All applications for public day care (ninka) in Tokyo are assessed based on a point system designed by each ward. The more points you have, the higher your ranking on the waiting list to get into the public day care of your choice. The point system is supposed to be an objective way of prioritizing those with the greatest need for childcare, but it’s not as clear cut as it seems, and those families that get in often figure out how to manipulate the system in their favor so they have more points.
The following is a sample of a recent point chart that I have on file. The wards update their point scales pretty regularly, and each ward has their own scale, so please only use the below to gain a general understanding of how the point system works. A copy of the most up-to-date point chart will be in the application form you pick up at your ward office.
Most successful applications for public day care have a point total of 40 or more. In the case of two parents working full-time, an application is awarded 40 points total (20 for each full-time worker). However, since pretty much all applications have 40 points, as for the most part people only apply to the public system if both parents are working (because entrance is so competitive), families then try to give themselves an edge by adding extra points. See the last chart below for details on this. But for an example, the most common way to add points above and beyond the 40 is to have your child already enrolled in private day care. If you are already paying for full-time childcare in a private facility (or otherwise), you’re awarded an extra 2 points, which would then give you a total of 42. (The thought process behind this from the ward’s point of view is that if you’re paying for private care, which will be more expensive than public day care, there’s no uncertainty about whether you are really in need of day care or not.)
The first part of the scale is simply based on working hours. You’ll see in looking it over that corporate/company workers seem to be favored over self-employed or family businesses. If you’re self-employed, you can be awarded the full 20 points only if you’re a business owner–but what this exactly means is not clear. If you’re self-employed or work for a family business but are not the business owner or head, then you can’t get the full 20 points. So two spouses working together cannot both get 20 points. And the ward also awards less points to self-employed people working at home as opposed to those in an office or place of business. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, really. It seems that there’s probably some leeway in how you define your job type, but just remember you do have to provide documentation and proof for everything. However, if you work for yourself from home and are technically the owner of your “business,” then you should be able to be awarded the full 20 points.
| Job Type | Working Hours | Points | |
|
Company Employee |
Working 20 days or more per month | ||
| 40 hours , 5 days/week, daytime | 20 | ||
| 40 hours/week | 20 | ||
| more than 35, less than 40 hours/week | 19 | ||
| more than 30, less than 35 hours/week | 17 | ||
| more than 20, less than 30 hours/week | 16 | ||
| Working less than 20, up to 16 days/month | |||
| more than 32 hours/week | 16 | ||
| more than 24, less than 32 hours/week | 14 | ||
| more than 16, less than 24 hours/week | 13 | ||
| Business Owner
(Self-employed, Family-run Business) |
up to 20 points (depending on hours, see above) | ||
| Self-Employed, Family-run Business Employee
(Not Owner) |
Working 20 days or more per month | Work in an
office |
Work from
Home |
| more than 40 hours/week | 19 | 18 | |
| more than 30, less than 40 hours/week | 16 | 15 | |
| more than 20, less than 30 hours/week | 15 | 14 | |
| Working less than 20, up to 16 days/month | |||
| more than 32 hours/week | 15 | 14 | |
| more than 24, less than 32 hours/week | 13 | 12 | |
| more than 16, less than 24 hours/week | 12 | 11 | |
| Seeking Employment | If you’ve found a job and are looking for day care, as long as you can submit proof of having secured employment, your points will be calculated based on the above scales, but 4 points will be subtracted from your total. | See above, minus 4 points | |
| If you are currently seeking employment but have not yet secured a job. You are required to find work within 2 months. | 7 | ||
For families where one spouse is not working due to special circumstances, the following shows how points are given based on those circumstance. For families eligible for these points who have successful applications, in most cases one spouse will already have 20 points for working full time (see above chart) and then for the non-working spouse with special circumstance, points will be awarded as detailed below. Single-parent households also pick up more points here.
| Special Circumstances | Points | |
| Pregnancy/Maternity Leave | Over a total time of 5 months. Points won’t be awarded after applying under this category for more than 5 months. | 12 |
| Illness or Injury | bed rest | 20 |
| infectious disease, Grade 3 mental illness (based on Tokyo Mental Illness Grade Scale) | 20 | |
| Mental Illness less than Grade 3 | 15 | |
| Disability | (based on Tokyo Illness Grade Scale)
Grade 1, 2 |
20 |
| Grade 3 | 16 | |
| Grade 4 | 12 | |
| Primary Caretaker for a Sick Relative | Full-time caretaker | 18 |
| Staying with Hospitalized Person | 16 | |
| Taking Person to Hospital Every Day | 14 | |
| Visiting Care/Nursing Home Facility Daily | 14 | |
| Continuing Education | Currently enrolled in classes | 12 |
| Natural Disaster | 20 | |
| One-parent Household | Parents are divorced or one parent is deceased. | 20 |
| Other Special Circumstances | Parent attends Japanese language school | 7 |
| Parent works 8-hour night shift | Use above company worker scale for hours, then minus two points | |
| Other | Circumstances to be considered case by case by ward office and awarded points accordingly. | |
The last part of the chart below shows you how extra points are added and subtracted to an application’s total. Remember, most successful applications already have the 40 points for having two full-time workers in the family, but then it’s a matter of finding a few extra points to give you an edge over all the other dual income families in the application pool. Those points are picked up (or lost!) for reasons outlined below.
| Situations for Addition or Subtraction of Points | Points | |
| Location Related | Non-resident of ward but planning to move to the ward in which you’re applying for public day care | -2 |
| Non-resident of ward but employed there | -4 | |
| Non-resident of ward, not employed there | -6 | |
| Non-resident of Japan | -2 | |
| Relocating wards, already have child in public day care in former ward | 2 | |
| One-parent Household | Divorced or one parent deceased with no care-taking assistance | 4 |
| Divorced or one parent deceased with care-taking assistance | 2 | |
| Parents living separately due to job transfer | 2 | |
| One parent is hospitalized for over 6 months | 2 | |
| Spouse is not registered resident of same ward | -4 | |
| Already Have Private Childcare | Child is in private day care or being taken care of through other means of paid child care
(proof required) |
2 |
| Maternity Leave | Pregnant, have a child in day care, plan to go back to work | 2 |
| Re-enrolling older child after taking them out for maternity leave during new pregnancy | 4 | |
| Family Assistance | Grandparent under age 60 living within 1km | -2 |
| Employee of Public Day Care Facility | Applying to have your child in the same day care that you work in | -1 |
| Requesting to move from one public day care facility to another | You have multiple children at different public day care facilities and request they be assigned to the same one | 2 |
| Other reason | -4 | |
| Disabled Child | 2 | |
| Special Circumstances | To be considered on a case by case basis by the ward and awarded points accordingly | 1 to 6 points |
Day Care in Japan 