My Daughter, Election Day, and the LDP: Many expats send their kids to Japanese preschools so that they'll learn Japanese. Most (if they can afford it) pull the kids out after preschool and send them to international schools. Usually it's because they want their kids to be socialized in a way that matches the culture of the parents (if possible). As for us, we intend to send our kids to Japanese school through elementary school at least. My wife is Japanese, so we want our kids to learn the language, including writing, and the culture to an extent. We'll have to decide when and if to put them in an international school. In an ideal world, maybe you'd let the kids decide for themselves what culture they'll be. But, in reality, the parents have to make key decisions while the kids are still quite young that will impact their future cultural identities. The longer I think about it, the more I wonder whether parents with a proper bi-cultural perspective couldn't guide their kid through an Asian-style education without letting them get too acculturated by the local teaching style.