The American School in Japan
🇯🇵 Tokyo · Founded 1902 · American · Ages 3–18
Tokyo's flagship American-curriculum, WASC-accredited, non-profit co-ed day school (est. 1902), serving ~1,734 students ages 3–18 across two campuses with an AP-based college-prep programme.
Curricula
American
Age range
3–18
Languages of instruction
English
Annual fees
SGD JPY 2,987,000–3,533,000
Enrollment
1,734
Boarding
No (day school)
Accreditations
WASC
Tier Profile
We only tier dimensions backed by a public inspection verdict or verifiable accreditation. Other dimensions show a data flag — never a guessed score.
BrightKey's Assessment
The American School in Japan is a non-profit, independent, co-educational day school founded in 1902, one of the oldest international schools in Asia. It operates two Tokyo campuses: an Early Learning Center in Roppongi and the main Chofu Campus, organised into Early Learning, Elementary, Middle and High School (Nursery through Grade 12, ages 3–18).
The curriculum is modelled on the American system — an English-medium college-preparatory programme including Advanced Placement (AP) courses. ASIJ is accredited by WASC and affiliated with the College Board, EARCOS and JCIS. It is not an IB or Cambridge school; AP is the senior-year pathway.
ASIJ serves a community drawn from 59 countries, with ~1,734 students and 184 teachers (school-reported). It primarily serves expatriate and internationally-minded families; admissions require at least one parent to be fluent in English and applicants to reside in Tokyo.
Honest positioning: a premium, well-established American-track school with deep history and recognised accreditation. As is typical of Tokyo schools, it does not publish AP score distributions or university-placement data, and offers no scholarships or financial aid for new applicants — limiting accessibility to higher-income families.
Why These Ratings?
Inspection & AccreditationA — Excellent
WASC-accredited (the standard for American international schools), verifiable on the school's own About page. Japan has no public inspectorate, so the tier reflects accreditation depth — capped at A, not S.
Strengths & Trade-offs
Strengths
- Long-established institution (founded 1902), among the oldest international schools in Asia
- WASC-accredited with a clearly American, AP-based college-preparatory curriculum
- Substantial scale: ~1,734 students and ~184 teachers across two purpose-run Tokyo campuses
- Genuinely international community spanning 59 nationalities
- Full continuous pathway from Nursery (age 3) through Grade 12
- Operational depth: 32-bus network, food services, structured enrichment programmes
Trade-offs
- Does NOT publish AP results or university-placement data — outcomes cannot be independently verified
- Explicitly offers no scholarships or financial aid for new applicants, with high all-in costs
- English-fluency requirement for at least one parent narrows the applicant pool
- Day school only — no boarding
- Public detail on EAL/English-language support could not be confirmed
Is It Right For You?
Best For
- ✓Expatriate and internationally-mobile families in Tokyo seeking a U.S. college-prep track
- ✓Families targeting American/AP university admission pathways
- ✓Households wanting a single continuous K–12 (age 3–18) institution
- ✓Families who can absorb premium fees without needing financial aid
Not Ideal For
- ✕Families needing boarding or living outside the Tokyo commute zone
- ✕Families seeking IB or British/Cambridge curricula specifically
- ✕Families requiring financial aid or scholarships (none offered to new applicants)
- ✕Households where no parent is fluent in English (admissions eligibility barrier)
Curriculum
American college-preparatory curriculum, English-medium, with Advanced Placement (AP) via College Board affiliation. Not IB-authorized and not Cambridge-authorized.
Fees
For 2025–26, ASIJ publishes tuition by grade: Nursery–Pre-K ¥2,987,000 to Grade 9–12 ¥3,533,000, plus non-refundable one-time fees (¥50,000 application, ¥300,000 registration, ¥1,525,000 building maintenance) and a ¥250,000 annual capital assessment. International-schools-database lists an all-in 2026/27 range of ¥3,393,000–4,076,000. Verify current figures directly with the school.
Admissions
At least one parent must speak, read and write fluent English, and applicants must reside in Tokyo with their parents. No scholarships or financial aid for new applicants.
Campus Life
Two campuses — an Early Learning Center in Roppongi (Minato-ku) and the main Chofu Campus — connected by a 32-bus transport network, with on-site food services and a community of 59 nationalities.
University Placement
School-reported · not independently verified
Not public. No university-placement, college-matriculation, or AP results data is published on ASIJ's public website (consistent with the norm among Tokyo international schools).
Sources
Every verifiable fact carries a public source — verify it yourself.
- ASIJ official site — About · 2026-06
- ASIJ official site — Tuition & Fees · 2026-06
- International Schools Database — Tokyo (ASIJ entry) · 2026-06
- ACS WASC Directory of Schools · 2026-06
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