Of 84,759 Pupils in Japan Needing Japanese Language Support, 9,699 Receive None — Both the Number and the Share Are Up on the Last Survey

Progression from lower to upper secondarygap 7.4 points

Pupils needing Japanese language support91.5%

All pupils98.9%

Progression from upper secondary to tertiarygap 33.8 points

Pupils needing Japanese language support41.2%

All pupils75%

The support structure also differs by stage. Instruction under the special curriculum reaches 76.4% at compulsory education level but only 15.6% at upper secondary, where the arrangement became available only in fiscal 2023. The drop-out rate among these upper secondary pupils is 6.4%, down from 7.7% in the previous survey.

In results published in May 2026, the education ministry recorded 84,759 pupils in public schools needing Japanese language support[1]. That is the highest on record, and the increase is the largest on record. Of these, 73,313 were foreign nationals and 11,446 Japanese nationals. National schools accounted for 62 and private schools 3,224.

The trend shows the pace. 33,184 in fiscal 2012, 51,126 in fiscal 2018 and 69,123 in fiscal 2023[1]. Roughly double over nine years.

The figure inside it draws the eye. 75,060 pupils, 88.6%, receive instruction based on special consideration; 9,699, 11.4%, do not[1]. In the previous survey, fiscal 2023, those receiving nothing numbered 7,069, or 10.2%. That is 2,630 more people and 1.2 points higher.

Schools with at least one such child now make up 39% of all public schools

The distribution across schools shows why arrangements are hard to build.

12,668 public schools have at least one such child, 39% of the 32,122 public schools nationwide[2]. Two years earlier it was 11,123 schools, 34% of 32,573[3].

Five points wider in two years. And the number of public schools itself fell by 451, so the share rose while the denominator shrank.

Most of those schools have only a few

The composition shows how hard provision is. 4,329 schools have five or more, and 28 schools have 100 or more[2]. Two years earlier it was 3,438 with five or more and 17 with 100 or more[3].

Of the 12,668 schools, 4,329 have five or more. The remaining 8,339 have four or fewer.

Placing a dedicated instructor for one or two children is hard both financially and in staffing terms. Leaving it be means the child sits through lessons in a language they do not follow.

At high school level, the special curriculum went from 5.6% to 15.6%

Instruction comes in forms. Those receiving instruction under the special curriculum, which places Japanese-language teaching within the formal timetable, number 52,725 (76.4%) at compulsory education level and 947 (15.6%) at high school level[2].

Against the previous survey: compulsory level went from 44,309 (76.9%) to 52,725 (76.4%), and high school level from 245 (5.6%) to 947 (15.6%)[4].

High school level rose 3.9 times, and the share rose ten points. The arrangement only became available at high school level in FY2023, and it has spread quickly since.

Schools running it grew too. Schools providing instruction under the special curriculum went from 8,243 (67.9%) to 9,439 (68.7%) at compulsory level, and from 46 (6.6%) to 103 (13.1%) at high school level[4].

Support staff numbers are rising too

Staff have been added. There are 8,706 Japanese-language teaching assistants and 7,301 first-language support staff[2], against 7,837 and 6,266 respectively[3]. Increases of 11.1% and 16.5%.

The number of children rose 22.6%. The staffing has not kept pace.

One figure did not make the ministry's headline

The survey's summary of main results says this:

Compared with the previous survey, the progression rate to high school among students requiring Japanese-language instruction rose, and the dropout rate among high school students fell.

Both are true. The progression rate from lower secondary to high school rose from 90.3% to 91.5%, and the high school dropout rate fell from 7.7% to 6.4%[4].

In the same table sits a figure that did not make the headline.

The progression rate to university and equivalent among high school students fell from 46.6% to 41.2%[4]. A drop of 5.4 points.

The gap is not narrowing. It widened

The comparison with the whole population runs the same way.

The progression rate to university among all high school students stands at 75.0%, unchanged from 75.0%[4]. Only the side requiring Japanese-language instruction fell.

The gap went from 28.4 points to 33.8 points[4].

Meanwhile the gap in progression to high school narrowed, from 8.7 points (99.0% against 90.3%) to 7.4 points (98.9% against 91.5%)[4].

The gap at the entrance narrowed; the gap at the exit widened.

The result fell at the stage where support expanded

This is the hard part to read.

At high school level, the special curriculum went from 5.6% to 15.6% and the schools running it from 46 to 103. Support clearly expanded. The progression rate to university fell anyway.

How to read that is not settled by this document alone.

Several readings are available. The cohort grew from 69,123 to 84,759 in two years, which may have changed its composition. More students reaching high school changes the distribution of destinations within it. The rise in the progression rate to high school can itself push the denominator of the university rate downward.

Nothing here establishes either that the support is not working or that composition explains it. What is established is that the headline picked the two figures that moved in the good direction.

Those receiving nothing rose in both count and share

Then there is the reading of the 9,699.

75,060 children (88.6%) receive instruction based on special consideration, and 9,699 (11.4%) do not[2]. Two years earlier it was 62,054 (89.8%) receiving and 7,069 (10.2%) not[3].

An increase of 2,630 in number and 1.2 points in share. When capacity does not keep pace with a growing denominator, the group nothing reaches grows in both absolute and relative terms.

Instruction based on special consideration here means that some form of Japanese-language teaching is taking place at the school, including in the regular classroom or after school[2]. That is the loosest definition available, broader than the special curriculum. Even on that definition, nothing is happening for 9,699 children.

They are not missing out because they failed to apply

The shape matches exclusion and non-take-up（このサイトの記事）, where provision and reach have to be counted separately.

Here, though, nobody failed to apply. These children are enrolled, counted as requiring instruction, and no instruction is provided.

Small numbers scattered across the country

That such children are now in 39% of public schools shows this has stopped being a regional matter.

Small numbers scattered nationwide is the shape seen in school swimming pools disappearing（このサイトの記事）, where facilities and staff cannot be sustained for a handful of users.

The same shape appears on the system side. As transfers under employment for skill development（このサイトの記事） sets out, staying and working in Japan means clearing a language test at each stage. Those the school system never reached run into the residence requirements later.

What has to be counted before the next decision

What is known is enrolment, provision and progression rates. Two things are missing.

The first is why the university progression rate fell. Whether the cohort's composition changed or high school support is not converting into outcomes cannot be separated in this document. The figure that did not make the headline is the one most in need of an explanation.

The second is where the 9,699 are. Scattered across schools with four or fewer, or concentrated in particular municipalities, changes what should be done. This summary carries no prefectural breakdown.

Further Reading

• 『教育格差 — 階層・地域・学歴』 (Educational Inequality: Class, Region, Attainment)（外部サイト、新しいタブで開きます） (Ryoji Matsuoka, Chikuma Shobo). A data-based examination of how family and locality divide educational opportunity. Useful for reading how gaps open stage by stage.

References

Results of the Survey on the Reception of Pupils Needing Japanese Language Support (FY2025) — MEXT, International Education Division (2026). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Survey on the Reception of Pupils Needing Japanese Language Support, FY2025 Results — MEXT, International Education Division (2026). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Survey on the Reception of Pupils Needing Japanese Language Support: Overview — MEXT (2026). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology