Gradebook · Japan
Japanese 通知表 Report Card Software — MEXT-Aligned PDF Generation
通知表 (Tsūchi-hyō) is the official Japanese school report card distributed to families each semester. Its format is strictly regulated: elementary and JHS students receive three-dimension ◎/○/△ evaluations; SHS students receive 1–5 numerical grades with 単位 credit columns; and 道徳 (Moral Education) must appear as a qualitative descriptive comment only — a numerical or symbolic grade for 道徳 violates MEXT guidelines. OpenEduCat enforces every one of these constraints automatically and generates MEXT-aligned 通知表 PDFs for all school levels.
通知表 Sections and Content
Every section of the official Japanese report card, its applicable school levels, and how OpenEduCat configures and generates each section.
| Section | School Levels | Content | OpenEduCat Configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 学習の記録 — Academic Record | Elementary, JHS, SHS | For elementary/JHS: three-dimension ◎/○/△ grid per subject (知識・技能, 思考・判断・表現, 主体的に学習に取り組む態度). For SHS: single 1–5 numerical grade per subject with 単位 credit column. | Rendered automatically based on each subject's hyotei setting. ◎/○/△ subjects and 1–5 subjects can coexist on the same 通知表. |
| 道徳の記録 — Moral Education Record | Elementary, JHS (SHS uses LHR instead) | Qualitative descriptive text only. No ◎/○/△ symbols or numerical grades are permitted. The teacher writes a personalised comment about the student's moral development and engagement with the subject themes. Comment length is typically 2–4 sentences. | hyotei = qualitative_only enforced at data layer. The 道徳 section of the 通知表 renders a text-only comment box — no grade fields are displayed or enterable. |
| 特別活動の記録 — Special Activities Record | Elementary, JHS, SHS | Participation record for homeroom activities (ホームルーム), school events, student council, class roles, and extracurricular activities. At SHS, includes the 1 mandatory 単位 credit for 特別活動. | Activities are logged per student. SHS credit award is automatic when the activity record is marked complete. Elementary/JHS records are descriptive (attendance and role records). |
| 総合的な探究の時間の記録 — Integrated Studies Record | SHS (総合的な探究; elementary/JHS use 総合的な学習の時間) | Description of the school's integrated studies theme, the student's project or inquiry focus, and an evaluative comment on their engagement and output. SHS version includes the credited 単位 earned. | Text field for school theme, student project description, teacher comment, and credit entry. Rendered on SHS 通知表 as a separate section with credit notation. |
| 出欠の記録 — Attendance Record | Elementary, JHS, SHS | School days scheduled, days attended, days absent (with cause breakdown: illness, family, undocumented), and tardiness/early departure count. At SHS, excessive absences in a subject can prevent credit award for that subject. | Attendance data is pulled automatically from the attendance module. SHS credit at-risk flags are generated when a student's absence rate in a subject exceeds the configurable threshold (typically 1/3 of scheduled classes). |
| 担任所見 — Homeroom Teacher Comment | Elementary, JHS, SHS | A personalised holistic comment from the homeroom teacher (担任) about the student's overall development, character, relationships, and goals for the next term. This section is qualitative and personalised — not templated. | Free-text field per student per semester. The 通知表 PDF renders the comment in a dedicated section. Character count limits can be configured to match the physical 通知表 format used by the school. |
Source: MEXT (文部科学省) — 学習指導要領, 児童生徒の学習評価の在り方 (Assessment guidance), 特別の教科 道徳 evaluation guidelines.
道徳 (Moral Education) — The Descriptive-Only Constraint
MEXT prohibits numerical or symbolic grading for Moral Education. This is one of the most legally sensitive compliance requirements in Japanese school reporting.
The MEXT Prohibition
道徳 (Dōtoku, Moral Education) was elevated from an activity to a proper subject (特別の教科 道徳) in 2018 for elementary schools and 2019 for junior high schools. Despite becoming an official subject, MEXT explicitly prohibits numerical or symbolic evaluation (◎/○/△ are prohibited). The rationale is that moral development is a qualitative, personal journey that cannot be reduced to a grade without causing harm — students should not feel that their character is being ranked.
What the 道徳 Comment Must Contain
The teacher's 道徳 comment must describe the student's specific experiences in moral education lessons, their thinking process about the moral themes covered, and evidence of growth or engagement over the semester. It must be personalised — copying a generic template for multiple students violates the spirit and letter of MEXT guidance. Comments typically reference specific lesson themes covered during the term.
How OpenEduCat Enforces the Constraint
OpenEduCat enforces the 道徳 qualitative-only constraint at the data layer. When a subject is configured with hyotei = qualitative_only, the system renders only a text-entry field for that subject — no ◎/○/△ selectors and no numerical input fields appear. Any API or import attempt to assign a symbolic or numerical value to a qualitative_only subject returns a validation error. This makes compliance automatic and audit-proof.
MEXT-Aligned 通知表 PDF Generation
OpenEduCat generates 通知表 PDFs that match the structural and content requirements of MEXT guidelines across all school levels.
Level-Aware Section Rendering
The 通知表 template automatically includes the correct sections for each school level. Elementary and JHS reports include 道徳の記録; SHS reports include 総合的な探究の時間 instead. Academic records render ◎/○/△ grids for elementary/JHS subjects and 1–5 columns for SHS subjects, on the same report page.
hyotei-Driven Subject Layout
Each subject on the 通知表 is rendered according to its hyotei configuration: qualitative_3band subjects show three separate dimension rows; numerical_5 subjects show a single grade and 単位 column; qualitative_only subjects show a text comment field only. Mixed-hyotei reports — a common real-world scenario at JHS where most subjects use ◎/○/△ but 道徳 is qualitative-only — are handled correctly without any special configuration.
Automated Attendance Pull
The 出欠の記録 section of the 通知表 is populated automatically from the attendance module — scheduled school days, attended days, absence causes (illness, family, undocumented), and tardiness counts. At SHS, credit-at-risk flags based on per-subject absence rates are included in the report.
Batch PDF Generation and Distribution
Homeroom teachers approve 通知表 records per class, triggering batch PDF generation for all students in the class. Generated PDFs are immediately available for download in the parent portal and for printing for physical distribution at 保護者会 (parent meetings) at the semester close.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the Japanese 通知表 school report card and MEXT compliance requirements.
Generate MEXT-compliant 通知表 PDFs at semester close
OpenEduCat enforces the 道徳 qualitative-only constraint, renders three-dimension and numerical sections correctly, pulls attendance automatically, and generates batch 通知表 PDFs for distribution to families.