Tokyo International School (hereinafter referred to as TIS) was founded in 1994 with Enrollment of five students by a bi-cultural parent team, Japanese and American respectively, who were looking for an education system that encompassed their vision for their 2 children. In their search, they found the International Baccalaureate system, which aligned with their Mission Statement and provided a framework for a global scope that emphasises inquiry based learning, independence and critical thinking.

The students would learn lifelong skills, concepts and values that could be easily transferred across the world and would equip them for a rapidly changing, international future.

Since the inception, TIS has been outgrowing its campuses, increasing student enrollment, expanding their offerings. And now TIS is an international school officially authorised to deliver the International Baccalaureate (IB), Primary Years Program (PYP) & Middle Years Program (MYP), with 345 students in attendance, representing 58 nationalities.

In 2022, The School Board plans to close Kindergarten 1 and in its place open Grade 9 at the current campus.

TIS offers the IB PYP and MYP programs from Kindergarten to Grade 8. From August 2022-23, they will offer Grade 9 and the following year Grade 10 to finish out the MYP program on their Minami Azabu campus. The school is accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and a designated “Project School” for Columbia University’s Teachers’ College Readers and Writers Project. This status means their close relationship provides the school with annual direct training from their College staff developers out of New York for their teachers and students.

As well, as an IB school they embrace their host country's culture and language at TIS. From Grade 1 and above, the students learn Japanese almost daily, 5 days out of a 6 day rotational cycle and Kindergarten learns 3 days out of 6 day cycle. Their program is built on a philosophy that mirrors how a child learns to speak their first language. Whilst they might not understand or have the word to say it, they can understand and express their learning. The intentional thought is always, "How can I act it out?", "How can I draw it?" or "How can I connect it to something else that I know?".

As firm believers in experiential learning, TIS provides many enrichment trips locally and around Japan which compliments and adds depth to student learning. For MYP students, there is also a yearly ski trip. They have a truly international, warm and welcoming community with a vibrant parents' association called the TIS Family Community. They firmly believe the relationship between school and home is a partnership. Parents fully support the values, mission and learning of their children, which is reflected in their student created values to: Trust, Inspire and Support.