Childcare Staff Training in Japan: 2026 Comparison Guide

Staff training for childcare centers in Japan now comes in many forms: free training videos, paid services for operators, designated professional development courses tied to public funding for staff pay, and systems for tracking who has completed what. At the same time, 2026 has brought several rule changes that affect training. They include the Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act, a Japanese child-protection law that takes effect on December 25 and includes criminal record checks for people who work with children (it is commonly called “Japan’s DBS,” a reference to the UK’s Disclosure and Barring Service, but it is a separate Japanese system), and funding reductions tied to safety plans that began in July.

This article first gives an overview of training services and how the main ones differ, then explains what the new rules require and how to run training and keep records within your center. Service information reflects what could be confirmed from each provider’s official sources as of October 22, 2026. Most of the sources cited are in Japanese, and the services listed may be offered only in Japanese, so check the language of instruction before enrolling staff.

The article mainly covers how licensed childcare centers (ninka hoikuen) operate. Some points differ for nintei kodomoen (integrated early childhood centers), yochien (kindergartens), and community-based childcare services, so check each source against your facility type.

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Japan's DBS-Style Law: A Guide for Childcare Providers

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PR | WEL-KIDS Co., Ltd.This article introduces a free webinar co-hosted by WEL-KIDS Co., Ltd. and TMI Associates.Japan's Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act will take effect on December 25, 2026. The law is often described as Japan's new DBS-style system, drawing a comparison with the UK's Disclosure and Barring Service.For childcare and education professionals outside Japan, the law offers an important example of how Japan is building a more systematic framework for preventin...

The Market for Childcare Staff Training and an Overview of Services

Childcare Facilities in Japan by the Numbers

Source: Children and Families Agency, “Summary of the Status of Childcare Centers and Related Facilities (as of April 1, 2026)” (preliminary figures; “childcare facilities” here includes childcare centers as well as nintei kodomoen and community-based childcare services)

The number of facilities is roughly flat, fewer children are enrolled, and centers are starting to have spare capacity. Even so, the number of children on waiting lists rose nationwide. Osaka Prefecture cited, as one reason for increases in some municipalities, facilities that could not hire enough childcare workers and had to accept fewer children (Osaka Prefecture press release, August 25, 2026). Taken together, these figures suggest that, for now, developing and retaining current staff bears more directly on how centers run than opening new ones.

E-learning is also spreading as a way to deliver training. Japan’s e-learning market is projected at 392.35 billion yen for fiscal 2025, of which the business segment accounts for 129.35 billion yen, up 4.7% from the previous year (Yano Research Institute, April 22, 2026). These figures cover all industries; no public statistics were found showing the market size for childcare alone.

Five Types of Staff Training Services

The training services available to childcare centers fall into five groups by purpose. Who pays and what records you get also differ, so it helps to first sort out what your center needs.

Comparing General Training and Video Services

These are general training services used for in-house training and refresher training. They are separate from designated Career-Up Training, and completing them does not necessarily count toward the training requirement for the staff pay funding supplement. Prices and content may change, so check each provider’s latest information before signing up. This list is for reference and does not endorse any particular service.

Sources: each provider’s official website and announcements (Codmon College training management feature, Codmon College certificates of attendance, Hoiku-is notice on videos limited to the paid service, Hoiku no Design Kenkyujo membership terms, and others)

What to Check When Choosing a General Training Service

As the table shows, services differ in whether they issue certificates and how far they track each staff member’s records. Rather than counting videos, check the points below to see whether a service fits your center and how it would work after adoption.

Content

• Does it cover the topics your center wants to address?
• Does it suit the staff you are training (new hires, mid-career staff, head teachers, part-time staff, and so on)?
• What expertise and frontline experience do the instructors have?
• After training, who answers questions, and to what extent?
• Is it video only, or does it include exercises and reflection on workplace practice?

Certificates and records

• Are certificates of completion or attendance issued? If so, for which formats, and under what conditions?
• Is each staff member’s training history kept? Is there an extra fee for this?
• Can you see a list of staff who have not completed training, by center or by operator?
• Can you also record training taken outside the service, such as municipal training or Career-Up Training? If so, is it status only, or can you attach certificates and log training hours?
• Can you export data? Can you take your records with you if you cancel?

Comparing Designated Career-Up Training

Japan provides additional public funding for childcare staff pay and working conditions (shogu kaizen-to kasan, sometimes translated as the “Treatment Improvement Allowance”); in this article, we call it the staff pay funding supplement. For childcare centers, the training requirement under Category 3 of this supplement is Japan’s designated professional development program for childcare staff, known as “Career-Up Training,” run by a prefectural government or by a provider the prefectural governor has designated (Career-Up Training for Childcare Workers Guidelines (posted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government)). The national guidelines set 15 hours per subject area, and staff complete it one subject area at a time, such as infant care, early childhood education, or management. How those hours are split between e-learning and live sessions, and the hours each provider describes, vary, as the table below shows.

The “Eligible regions and designation” column is based on each provider’s own description; this article has not checked designation status in every prefecture. To confirm whether completed training counts toward your center’s funding supplement, check the implementation guidelines of the prefecture where your center is located. Enrollment status is as of October 22, 2026.

Format and fee conditions also vary by prefecture. Tokyo, for example, requires that even when training is delivered by e-learning, at least 3 of the 15 hours be exercises or group discussion held in person or live (Tokyo Metropolitan Government), and it also offers fee exemptions. The same provider may run separate courses with different fees for national and prefecture-specific audiences.

Childcare centers may also be able to use in-house training that meets certain requirements to waive part of Career-Up Training. Kyoto Prefecture, for example, allows staff who complete in-house training approved in advance by the prefecture to skip up to 4 hours per subject area in the corresponding field (Kyoto Prefecture, “Requirements for In-House Training”). Check your prefecture’s procedures, including any advance approval or application.

Services That Support Training Management and Operations

Completing training is one task; tracking training status across the center and connecting it to staff development is another. The services that support this second task fall into the following types.

General-Purpose Learning Management Systems (LMS)

These systems deliver materials the center prepares and track who has completed them. They do not include childcare-specific materials, so the center or operator provides the content.

If you want to track completion of the Children and Families Agency’s DBS training videos in an LMS, you can apply to receive the videos as MP4 files (on the condition that you follow the Public Data License; Children and Families Agency).

Staff Development Platforms for Childcare Facilities

Some services manage not only training but also staff development meetings, evaluations, and development progress in one place. KatagrMa, for example, is a cloud-based organizational and staff development platform for childcare, education, and developmental support facilities, offered as three products: staff development, performance evaluation, and engagement. It has been described as a system for holding one-on-one staff development meetings and self-evaluations and sharing that information between centers and headquarters (2022 announcement). Pricing was not listed in the public materials we were able to check.

Codmon College’s training management feature, covered in the previous section, also handles training plans and each staff member’s training status. Which service suits you depends on whether managing training alone is enough or whether you also want to manage staff development meetings and evaluations.

Visiting Trainers and Consulting Services

Another option is to have outside experts help you design and run in-house training.

• Advisors sent by local governments: Some local governments have sent instructors or advisors to centers free of charge for in-house training (Kyoto Prefecture’s fiscal 2024 guide, Sakai City, Shizuoka City, and others). Former center directors and other experts visit to advise on how to run in-house training or to serve as instructors. To find out whether such a program is currently available, contact the childcare division or early childhood education center of the local government where your center is located.
• Private training consultants: Hoiku no Design Kenkyujo, for example, says it helps operators, local governments, and organizations plan and introduce training that combines in-person, live online, and on-demand formats. No prices are listed; terms are decided through individual consultation.

Excel or a System?

Base the decision not only on the number of centers or staff but also on how long it takes to compile records, how often staff transfer or leave, and how much outside training they take. If a service you already use has management features, it is worth first checking whether you can make full use of them.

Either way, decide in advance what to record in your training log, who updates it and when, where certificates and other documents are stored, and how to handle records for staff who have left.

What to Check Under the New Rules

Whatever services you use, each rule differs in who must be trained, when, and what to keep. Start by putting them side by side in one table to find any gaps at your center.

Training Requirements at a Glance

Note: Since October 2025, a system including a duty to report suspected abuse by staff at childcare centers and similar facilities has been in place (Osaka City explanatory material). It does not require training, but if you cover it in in-house training, recording it the same way as other training makes it easier to check later.

DBS Training: Complete It Before Starting Covered Work

The Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act takes effect on December 25, 2026. Operators of licensed childcare centers, nintei kodomoen, yochien, and similar facilities are covered by the obligation and must ensure that staff who work with children complete training (Children and Families Agency notice, April 21, 2026). For the system as a whole, including criminal record checks and information management, see the Children and Families Agency’s dedicated page.

Staff already in covered roles: before the law takes effect

As a general rule, operators must ensure that staff already working with children when the law takes effect complete training before it takes effect (that is, before December 25). However, for people whose assignment was decided by the day before the effective date but who start the work after that date, training only needs to be completed before they start (clarified in the September 2026 guideline revision; Children and Families Agency, “Revision of the Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act Implementation Guidelines”).

Staff newly starting covered work: before they begin

For staff hired after the law takes effect, operators must also, as a general rule, ensure that training is completed before they begin covered duties. The deadline is not “before employment begins” but “before starting work with children.” Because training is needed every time someone is hired, building “training before starting work” into your onboarding process helps prevent anyone from being missed.

The guidelines also stress not treating training as a one-time event but connecting it to regular training and everyday practice (Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act Implementation Guidelines, pp. 121-122).

Free DBS training materials from the government

The Children and Families Agency’s “Training Materials for Workers Under the Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act” page offers the following (as of October 2026). Using these first is one way to keep DBS training costs down.

Where the key-points video is used, staff are encouraged to complete the standard video training afterward, where possible (guidelines, pp. 121-122). Besides the government’s standard video, operators may run their own training as long as it meets the training items in the guidelines and includes both lectures and exercises. If you use a private training service for DBS training, check its content against the relevant part of the guidelines.

Safety Plans: Training and Drills, Informing Parents, and Reviews Are Assessed Separately

Under Article 6-3 of the national standards for the facilities and operation of child welfare facilities, childcare centers must create a safety plan that covers staff training and drills, carry out training and drills regularly, inform parents, and review the plan regularly. Since July 2026, funding has been reduced for centers that do not do these things (Children and Families Agency material).

At childcare centers and similar facilities, the following three items are assessed separately:

1. Training and drills
2. Informing parents
3. Reviewing the plan

So even if you hold training once, the other items remain incomplete if you have not informed parents or reviewed the plan. Recording that staff watched a training video does not count as holding drills, informing parents, or reviewing the plan. If an item stays incomplete for one year, the funding reduction applies from the following month. It continues through the month in which the item is completed. The month in which you carry it out again is also included in the reduction period. For the amount and how it is calculated, check the guidance from the local government with jurisdiction over your center.

Staff Pay Funding Supplement (Category 3): Fully Applied from Fiscal 2026

The training requirement for the staff pay funding supplement is now applied as “Category 3” (formerly Supplement II). It was phased in from fiscal 2023 and has applied in full since fiscal 2026 (Hokkaido). Check your prefecture’s implementation guidelines for the training required for each position. For choosing where to take it, see the earlier section, “Comparing Designated Career-Up Training.”

Steps and Roles for Running In-House Training

Whichever services you choose, training does not end when someone finishes a course. Training runs more smoothly when you treat planning, securing work time, taking training and doing exercises, keeping records, and reflecting on practice as one continuous process, with someone responsible for each step.

Step 1: Create an Annual Training Plan

At the start of each year, list the training you will hold. Separate training required by the rules (DBS training, safety plan training and drills, Career-Up Training, and so on) from training your center runs on its own, and decide the timing, participants, and services for each. For DBS training, the Children and Families Agency’s training plan template can be used as is.

Step 2: Schedule Training Within Working Hours

The DBS training guide states that because operators must have staff take the training, the time spent on it counts as working time (Children and Families Agency, “Training Guide (for Operators)”, section 4.3). Training that operators require staff to take is to be treated as working hours. If you allow staff to train at home, do not treat it as unpaid self-study; track it as working time.

Possible time slots include part of a staff meeting or periods when shifts overlap. If you use nap time, do so only when you can still ensure children’s safety checks, staffing ratios, and staff breaks.

Step 3: Training and Exercises Beyond the Video

Setting aside time after the video to discuss how it applies to situations at your center helps connect the content to real decisions. For DBS training, one approach is to use the topics in the government’s exercise materials and discuss in small groups how you would respond in specific everyday situations at your center. For safety plan training and drills, practice the procedures set out in the plan.

Step 4: Keep Records

Record who took which training, when, and how. For DBS training, the Children and Families Agency’s training guide includes a sample training log with the following items:

• Training name, training category, and format (standard, key points, center’s own, etc.)
• Staff number, name, and position or job type
• Start date of covered work, delivery method (in person, online, etc.), and completion date

Step 5: Reflect on Practice

After training, use the next month’s staff meeting or a similar occasion to discuss “what we changed after the training” and “what was difficult to put into practice.” This is not required by the rules; it is a practical way to help training take hold in daily work.

Who Does What: Three Roles

At small centers, one person may cover more than one role. That is fine, but keeping clear who decides what makes handovers easier when staff change.

Keeping Records: Certificates of Completion, Certificates of Attendance, and Training Records

Certificates of completion and certificates of attendance are documents a training provider issues to people who meet the conditions it sets. What they prove (attendance, finishing the videos, or completing tests and reports) depends on the document’s name and issuing conditions. A training record shows who took what, and when. Some records are kept by the training provider or system, and some by the center itself.

“Attended,” “took,” and “completed” do not mean the same thing. When you receive a document, check its name and issuing conditions before filing it.

Bring Scattered Records Together in One Center Log

The more services and courses you use, the more your records end up scattered across paper certificates, notices from local governments, each service’s dashboard, and your center’s Excel files. You do not need to move everything into one system, but choosing one log for the center makes checking faster. One approach is to record in that log who took which training, when, and how, and where the related documents are stored. If a service’s management feature lets you register training taken elsewhere, you can also use that screen as your log.

Records Are Evidence of Training, Not a Substitute for It

Do Not Copy Criminal Record Check Information Into Your Training Log

Japan’s DBS includes, separately from training, a “criminal record check” that confirms whether staff have a record of sexual offenses. Do not casually copy information obtained through these checks into your general training log. The government asks operators to keep the number of people who handle this information to a minimum, to avoid recording or storing the contents of the criminal record check certificate as far as possible, and, where recording or storage is unavoidable, to take information management measures suited to the risk (Children and Families Agency, “Proper Management of Information on Sexual Offense Records”). Handle it in line with government materials and your organization’s information management rules.

Training Operations Checklist for Your Center

Use this checklist to review your center’s situation. [Compliance] marks checks related to legal or funding requirements, and [Recommended practice] marks practical steps suggested by our editors that are not legal obligations. Print it out and use it for checks within your center.

Planning and Choosing Services

• [Compliance] All staff already in covered roles when the law takes effect are scheduled to complete DBS training before it takes effect
• [Compliance] There is a set process for staff newly starting covered work to complete DBS training before they begin
• [Compliance] Regular training and drills set out in the safety plan are included in the annual plan
• [Compliance] For staff covered by Category 3 of the staff pay funding supplement, you know their completion status for the required training and have checked that their training provider is accepted by your prefecture
• [Recommended practice] You list required training separately from your center’s own training and have decided which service to use for each
• [Recommended practice] You have checked the certificates and management features of the services you use (training history, Excel export, registering outside training, etc.)

Working Hours

• [Compliance] Training that the operator requires staff to take is treated as working hours
• [Recommended practice] Time slots for training (part of a staff meeting, periods when shifts overlap, etc.) are set in advance

Training and Exercises

• [Recommended practice] Rather than stopping at the video, you set aside time to discuss how it applies to situations at your center
• [Compliance] If you run your own DBS training, it meets the training items in the guidelines and includes both lectures and exercises

Records

• [Compliance] You know the most recent date of each safety plan item: training and drills, informing parents, and reviewing the plan
• [Recommended practice] Each staff member’s training records are brought together in one center log
• [Recommended practice] You check the name and issuing conditions of certificates of completion and attendance before filing them
• [Compliance] You have checked the information management measures the government requires for information obtained through criminal record checks

Reflection

• [Recommended practice] After training, you discuss “what we changed” and “what was difficult” at a staff meeting or similar occasion
• [Recommended practice] Roles for the director, head teacher, and administrative staff are set so that handovers work when staff change

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are free training services enough?

A. It depends on your purpose. DBS training can be done with the government’s free materials, and free services are available for general in-house training. However, the training requirement under Category 3 of the staff pay funding supplement requires completing designated Career-Up Training (for childcare centers). Certificates and record-keeping features also vary by service, so check whether you can keep the records your center needs.

Q. Can private training videos be used for the staff pay funding supplement requirement?

A. Not necessarily. For childcare centers, the requirement is Career-Up Training run by a prefectural government or by a provider the prefectural governor has designated. Check with both the provider and the prefecture whether a given course qualifies.

Q. Do part-time staff and those working reduced hours need DBS training?

A. Whether training is required depends not on employment type but on whether the person works with children in a covered role. Operators need to consider and decide which staff are covered. For people who cannot easily take the standard training right away, such as those who work irregularly or for short periods, the government also provides a key-points video. Where the key-points video is used, staff are encouraged to complete the standard video training afterward, where possible. Check which staff are covered in the Children and Families Agency’s guidelines and in guidance from the local government with jurisdiction over your center.

Q. Can staff take training at home?

A. Allowing home study is possible, but time spent on training the operator requires counts as working time. Do not treat time spent training at home as unpaid self-study; track it as working hours.

Q. How long should training records be kept?

A. The rules to check differ depending on the type of training and how the records are used, such as for funding applications or inspections. For that reason, this article does not give a single retention period. For each type of training, check the guidance for the relevant requirement and guidance from the local government with jurisdiction over your center.

Summary

• Staff training services are easier to choose when you sort them into five types: free government materials, general training and video services, designated Career-Up Training, training management and staff development systems, and visiting trainers and consulting services.
• For general training services, compare not just price but also the conditions for issuing certificates and the scope of record-keeping and management features. For designated Career-Up Training, check whether your prefecture accepts it and whether enrollment is open.
• Whatever services you use, sorting out “who, when, and what to keep” for each rule, securing training time as working hours, and deciding to reflect on practice after training all help connect training to everyday childcare.

Main Sources

Checked on October 22, 2026 (service information is based on each provider’s official sources; most sources are in Japanese)

• Children and Families Agency, “Summary of the Status of Childcare Centers and Related Facilities (as of April 1, 2026)”
• Osaka Prefecture, “Status of Childcare Waiting Lists in Osaka Prefecture (as of April 1, 2026)”
• Yano Research Institute, “Survey on the E-Learning Market (2026)”
• Codmon College, announcement of the training management feature, certificates of attendance
• e-CHANNEL, announcement of the Hoiku-is Plus launch, Hoiku-is notice on videos limited to the paid service
• Hoiku no Design Kenkyujo, “On-Demand Training”, membership terms, consulting
• e-Hoiku pricing
• Lookmee, Mirai Hoiku School
• Hoiku ICT Suishin Kyokai, fiscal 2026 Career-Up Training
• CareRaku, fiscal 2026 nationwide Career-Up Training for Childcare Workers
• Benesse Hoiku Kosodate Shien Lab, fiscal 2026 Career-Up Training
• Japan Welfare Service Association, nationwide Career-Up Training for Childcare Workers
• Yamagata Prefecture, online Career-Up Training for Childcare Workers
• learningBOX pricing
• KatagrMa announcement (July 16, 2026), KatagrMa announcement on total contracts (2022)
• Children and Families Agency, Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act page
• Children and Families Agency, request to publicize training materials (April 21, 2026; posted by Nagoya City)
• Children and Families Agency, “Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act Implementation Guidelines”
• Children and Families Agency, “Revision of the Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act Implementation Guidelines”
• Children and Families Agency, “Training Materials for Workers Under the Child Sexual Violence Prevention Act”
• Children and Families Agency, “Training Guide (for Operators)”
• Children and Families Agency, “Proper Management of Information on Sexual Offense Records”
• Children and Families Agency, funding reduction for not creating safety plans (fiscal 2026)
• Hokkaido, “Training Requirements for Category 3 of the Staff Pay Funding Supplement (shogu kaizen-to kasan)”
• Kyoto Prefecture, “Requirements for In-House Training”
• Career-Up Training for Childcare Workers Guidelines (partially revised March 6, 2026; posted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government, “Requirements for E-Learning Delivery”
• Osaka City, “Duty to Report Abuse by Staff at Childcare Centers and Similar Facilities”

Note: Rules and services may change. For the latest information, check each source and the local government with jurisdiction over your center.