Saint Maur International School

"Saint Maur International School, located in the Naka-ku district of Yokohama, Japan, holds a distinction that no other school in the country can claim: it is the oldest international school in Japan, having been established in 1872."

That founding date places the school firmly in the early Meiji era, a remarkable period of transformation in Japan's relationship with the outside world, and the school's very existence is intertwined with that history. Yokohama was one of the rare port cities where foreigners were permitted entry during Japan's long period of isolationism under the Sakoku policy of the late Edo period, making it a natural gathering point for international communities. Saint Maur has been serving those communities, and the generations that followed, for over 150 years. Today, Saint Maur International School operates as a private, co-educational, college-preparatory institution welcoming students of all nationalities and faiths from as young as two and a half years of age through high school. That breadth of age range means that families can enroll very young children and, if circumstances allow, see them through to graduation — a continuity that many relocating families find especially valuable. The school's inclusive approach to nationality and faith reflects a long-standing institutional commitment to diversity, one that has been part of its identity since its founding in one of Japan's most historically cosmopolitan cities. Academically, Saint Maur offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a globally recognized and rigorous college-preparatory curriculum that prepares students for university admission worldwide. The IB Diploma is particularly well suited to the families Saint Maur serves — expatriates, relocating professionals, and internationally mobile students who may attend universities in any number of countries and who benefit from a qualification that is understood and respected by admissions offices across the globe. The school's Naka-ku address places it in the heart of Yokohama's historically international neighborhood, a setting that lends the campus a sense of place and heritage that newer schools simply cannot replicate. Yokohama itself sits within the Greater Tokyo Area, making Saint Maur accessible to families living across a wide swath of the region, whether in the city itself or in the broader metropolitan sprawl that connects Yokohama to Tokyo and its surrounding communities. What ultimately distinguishes Saint Maur International School is the combination of its extraordinary history and its forward-looking academic program. Very few schools anywhere in the world can offer parents the reassurance of institutional longevity stretching back to the nineteenth century alongside a curriculum designed for the demands of the twenty-first. For expat families navigating the challenges of relocation to Japan, Saint Maur represents not only a place of academic preparation but a genuine community with deep roots in one of Asia's most vibrant and internationally minded cities. Families seeking a school with proven stability, a genuinely diverse student body, and a college-preparatory focus will find Saint Maur a compelling and well-established choice.