Okinawa school attracts Tokyo families seeking international education

In a seaside classroom filled with colorful crafts and conversations in Japanese and English, students at Okinawa International School (OIS) in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture, are busy using scissors, straws, plastic bottles and balloons. Some are using measuring cups for their “experiments.”

Among the 21 first graders immersed in creative activities, 66% are children whose families have relocated from outside the prefecture, mostly from the Tokyo metropolitan area.

OIS, initially founded in the city of Naha as an international preschool in 2003, is now an accredited school offering a continuous International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum from kindergarten through high school. This year, students from outside Okinawa Prefecture accounted for more than 60% of the entire student body, surpassing local enrollment for the first time. Some of them have transferred from IB-accredited schools in Tokyo.