Families
The families of visitors are welcome to come to OIST!
There are nursing rooms and diaper changing stations as well as two small playgrounds on campus. OIST's Child Development Center (CDC) and school-age program are available to visitors.
The visiting program also has a few items like a baby stroller and toys that we can lend to visiting families free of charge.
Of course, OIST will try to help with visa procedures for your family and other logistics. In most cases, OIST may be able to provide support with airfare for children of elementary school age or younger - please contact us to check the details. It is currently not possible to cover accommodation costs incurred by visitors' families, thus visitors will need to pay for the cost difference of larger rooms (deducted from the per diem).
For visitors staying over three month, the children's health insurance and regular healthcare costs are free. There is also a child support payment of about 100 USD per month from the Japanese government which visitors can usually receive.
Visitors with children under 6 years old can enroll their children to the Child Development Center (CDC), depending on availability of care. Please let us know prior to your visit if you need childcare, and we will tell you how to apply to the CDC yourself (required for data protection reasons).
Previous visitors who were accompanied by infants have recommended the (free) Family Support Centers, particularly the one in Yomitan. There parents and their children go to play and meet other families. The staff usually do not speak English but are very friendly and helpful.
If you have older children, please see the following page for schooling options and the OIST School-Aged Program:
https://groups.oist.jp/csd/schooling-options-0 (also contains a list of after school activities)
The local elementary and middle schools in Onna village also accept students (as long as the parents are residents of Japan, i.e. the visit is >3 months). Learning in Japanese will likely be a challenge, but for the first years of each, the schools provide English-speaking support and introductory Japanese lessons.
For enrollment in kindergarten and schools, the start of the Japanese school year (April) or for some international schools the American school year (September) are the easiest time to start.
Some international schools near OIST have holiday programs in which short-term visitors might be interested to enroll their children (especially in summer).