Families from the Tokyo area are increasingly relocating to Okinawa for enrollment at Okinawa International School, where more than 60% of students this year come from outside the prefecture, surpassing local enrollment for the first time.
In a seaside classroom at Okinawa International School (OIS) in Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture, students engage in colorful crafts and bilingual conversations in Japanese and English, using scissors, straws, plastic bottles, and balloons. Some employ measuring cups for their experiments.
Among the 21 first graders involved in these creative activities, 66% are children from families who relocated from outside the prefecture, primarily the Tokyo metropolitan area. Founded in 2003 in Naha as an international preschool, OIS has evolved into an accredited institution offering a continuous International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum from kindergarten through high school. This year, students from beyond Okinawa make up more than 60% of the total enrollment, exceeding local students for the first time. Some have transferred from IB-accredited schools in Tokyo.
This shift highlights the school's growing appeal, drawing families seeking international education and encouraging relocations to Okinawa.