Japanese School Grade & Age Calculator

Find the age, current school grade in Japan's April-based system, and entrance/graduation years from a birth date — early-birthday rules included.

Runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded

How Japan's school-year cutoff works

Japanese school years run from April to March, and the grade cutoff is April 2nd: children born from April 2nd through April 1st of the following year belong to the same grade. Counterintuitively, a child born on April 1st joins the grade of those born the previous spring — Japanese law counts a person as one year older on the day before their birthday, so an April 1st child turns six "within" the school year that starts on April 1st. Children born January 1st – April 1st are called hayaumare (early-born) and are the youngest in their grade.

This calculator applies the cutoff precisely and shows the current age, the grade for any given school year, and a full timeline of entrance and graduation years from elementary school through university — handy for expat families enrolling children in Japanese schools or reading Japanese school documents.

Notes

Last updated: 2026-08-26

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