hotline for suspected abuse.
• 0120-99-7777: Childline Japan, for children under 18, with listed hours of 4pm to 9pm every day.
• #9110: police advice when it is not an emergency.

Standards based on the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) ask every adult to pass concerns to the DSL, as Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) does in England. Neither is Japanese law.

The first gap is who reports. Japanese law puts the duty on each person, but school policies often send every report through the DSL. Keep the DSL as the normal route, and add that any member of staff may call 189 if the DSL is away or is the subject of the concern.

Definitions differ too. The Act lists four kinds of harm by a guardian: physical, sexual, neglect and emotional, including a child seeing violence at home. ITFCP-style policies also cover harm by peers, staff and visitors.

Age is the third gap. The Act protects anyone under 18, and the Penal Code treats sexual acts with a child under 16 as an offence, with an age-gap rule for ages 13 to 15. Your staff code should bar sexual or romantic contact with every student.

One procedure can serve both. Staff tell the DSL the same day, the DSL decides on the outside report, and the record names the Japanese body contacted. Mandatory reporting laws for international schools compares other countries.

The main law is the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI), Act No. 57 of 2003. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PPC) oversees it. The Act governs private organisations that handle personal data, and a private school is likely one of them.

Safeguarding files often hold what the Act calls special care-required information, such as medical history or the fact of being a crime victim. Collecting it generally needs prior consent (Article 20). Exceptions cover legal duties, and cases where consent is hard to get and the data protects life, body or a child's sound upbringing.

Passing a record to a third party also needs consent, with similar exceptions (Article 27). Sending data abroad has its own rule. Article 28 asks for consent first, after you explain how the other country protects data, with exceptions for recipients that have equal safeguards.

The articles read for this guide set no rule that data must stay in Japan. Serious breaches must be reported to the PPC and to the person affected (Article 26). Check where each supplier keeps safeguarding records.

Reporting runs in Japanese, and so do the 189 page and the list of child guidance centres. Name a Japanese-speaking deputy DSL and keep a short Japanese script for the call. Train staff in the languages they use, as this guide to translation and localisation explains.

A survey of 716 international educators found that cultural norms were the top barrier to spotting and reporting abuse. The Children and Families Agency says a mistaken report is fine, so say that in staff induction.

Japanese law bans corporal punishment by teachers. Article 11 of the School Education Act sets the ban, and Article 134 applies it to miscellaneous schools. Parents are barred too, under Article 14 of the child abuse Act and Article 821 of the Civil Code.

The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children reports it as unlawful in every setting. Put the same ban in your staff code for every adult, including coaches, drivers and contractors.

A national check scheme is due to start on 25 December 2026, according to the e-Gov record of Act No. 69 of 2024. The Act is about preventing sexual violence against children by staff of schools and private education providers.

Operators of Article 1 schools must check each new teacher and school leader against a government record of listed sexual offences before the person starts work. They must repeat the check about every five years. Staff already in post are covered within a transition period.

Operators of miscellaneous schools can apply for national certification, and certified operators must run equivalent checks. That route is optional, so ask your Head and counsel whether to apply.

The check covers listed offences under Japanese law. It does not replace police certificates from other countries, so keep asking for one from each country where a candidate has lived or worked.

This guide did not confirm how a candidate gets a Japanese police certificate, so ask counsel. Safer recruitment for international schools covers the other checks.

Work through these steps in your first month.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws and hotline numbers change, so confirm current law with local counsel and the relevant authority. The sources were read on 19 October 2026.

• Find out whether your school is an Article 1 school, a miscellaneous school or unlicensed.
• Look up your local child guidance centre (the list is in Japanese) and save its number.
• Write one reporting route that lists 189, 110 and 119, and tell staff the Article 6 duty is personal.
• Name a Japanese-speaking deputy DSL, or an interpreter you can reach on the day.
• Check where each supplier stores safeguarding records and what the contract says about transfers abroad.
• Ban corporal punishment in your staff code for every adult, contractors included.
• Plan for the staff check scheme due on 25 December 2026, and ask counsel to confirm each legal point here.