The numbers come from a recent education ministry survey, and show that 20.4% of the kids dropping out, an increase of about a quarter over the last 7 years, are doing so because of financial reasons.

Tokyo University (Todai) announced that it would change the start of the university year from spring to fall.

University students in Japan are often the subject of controversy and debate, accused of being everything from lazy to violent. While there have been reforms, most of these relate to the level of funding that institutions receive and Japanese higher educational establishments are having to fight hard to maintain their global competitiveness.

The choice of schools will always depend on the needs of your child and what is available in your area, but with this list of the Tokyo area, we hope to make the search just that little bit easier. While there are many International schools in Japan that cater to native speakers of other languages, we have limited our list to English-language and bilingual schools in Tokyo.