school holidays

11 comments

1. Best time would be Golden Week. We do not typically get school holidays off.

2. Remember that while it looks like Japan will open up to tourists soon it’s not a guarantee that it will. Don’t assume that the world will go back to normal when you get to Japan!

3. What about like breaks between semesters? Like summer breaks, winter breaks etc?

4. [deleted]

5. >Where is a good place to look this up?

   The [Japan Holidays google calendar collection](https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/6084659?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en#zippy=%2Cadd-or-change-country-and-region-holidays) has always lined up when I get time off. Idk how much this varies across schools, but those are all the days I got off without using PTO (nenkyuu).

   Other than that the best times would be any of the long breaks (summer break and winter break mainly), but you’ll almost always have to use your nenkyuu for that.

6. General rule is school holidays =/= national holidays and we only get days off during national holidays. It’s easy to track if you subscribe to a Japanese calendar.

   In Google Calendars, next to Other calendars, click on the + and then Browse calendars of interest. Under Regional holidays, check Holidays in Japan. You should be subscribed to the Japanese calendar showing you all the national holidays.

7. amazing. can you not ask someone at your school?

8. Schools breaks might be the best time for families to visit, but they are a little different from western school systems, in that only students get the time off (and even still, many of them come in for their club activities). Teachers still have to show up everyday and work in the staffroom. You’ll get around 10-20 paid days off (depends entirely on the board of education) that you can generally use whenver, although during the breaks is common. Some individuals like to save them so they can take an extended break during summer, some people will have a few days during winter, spring, summer and have smaller breaks here and there. It’s up to you.

   Specific dates will be provided by your board of education, but generally the spring break period is the last week in March/first week in April, summer break is the whole month of August, and winter break is the last week in December/first week in January.

9. As others have said, there are usually long holidays, in the summer (around August) and in winter (around New Years). There are usually also a short holiday around the start of the new school year in March/April. **Teachers do not get school holidays off. You have to use PTO.**

   I would wait to have your family plan anything until you been in contact with your school. The exact timings of school holidays can differ by region/school as well as their annual leave policies. For example, Hokkaido is pretty famous for having shorter summer breaks and longer winter breaks than the rest of Japan. I know some high school ALTs who can easily take off during exam season. Whereas, as an ES/JHS ALT, I don’t have an exam season. Some schools are pretty chill about you taking time off during the school year. Others are more strict and want you to only take time off during school breaks.

   Also, obligatory mention that Japan is still not issuing tourist visas. Under the current rules your ~~parents would be allowed to come under a special short term family reunification visa, but not your siblings~~ family would not be allowed to enter Japan. Japan seems to be moving in the direction of loosening restrictions, but nothing solid has been announced. I would recommend not jumping the gun and waiting for an official announcement

10. As other have said. The only JETs who get school holiday off are Tokyo Private school JETs. We get them off for the most part. ESID though.

11. You have to ask your school they’ll have the holiday dates set out for the year and can give you a copy. Nothing like that is available online.

    Just note the kids won’t be in school but its still a working day for you. You can use PTO (nenkyu) or if you’re lucky they’ll give you some summer leave