Nihonjin gakkō

It is an expatriate school designed for children whose parents are working on diplomatic, business, or education missions overseas and have plans to repatriate to Japan.

Overseas Japanese schools operated by private educational institutions are not classified as nihonjin gakkō, but instead as Shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu [ja].

Some of the nihonjin gakkō in Asia have a long history, originally established as public schools in the Japan-occupied territories in Thailand, Philippines, and Taiwan.

That was when many nihonjin gakko were established to educate their children in Asia, Europe, Middle East, North, Central and South America.

[citation needed] The number of nihonjin gakkō increased to 80 in 1986 with the opening of Japanese schools in Barcelona and Melbourne.

[9] Many Japanese parents abroad sent their children to Japan to attend high school after they completed the junior high school abroad, or leaving the children behind, so they could become accustomed to the difficult Japanese university entrance systems.

The curriculum is approved by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) so that students may easily adjust upon returning to Japan.

[15] As of 2005–2007, parents of Japanese nationality residing in the United States and Europe,[8] as well as other industrialized and developed regions,[16] generally prefer local schools over nihonjin gakkō, while Japanese parents in Asia and the Middle East prefer nihonjin gakkō.

[citation needed] Reasons include: Nihonjin gakkō tend to be in the following types of areas in the world: As of October 2006:[20] [30] Africa: Asia (excluding Middle East): Middle East (excluding Africa): Europe: South America: (in Japanese)