Naruto City Hall in Tokushima Prefecture is seen on Feb. 12, 2026. (Mainichi/Koichi Uematsu)
NARUTO, Tokushima — The city of Naruto in west Japan’s Tokushima Prefecture will make school trips for municipal elementary and junior high schools free of charge in the 2026 academic year, the municipal government announced Feb. 12.
The initiative aims to ease the financial burden on families with children. The city has allocated 46.11 million yen (about $301,200) in its fiscal 2026 budget proposal for related expenses. The Tokushima Prefectural Board of Education says this will be the first time fees for school trips have been eliminated in the prefecture. The city plans to continue the initiative in fiscal 2027 and beyond.
According to the Naruto Municipal Government’s school education division, 378 sixth graders and 411 second-year junior high students from municipal schools are expected to participate in school trips in the 2026 academic year. Based on past trips through to fiscal 2025, the cost per student was approximately 35,000 yen ($230) for sixth graders and about 80,000 yen ($520) for second-year junior high students. These expenses have in principle been covered by parents and guardians through school trip savings and other means.
In the 2026 school year starting April, the costs will be covered by public funds. The city is also preparing to provide equivalent financial support to parents of students attending private schools outside the city, with considerations of approximately 30,000 yen per sixth grader (about 10 students) and 70,000 yen per second-year junior high student (about 30 students).
Regarding the destinations for school trips in the 2027 academic year, Naruto Mayor Michihiko Izumi expressed a desire for students to experience international travel while young, stating, “I would like South Korea (accessible via direct flights from Tokushima) to be considered for junior high students and Okinawa for elementary students.” The school education division indicated that even if school trips in fiscal 2027 and onward involved international travel, it would continue to explore ways to fund them publicly.
(Japanese original by Koichi Uematsu, Tokushima Bureau)
AloJapan.com