Education

Nursery Schools

Contact: Tottori City Office, Children and Families Division
(South-side Train Station Office Building) 0857-20-3462

A nursery school is a facility which accepts children from 0 year old to entering school who cant be looked after at home due to their parents work, illness, pregnancy, or caring for other family members.

Application for enrollment

Application for enrolling during the Japanese fiscal year (April 2 - March 31 the following year) is possible at each nursery school or at the Tottori City Children and Families Division at all times.
Application for enrolling from the start of the fiscal year (April 1) can be made at the nursery school only. Please note that the application period is usually from early to mid December.

Kindergartens

Contact: please contact kindergarten schools directly for information

A kindergarten is an educational institution for children of 3 years old until entering elementary school. Children spend about 4 hours a day in the kindergarten, which is based on the idea of putting importance on both the opportunities to develop their social skills by interacting with other children in the kindergarten and to be educated by their parents or guardians at home. While some private kindergartens provide minibus services, parents or guardians are expected to take their children to the kindergarten and pick them up from there.

Application for enrollment

Kindergartens accept applications starting from November each year. If you wish to enroll your children in the middle of the fiscal year, please contact the kindergartens directly.

Elementary Schools, Junior High Schools

Contact: Tottori City Board of Education, School Education Division
(2nd Office Building) 0857-20-3356

Children from age 6 to 15 are required to receive the compulsory education in elementary and junior high school.
The Japanese school year starts on April 1 and ends on March 31 the following year. One school year is divided into 2 terms, with a spring holiday (about 2 weeks), summer holiday (about 5 weeks), autumn holiday (about 5 days), and winter holiday (about 2 weeks) during the year.
There are 44 municipal elementary schools, 18 municipal junior high schools, 1 national elementary school and 1 national junior high school in Tottori City. There are no private elementary or junior high school. For municipal schools, the school your children attend is determined by the area in which you live. If you wish to send your children to an elementary or junior high school, please take your certificate of alien registration to the Tottori City Board of Education, School Education Division and complete the admission procedures.

Note:
The Japanese education system consists of 9 years of compulsory education (6 years of elementary school and 3 years of junior high school), 3 years of high school and 4 years of university.

Education Counseling

Contact: Tottori City Education Center 0857-36-6060

Counseling Information of Tottori City Education Center

When children display unusual behavior such as shutting themselves in at home, refusing to go to school or are having difficulties adapting to society, it may be an indication of underlying problems. Instead of trying to solve those situations all by oneself, the Tottori City Education Center offers advice and counseling on how to avoid and how to deal with problems once they occur. If you feel you need help, do not hesitate to contact us. All consultations are treated strictly confidential.
Please be aware, that counseling may only available in Japanese.

Counseling by Telephone

Where to call:	"Kokoro no Denwa" Help Line, Tel. 0857-26-3877
When to call:	Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (except public holidays and Dec. 29 – Jan. 3)
Who can call:	Children, parents or guardians, teachers
What is counseled:	truancy, bullying, child rearing and parenting issues, classroom management, problems with parents or guardians

Counseling at the Education Center

Please call the Tottori City Education Center first to make an appointment. Regular counseling meetings can also be arranged.

At Home Counseling

The Center's counselors visit your home or school to provide parents or teachers with counseling concerning students who shut themselves in at home, are unwilling to go to school or have difficulty adapting to society. Please call the Tottori City Education Center in advance to arrange the visit.

Financial Aid to School Expenses

Contact: Tottori City Board of Education, School Education Division
(2nd Office Building) 0857-20-3356

This system provides financial support for parents who have elementary school or junior high school students and have financial difficulty paying the school expenses. This system is intended to provide parts of school supplies expenses, school trip expenses, school lunch fees etc.

Who is eligible

The eligible persons for this system are those who are not receiving any assistance under the Japanese Public Assistance Act (Seikatsuhogo-ho) but are living in a equally financially difficult condition. Various factors such as your household income, living condition etc. are taken into consideration to decide whether you are eligible.

Application for school expense subsidies

Please apply to the elementary or junior high school which your children are attending. The application form can be obtained from the respective elementary or junior high school, from the Tottori City School Education Division or the Board of Education Annex at the respective branch offices.
Along with the application form you will also need an Income Taxation Certificate (Shotoku-Kazei-Shomeisho) and copies of documents verifying your reasons for applying. Those who are already receiving this support also must apply for each fiscal year. Please pay attention to the application period.

Libraries in Tottori City

■Central Library	0857-27-5182　Open hours　9:00 - 19:00 (9:00 - 17:00 on Saturdays and Sundays)
■Ketaka Library	0857-37-6036　Open hours 10:00 - 18:00
■Mochigase Library	0858-87-2702 Open hours 10:00 - 18:00

＊Closed on every Tuesday, the last Thursday of the month, the next day of the national holidays（for Ketaka Library and Mochigase Library only）

■Central Community Center Libraries (Chuo Kominkan Toshoshitsu)

Kokufu Town Central Community Center Library	0857-24-1642
Fukube Town Central Community Center Library	0857-75-2030
Kawahara Town Central Community Center Library	0858-76-3123
Saji Town Central Community Center Library	0858-88-0218
Shikano Town Central Community Center Library	0857-84-2131
Aoya Town Central Community Center Library	0857-85-1141

＊Please contact the respective libraries for the open days and hours.

First-time Users

●Any person who lives in or commutes to Tottori City can apply for a library card.
●Please bring an ID verifying your address, fill out the application form and submit it to the librarys service counter and you will be issued a library card.
●The library card can also be used at Central Community Center Libraries or the mobile library (ido- toshokan)

Borrowing

●You can borrow up to 10 books for 2 weeks.
●Please take your library card and the books you wish to borrow to the service counter.

Returning

●Books can be returned at any libraries, a library card is not necessary for returning. Please use "return post (henkyaku post)" when returning books outside the libraries service hours. Also, please note that CDs, large-sized picture books, and other fragile materials should be returned directly to the service counter.

Internet service

●You can reserve the books via the website of the library. For that, your library card number and a password are necessary.
●E-mail inquiries can be made at all@lib.city.tottori.lg.jp