June 10, 2026
TOKYO – The nonprofit foundation Japan Overseas Educational Services (JOES) will launch an online program for Japanese elementary school students living overseas where there are no Japanese schools.
The program will teach Japanese language and other subjects. It is expected to start in September in accordance with the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry’s curriculum, with support from Japanese companies that have bases overseas.
According to the ministry and other sources, there were 90 full-time Japanese schools in 48 countries and regions as of April. There were also 242 supplementary schools — which teach certain subjects on weekends and after school — in 52 countries and regions as of July 2024.
The ministry dispatches teachers to these Japanese schools and some of the supplementary schools. Students who graduated from minister-certified schools are treated as if they went to school in Japan for high school and university admission.
Japanese companies have expanded their businesses to about 170 countries and regions. JOES estimates that between 40,000 and 60,000 Japanese children live in areas outside Japan where no such educational facilities exist. Many of them attend international schools or local schools, and some struggle to catch up with the Japanese curriculum after returning to Japan.
Starting in the Americas
Under the new initiative, teachers from Japanese schools will teach such subjects as Japanese language and mathematics to these children. The online learning support system, named Goal, will be established to enable real-time interaction similar to regular classroom instruction.
Teachers from a couple of schools in the United States will lead the classes in the first year. They will teach elementary school students in North and South America — where there is no significant time difference — during after-school hours on weekdays and on Saturdays.
JOES will announce application guidelines on its website in June. It will eventually expand the program to include junior high and high school students and call for cooperation from Japanese schools in other regions. It has also considered offering the program to Japanese school students whose classes have been suspended due to conflicts, in locations such as Tehran.
About 840 JOES member companies, organizations and schools — including Mitsubishi Corp. and Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. — support children studying abroad through such means as teaching them relevant languages prior to their departure.
The upcoming online program has received the endorsement of the member companies and will be funded by membership fees. The companies hope the initiative will help parents feel at ease accepting overseas assignments.
“It’s important to create an environment in which everyone can receive an equal education, no matter where they are,” JOES chairman Hiroyuki Watabiki said. “In the long run, having more students to teach will also lead to an improvement in the quality of Japanese schools.”