Japan makes high school free – again
Updated: Aug 29, 2025
RIGHTS
In late March, Japan’s parliament, the Diet, voted to make public high school free for all children — again. Tuition fees had been abolished in 2010, but then reinstated in 2013.
The new measure will expand equal opportunity in education, and is expected to boost education access and certainty for children of parents with unstable incomes or from immigrant and other marginalised backgrounds who sometimes struggle with the bureaucracy of tuition subsidies.
The initiative was pushed by the small opposition Japan Innovation Party, whose votes the minority government needed to pass the budget.
Currently, Japan subsidises public high school tuition up to US$800 annually for students from households earning less than US$60,000. The new measure removes the income threshold, aiming to offer free public high school education to all.
Until now, Japan had been the wealthiest country in the world — in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita — without guaranteed free public secondary education for all. It had also been spending among the lowest GDP percentage on education among OECD countries.
Making public high school education free for all students is a meaningful step toward improving educational access and reducing financial pressure on families. Removing income restrictions can help more students focus on learning and future opportunities, regardless of their household circumstances. Equal access to education benefits individuals and strengthens communities. Readers looking for useful local service information can also explore this local service directory.
Making public high school education accessible to every student is an important step toward reducing financial barriers and creating more equal opportunities. Removing income restrictions could provide greater stability for families who struggle with tuition costs and complicated subsidy programs. Policies that invest in education can strengthen entire communities, just as access to practical local resources and services helps people find support when they need it.