Originally Posted by
joejones
I think you have two issues confused here. Japanese people are legally not supposed to send their kids to international schools because the international schools do not fulfill compulsory education requirements. But there is no compulsory education requirement for non-Japanese in Japan, as the constitution is drafted such that only Japanese nationals are subject to the requirement.
Wikipedia on 義務教育:
Interesting. I had always assumed this was an issue with all students at international schools, but according to the wikipedia article both the guardian (parent) and the child have to be Japanese in order for the rule to apply. So I guess it just impacts Japanese and dual-national children. Also I had assumed it was a statutory requirement not a constitutional one.
Thanks for info!