How to become a Kindergarten Teacher

Also called: Kindergarten Health Teacher, Early Childhood Educator

Teaches young children at kindergarten before they start primary school, supporting their physical and mental development through every part of kindergarten life.

Main tasks

• Making weekly and daily teaching plans and teaching according to them
• Greeting children as they arrive and checking their health by watching them learn and play
• Setting up the sandpit, building blocks, play kitchen and other equipment so children can play on their own initiative
• Leading games and group activities to teach children to cooperate
• Building children's self-expression and appreciation through singing, dancing and other activities
• Building physical and mental strength through exercise
• Helping children form self-care habits such as keeping clean and taking an interest in food
• Having children wash their hands and gargle to prevent infection
• Watching children's physical and mental wellbeing and contacting parents or specialists if they see signs of illness or disability
• Riding on the school bus or helping with drop-off and pick-up
• Recording daily care and each child's stage of development
• Talking with parents about children's behaviour, problems in daily life and development
• Writing notices to parents such as class newsletters
• Revising care plans based on how children are doing and parents' wishes
• Planning outings, excursions and other activities to spark children's interest and help them understand the world around them
• Planning events such as entrance ceremonies and sports days and doing the practice and preparation
• Meeting and sharing information with primary school teachers so children start school smoothly
• Helping children who need support in daily life
• Opening the kindergarten to children not yet enrolled and running trial sessions
• Doing office work such as collecting money and keeping accounts
• Preparing and submitting documents for government bodies
• Setting up discussions with teachers inside and outside the kindergarten for research and training
• Guiding and teaching other teachers

Workers in this job say junior college, university, or vocational college (senmon gakko) is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

To work as a kindergarten teacher you need a kindergarten teacher's licence. There are Class 1, Class 2 and advanced licences. You can get a Class 1 licence by graduating from a university with a kindergarten teacher training course, and a Class 2 licence by graduating from a tanki daigaku (junior college) or similar. The advanced licence requires a master's degree at a graduate school with a kindergarten teacher training course. People with the childcare worker (hoikushi) qualification and set work experience can also get a Class 2 licence by passing an exam. Hiring works differently for public and private kindergartens. For public kindergartens, the prefectural board of education runs a recruitment exam, as for primary, junior high and high school teachers. Private kindergartens each run their own selection. Above all you need to like children, but you also need knowledge and skills in how young children develop and learn. Attentiveness and observation to notice children's health, and the ability to give first aid for illness and accidents, are also important. Young children never sit still and move about energetically, so you also need the fitness to keep up with them.

Ways in

• University: Education & Teaching degrees, Offered by 82 universities in Japan
• Vocational college, junior college, kosen and trade skills tests: Junior college (短期大学) programme. 84% of workers surveyed by job tag say junior college graduates are common in this job. In March 2025, 1,981 junior college graduates started work in teaching (96% 教育) (School Basic Survey 2025, table 103).; Vocational college (専門学校) course: Kindergarten teacher training. 専修学校 courses in 教員養成 (教育・社会福祉関係) had 1,690 graduates in the 2024 school year, 1,495 of whom started work in a related field (School Basic Survey 2025, table 237). Course matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
• National licence or qualification: Listed by job tag as a qualification related to this job (関連資格): 幼稚園教諭免許（専修・１種・２種）. Needed to do this job (Peernovo, from job tag's entry description). English name and classification by Peernovo.

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

• Average annual income: ¥4,426,200 Private sector only: employers with 10 or more staff. Public servants, such as public school teachers and police officers, are not in these figures.
• Monthly base pay (before overtime and bonus): median ¥268,600, and the middle half earn ¥232,500 to ¥318,000 a month.
• 0.80 job openings per applicant at Hello Work (2025). A current demand signal, not a projection. It counts only the jobs and job seekers registered at Hello Work, Japan's public employment offices, and many graduate and professional hires never pass through it.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Kindergarten Teacher?

To work as a kindergarten teacher you need a kindergarten teacher's licence. There are Class 1, Class 2 and advanced licences. You can get a Class 1 licence by graduating from a university with a kindergarten teacher training course, and a Class 2 licence by graduating from a tanki daigaku (junior college) or similar. The advanced licence requires a master's degree at a graduate school with a kindergarten teacher training course. People with the childcare worker (hoikushi) qualification and set work experience can also get a Class 2 licence by passing an exam. Hiring works differently for public and private kindergartens. For public kindergartens, the prefectural board of education runs a recruitment exam, as for primary, junior high and high school teachers. Private kindergartens each run their own selection. Above all you need to like children, but you also need knowledge and skills in how young children develop and learn. Attentiveness and observation to notice children's health, and the ability to give first aid for illness and accidents, are also important. Young children never sit still and move about energetically, so you also need the fitness to keep up with them.

How much does a Kindergarten Teacher earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,426,200 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).

Do you need a degree to become a Kindergarten Teacher?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 27% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Education & Teaching degrees; Junior college (短期大学) programme; Vocational college (専門学校) course: Kindergarten teacher training.

Will AI change the work of a Kindergarten Teacher?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) 2025: earnings by occupation (2025 survey (June 2025 pay, 2024 bonus), published 2026-03-24), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Employment Referrals for General Workers (一般職業紹介状況): Hello Work job-openings-to-applicants ratio by occupation (2025 annual (release of 2026-10-02)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC): 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査) detailed sample tabulation: employed by occupation, sex, age and education (2020 Census (tables 9-1 and 15-1, published 2022-12-27)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• JILPT (職業情報データベース) via MHLW job tag: job tag download data: 解説系 (descriptions, how to become, related qualifications) and 簡易版数値系 (interests, tasks, education) (解説系 ver.7.01 (2026-06-04); 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00 (2026-03-17)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026