Virtual School in Japan: Sapporo to Kumamoto, and the Choice After Middle School

By Brendaliz Chelangat, Head of Academics · October 2026 · 10 min read

Most of Japan’s international schools are in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya. A few regional cities, including Sapporo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, have one, but subject choice at A-Level or IB level is limited, and much of the country has nothing within reach. Yet international families live everywhere: researchers at regional universities, engineers at plants far from the capital, and Japanese families who want a child to study abroad. This guide is about them, and about a point in Japanese schooling that matters for planning: compulsory education ends with middle school, and from about fifteen the shape of the next three years becomes the family’s choice.

Regional Japan and its international families

Sendai has Tohoku University and the research community around it. Kumamoto has seen new international arrivals with the semiconductor investment of recent years. Hokkaido, Hokuriku and Chugoku all host manufacturing and research employers with foreign staff. Then there are Japanese families with no foreign connection at all, who simply want their child to have a UK or US university option. In these places, a family that wants Cambridge or the IB typically has two choices: move to a big city, or send a teenager away. Fukuoka and Hiroshima do have international schools, but a family an hour or two away may still find them out of reach for a daily commute, and subject choice at the top end is narrow. A live online class offers a third.

The window at fifteen

Japanese compulsory education is nine years: six of elementary school and three of middle school. High school is almost universal but not compulsory. That means a teenager who has finished middle school can, lawfully, spend the next years in full-time Cambridge A-Levels or similar study. It is a real decision with trade-offs. A student who does not attend a Japanese high school will not hold a Japanese high school diploma, which matters for some Japanese university routes. Families should weigh that carefully and confirm the eligibility rules of the specific universities they have in mind. It also means leaving the daily community of a high school, which for many fifteen-year-olds is the centre of their social life.

Planning the compulsory years towards it

Through elementary and middle school, the Japanese school carries the legal obligation, and Cambridge subjects run in the evening. Japan is six hours ahead of Nairobi with no daylight saving, so our afternoon teaching lands after the Japanese school day. Two or three years of steady work in English, Mathematics and a science leads naturally to IGCSE around fifteen or sixteen, so that the decision after middle school is between two real options rather than a standing start. Families who keep their child in Japanese high school can carry on in the same way, adding A-Level subjects in the evening. That is a demanding load, and we help families choose subjects so it stays manageable, usually two A-Levels rather than three. Either way, the record built before fifteen is what makes the choice real.

Exams from the regions

Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel examinations are sat at authorised exam centres, which families book, and in Japan most are in Tokyo. For a family in Sendai or Hiroshima that means a Shinkansen journey for each session; from Sapporo or Kumamoto it may mean a short flight. That is a few trips a year, not a relocation. Centres are confirmed per family, per session, so we plan the travel well before each registration window. We check the calendar early so a sitting does not clash with Japanese school events, and suggest arriving the day before a morning paper. AP examinations and IB assessments follow their own arrangements, and we plan those separately for students taking them.

Universities at home and abroad

Japan’s English-medium degree programmes read international qualifications directly: the University of Tokyo’s PEAK, Waseda’s School of International Liberal Studies, Sophia’s Faculty of Liberal Arts, International Christian University and Keio’s PEARL among them, each with its own requirements. Several national universities outside Tokyo also run English-taught programmes. Abroad, UCAS reads A-Levels natively and the Common Application serves US plans, with AP available for those students. Requirements differ: some programmes ask for specific A-Level subjects or grades, others for the IB Diploma or a set of AP scores, and most for evidence of English. A student in Sendai or Fukuoka can apply to these programmes and to UCAS in the same season with the same record, a wide choice from one set of exams. We help with personal statements and timing, since Japanese and overseas deadlines differ.

When the local high school is right

For a child who is happy at school, wants a Japanese university and is rooted in local life, a Japanese high school is the right answer, and the club activities and friendships are worth a great deal. Our role there is supplementary at most. Full-time international study after fifteen suits a narrower group: students set on study abroad, or for whom no suitable high school is nearby. We would rather say so than suggest otherwise. The decision is easier to make well around fourteen, with a year to plan, than in the final term of middle school, so we ask families to talk to us, and to their child’s school, early.

In regional Japan, the international school is often a long way off, and the end of middle school is the moment when a family’s choice really opens. Use the compulsory years to build a steady Cambridge record alongside Japanese school, then decide at fifteen with clear eyes about the trade-offs. If you would like to plan those years together, book an assessment with us.

Frequently asked questions

Is high school compulsory in Japan?

No. Compulsory education ends with middle school. High school is nearly universal, but a student may choose full-time international study from about fifteen, with the trade-offs this guide describes.

What times are live classes in Japan?

Japan is six hours ahead of Nairobi with no daylight saving. Our afternoon classes fall in the Japanese evening, and every lesson is recorded.

We live in Sapporo. How would exams work?

Exams are sat at authorised exam centres, which families book, mostly in Tokyo. We confirm a centre per family, per session and plan travel early.

How does this work alongside Japanese middle school?

The Japanese school keeps the enrolment and the legal obligation; our classes run in the evening as supplementary study.

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