Loading...

Mar 26, 2016

How much do you spend on school supplies?

I'm trying to write a post about how much money I've spent on school supplies so far for my two kids entering youchien and shogakko next month. I'm wondering: do any CC users have kids who go to school? If so, how much did you spend total, to get started? I've spent nearly 150,000yen to get them both started this year... :(

Samantha

Samantha

I'm here to help!

4 Answers



  • ConeHead

    on May 2

    What are you buying???? My gosh that's a lot. I notice they tells to buy everything but I insist I'm not and no y child won't feel different because she already is.

    0
  • BigfamJapan

    on May 6

    I didn't really add it up as it was well spread out... we got a 30,000 yen cheque from the town hall for our 2nd daughter as she is the 3rd child. (If you have more than 3 children in our town there all sorts of financial relief regardless of income or circumstances). That money covered a lot of her costs, plus we had a uniform for her that my older daughter had grown out of. I think it also contributed to some of our son's costs - he started primary school like A. The stationery and meledion cost about 15,000 yen I think and his uniform was about the same again, but we opted to get two of most things. If I include the entry fee we paid for DD2 to get into kindy we probably spent around about what you quoted.

    0
  • LostgirlCA

    on Mar 2

    My daughter goes to Hoikuen 保育園 daycare in Southern Kyushu. She started at 2 months old. It is available Monday to Saturday 7am to 7pm. The cost is 40,000¥ a month. There is no uniform requirement until the age of 1. So far we haven't had to spend anything other than the monthly cost. It is a city run daycare not private. In April she will move to a new class and will be required to have a uniform and maybe some other things. I will reply again once I know what happens.

    0
  • JapanExpert

    on Apr 27

    Private kindergartens can be very expensive - especially the uniforms, even more so as there are 4 sets of uniforms - Summer and winter day uniform and summer and winter sports uniform (including summer and winter hats!). If you shop smart though you can get by with 1 of each uniform set and have them last the 2-3 years of kindergarten. Elementary school seems to be very affordable here, including the after school care options. As there are no school uniforms you do have to spend money on clothes, but with places like UNIQLO this can be done very cheaply.

    0

Awaiting More Answers

6 Answers

Japan features that would be a bug in your country? And the opposite?

What features in Japan's culture would be considered a bug in your home country? Or the other way around - an aspect of daily life in your home country that wouldn't fly here in Japan? I've got one. In Japan, many sliding doors in industrial and institutional buildings are designed to make noise. The rattle indicates comings and goings. I worked in institutional buildings in Canada with silent doors and soft closing mechanisms.

TonetoEdo

on Sep 7

7 Answers

What unusual items do you have in your emergency bag?

In honor of Disaster Prevention Day and further to the preparedness articles I just wrote, I am curious: what item/s do you have in your emergency bag aka disaster preparedness kit, that might not be common nationwide?

BigfamJapan

on Sep 1

7 Answers

Reflections on our home countries after living in Japan

I think one thing living in Japan has given me is an appreciation of things my country does really well, and things it doesn't do so well in comparison to here. For instance, I think Australia is great with annual leave entitlements. You get four weeks automatically (some workplaces offer even more!) and there's not any guilt associated with taking it. Something we don't do so well is public transport. I know that Australia is a massive country, but there has been talk of creating a high speed rail option from Melbourne to Sydney for ages, and nothing has ever come of it. It's basically an 8 hour drive or flying. Also, inner city trains are regularly not on time. What are the things you think your home country does better or worse than Japan?

genkidesu

on Aug 26

6 Answers

Hair Color Treatments for Greying Hair

For those of you who have colored grey hair, I'm curious about the hair color treatments available in most drugstores. They seem simpler to use than box dyes. It's been many years since I've colored my hair. It's a chestnut brown and my grey is more silver. I don't hate it but the grey is dry and making me feel like I look older than I am. I'm especially interested in the natural brands that are non-permanent. For example Rishiri Kombu sounds like a decent option. Looking forward to your recommendations and experience.

helloalissa

on Aug 3