Who owns and operates Tokyo’s international schools?

When choosing an international school, parents often focus on curriculum, tuition, facilities, and university destinations. But there is another question that can be surprisingly difficult to answer: Who actually owns and runs the school?

Is it:

• A non-profit school governed by a board, with tuition and other revenue reinvested into the school?
• A privately owned school operated by an individual or family?
• Part of a corporate group that owns or oversees multiple schools?

This information isn’t always easy to find, and you can’t trust the first answer that AI gives!

The list below is based on my own research of publically available information, so there may be mistakes or outdated information. If you spot something that needs correcting, please let me know, and I’ll update it.

Ownership and governance can provide useful context when evaluating an international school. They can influence how decisions are made, how tuition revenue is used, who has responsibility for the school’s long-term direction, and how much control parents, school leaders, or an outside organization may have.

That doesn’t mean one ownership model is necessarily better than another. A non-profit school isn’t automatically better than a privately owned school, and being part of a corporate group isn’t necessarily a negative. The important thing is understanding how the school is structured and who ultimately makes the major decisions.

Non-profit: Schools operated by non-profit organizations, foundations, associations, religious organizations, or other entities where the school is not owned by private investors and revenue is generally reinvested in the organization and its educational mission. These schools either identified themselves as non-profits on their websites or stated that they were registered as Gakko Hojin, a government-regulated status that requires being a non-profit.

Privately owned: Schools owned and operated by an individual, family, company, or other private entity.

Corporate group: Schools that are part of a larger organization that owns or operates multiple schools or businesses.

As expected, most of Tokyo’s large, established international schools are non-profits. I was pleased to see that non-profits make up the clear majority of the 37 schools on the list.

Privately owned schools are the second-largest group, while corporate-owned schools are the smallest.

Tokyo’s international school market remains relatively fragmented. While there are a number of privately owned schools, there is not yet the same concentration of large international school groups seen in some other international school markets in Asia.

School	Status
American School in Japan	Non-profit, Gekko Hojin
Christian Academy in Japan	Non-profit, Gakko Hojin
Deutsche Schule Tokyo Yokohama	Non-profit (non-profit foundation with financial support from German and Swiss governments)
Horizon Japan International School	Non-profit, Gekko Hojin
India International School in Japan	Non-profit, Gekko Hojin
International School of the Sacred Heart	Non-profit, part of the Sacred Heart Gekko Hojin group
K International School	Non-profit, Gakko Hojin
Lycée Français International de Tokyo	Non-profit, Gakko Hojin
New International School	Non-profit, Gakko Hojin
Nishimachi International School	Non-profit, Gakko Hojin
Saint Maur International School	Non-profit, Gakko Hojin
Seisen International School	Non-profit, Gekko Hojin (operates under Seisen Jogakuin group of schools)
Shinagawa International School	Non-profit (stated on school website)
St. Mary’s International School	Non-profit, Gakko Hojin
The British School in Tokyo	Non-profit (operates under the Gakko Hojin of Showa Women’s University and Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen)
Tokyo International Progressive School	Non-profit (stated on school website)
Tokyo International School	Non-profit (Gekko Hojin)
Tokyo YMCA International School	Non-profit (operates under Tokyo YMCA, a non-profit)
Yokohama Christian School	Non-profit (operates under Yokohama Union Church)
Yokohama International School	Non-profit, Gekko Hojin
Canadian International School	Privately owned
Capital Tokyo International School	Privately owned
EIFJ Tokyo French-Japanese IS	Privately owned
KAIS International School	Privately owned
TIF International High School	Privately owned
Tokyo West International School	Privately owned
UIA International School of Tokyo	Privately owned
United School of Tokyo	Privately owned
Yoyogi International School	Privately owned
Rugby School (day option)	For-profit, non-profit partnership (partnership between Rugby School in England and Clarence Education Asia, in cooperation with Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. and Chiba University; registered as Gakko Hojin)
Global Indian International School	Corporate, Global Schools Group
Phoenix House International School	Corporate, Clarence Education Asia
Malvern College Tokyo	Corporate, Babylon Education Group
Aoba – Japan International School	Corporate, Aoba-BBT Inc.
Musashi International School Tokyo	Corporate, Aoba-BBT Inc.
Montessori School of Tokyo	Corporate, purchase by R.project in 2018; it is unclear if they still own the school

Sources and methodology: Information was compiled from school websites and other publicly available sources. Ownership and governance structures can change, so this information should be considered a snapshot as of August 2026.

Ownership structure is useful information, but it shouldn’t be used as a proxy for school quality. A school’s ownership tells you something about its organizational structure, but it doesn’t tell you whether the school is a good fit for your child.

When comparing schools, parents should also consider curriculum, accreditation, leadership, teacher qualifications and retention, class sizes, student support, university destinations, facilities, and school culture.

If you would like some assistance on navigating the field of international schools in Tokyo, reach out to Matt Kish at [email protected]. I regularly advise families on finding the right school for their children, based on my 20 years of experience teaching and leading in Tokyo, London, Singapore, and the US.