I bought molecule model cards called Moruka through the internet for 1620 yen ($15.88 €11.74). Moruka cards are scientific, educational cards. On each card molecule structure is printed. Students can learn molecule structures of 48 substan…

In June, my son is going to make a school trip to Nagano prefecture. It is a 3 day trip. I paid 10,000 yen ($98.04 €70.92) for it. He will visit a local farm to study agriculture. Before visiting the farm, my son wrote a letter to the host…

My son joined the tennis club of his school. Its annual membership fee is 1000 yen ($9.80 €7.09). His sister is a member of the school basketball club. Its annual membership fee was 5000 yen last year. This year I have not heard about this…

My daughter is a junior high school student and will go on a school trip next June. It is a three day trip to Kyoto. She will go Kyoto with her 90 classmates and teachers. A travel agency reserved hotels and trains. I paid 59,800 yen ($691…

My son will enter the junior high school from April. Before it, I had to buy his outfits at the school-designated stores with the fixed price. The school designated outfits, then students are not allowed to use other outfits. I think there…

In Japan, tuition fee for an elementary school is maintained by tax and we do not have to pay tuition fee. But besides basic cost, we have to pay school lunch fee and supplemental materials' fee. In my case I paid 14,810 yen for my son's s…

Last Saturday was an open-school day of my son's elementary school. The event of testing the school lunch was held. I signed up to attend it in advance, then I paid 280 yen ($2.89 €2.12) for it at the event. It was planned by PTA. I ate a …

I visited some school festivals of senior high schools with my son in September. School festival is an annual event. When school festival is held, senior high schools are open to public. So anyone can see school festivals without charge. C…

My son and I attended a lecture of safety driving for bicycle. It was held by the local police at the elementary school where my son goes to. There was demonstration which showed how careless/illegal cycling causes dangerous result. Stuntm…

My daughter goes to a cram school after junior high school. The tuition fee is 28,100 yen ($286.73 €216.15) for September session. She goes to the cram school 4 times a week to study math and English. One class takes 90 minutes. There are …

My daughter attends a summer session of the cram school. It costs 37,800 yen ($378.00 €290.77). She attends approximately 30 lessons of the cram school from July 20 to August 31. The session includes exams. She studies math and English at …

I attended a lecture presentation of "What we should do to avoid troubles caused by internet communication" which was held at the elementary school. It was a free lecture presentation. I learned many useful things about internet usage. Rec…

My daughter bought a study-aid book for civics for 1400 yen. Textbook provided by school is not so thick, does not include the detailed topics. Sometimes it is helpful to have a study-aid book (study guide) to comprehend the subject. Polit…

My daughter is planning to enter a senior high school in 2015. To choose the high school to go I bought a guidebook of high schools in Tokyo area. It cost 1900 yen ($19.00 €14.62). It covers approximately 400 high schools in Tokyo area. Th…

Junior high school in Tokyo also provides school lunch. It costs 60,160 yen ($640.00 €477.46) per year. My daughter eats 188 lunches in a year. It means one lunch costs 320 yen ($3.40 €2.54). In Yokohama city where is the 2nd biggest city …

My son eats school lunch when he goes to his elementary school. Lunch is cooked by school cooks at the school kitchen. School lunch costs 53,240 yen ($566.38 €422.54) per year. He eats 190 lunches in a year. So one lunch costs 280 yen ($2.…

There was a sports day at the elementary school my son goes to. I went to the school to see it. Students' family can enter the school. There is no charge to watch the sports festival. I am not sure whether strangers are officially allowed …

My son goes to school. In addition to it he also studies correspondence course for elementary school kids. It costs 5000 yen ($52.63 €39.37) per month. Every month text books and supplemental learning tools are sent from the correspondence…

Common school in Japan has Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). This association consists of parents and teachers. It facilitates parental participation in a school. Its annual fee is 2000 yen ($20.00 €15.27). I participate in some PTA activi…

My son is going to make a 3-days school trip to Nikko. It costs 6000 yen ($60.00 €45.80). In elementary school, 5th grade (10 or 11 years old) and 6th grade students make school trips. At my son's school, 5th grade and 6th grade go on trip…

My son is going to take Japan Kanji Aptitude Test. It examines ability to read and write kanji (characters from ancient China), to understand their meanings and use them correctly in sentences, and to identify correct stroke order. It was …

I bought a workbook for STEP (Society for Testing English Proficiency) test. It is for my daughter and cost 1000 yen ($10.20 €7.81). The book comes with CD-ROM for the listening test. ----------------------------------------------------- T…

My daughter participates a basketball club of her school. Its annual membership fee is 5000 yen ($51.02 €39.06). It is spent for various issues, like registration fee to an umbrella organization, shared gears, or a first aid kit. Once a ye…

My daughter is going to take STEP (Society for Testing English Proficiency) test at her school. I paid 1300 yen ($13.27 €10.16) as examination fee. STEP has several grades, and she will challenge to a beginner's grade. She just started stu…

There is no charge for school textbooks. But my daughter is not smart, especially at science. The textbook alone is not enough for her to understand science. So she needs a supplemental textbook to comprehend science. It cost 2100 yen ($21…

My daughter bought 5 notebooks for 418 yen at Ito-Yokado. One notebook costs 85 yen ($0.86 €0.65). Each grade class requires specific type of notebook.

Elementary and junior high schools provide textbooks to the students without charge. Tax payers owe its cost. Some supplemental materials are charged and parents pay cost. Here is a textbook for home science (housecraft). You can see other…

From kindergarten to high school, students have to wear their indoor shoes in the school buildings. Common indoor shoes cost 900 yen ($9.28 €7.14). My wife bought my son's cheaper one for 400 yen. In universities, we do not have to wear in…

In Japan school starts from April. Students of elementary school usually bring their backpack to school. In April newly-enrolled students carry brandnew backpacks. The price is a popular model is 42000 yen ($432.99 €333.33). My son's backp…

My son wanted have a computerized dictionary (electronic dictionary) and I bought one for 13800 yen ($146.81 €115.00). Model name is PW-G5200 made by Sharp. This is a very domestic product. And Sharp does not sell it outside Japan. This di…