I have some good news – my baby got into Ninka Hoikuen!!! (Public Nursery School!) We were extremely lucky in the second round of applications and got into a nursery school in our area.
I think the following 2 reasons really helped our application:
- We expanded our list of preferences to 18 Hoikuens in our area – there is actually only space for 6 Hoikuens on the application form, but I didn’t realise that people write ALOT more down the side and on the back of the application form. By increasing your list of preferences, you not only increase the chances of getting into one of the Hoikuens, but you also show how eager you are to get in.
- My sister-in-law helped us write a one-page letter in Japanese to submit with our application, explaining how important it was for us to get our baby into Hoikuen.
Thank you so much Izumi for your help!!!!! We are so excited to finally get in!!!
Hi there Kate,
I’m trying to apply for hoikuen for my 2 girls (3 and 1+). I read that you wrote a letter and I was wondering what you wrote in yours?
I’d appreciate any help I can get at this point…
Thanks
Beth
Hi Beth, thanks for your message. My husband wrote the letter in Japanese – I heard from my sister-in-law that it is good to have the letter addressed from my husband as he is Japanese, and also it shows how supportive he is of me returning to work (silly I know, but Japan is often like that!). So he wrote a one page letter in Japanese explaining how important it was for me to go back to work (for my career and financially) and how he supported me. We kept the letter simple and to-the-point, but also tried to express how important it was for our son to get into Hoikuen so that I could return to work. It must have helped with our application as to our huge surprise and delight we got into our second preference for Hoikuen. Hope this helps and all the best! Kate