Reading the Boshi Techo in English: A Section-by-Section Translation Guide

May 31, 2026 Maternity Prep Navigator Editorial ~18 min read

You have your Boshi Techo (boshi kenkou techou — the Maternal and Child Health Handbook) in your hands, but the pages are in Japanese and you are not sure what you are looking at. This guide walks through the main sections of the handbook page by page, explains what each part is for, gives you the English names for common terms, and clarifies which pages your doctor fills in and which pages you fill in yourself. This article is a deep-dive companion to our overview article: The Maternity Handbook (Boshi Techo) & Prenatal Checkups — if you have not read that yet, start there for how to obtain the handbook and the checkup schedule.

1. What the Boshi Techo is and why it matters

The Boshi Techo — full name boshi kenkou techou (母子健康手帳), meaning "Maternal and Child Health Handbook" — is a single official booklet issued by your local municipality when you register your pregnancy. It is the central health record for both mother and child, covering the entire period from pregnancy through the early school years. You bring it to every prenatal checkup, to the birth, and to every infant and child health checkup and vaccination appointment.

Japan's national government sets a standard format for the Boshi Techo, but municipalities are permitted to add their own local pages and information. As a result, the handbook you receive may have a few extra pages or slightly different local sections depending on where you live. The core medical record sections, however, follow the national standard format.

Even with a bilingual version, the medical entries your doctor or midwife writes are typically in Japanese. This guide will help you understand what each section is for and what the common Japanese terms mean in English, so you can follow your records at appointments and at home.

2. Doctor-filled pages vs parent-filled pages

One of the most important things to understand about the Boshi Techo is that it has two clearly different types of pages:

You should never write in the medical record pages yourself. If a page is blank, it means the data has not yet been recorded at a checkup — not that you need to fill it in. Bring the handbook to every appointment and let the staff handle those sections. The parent-filled pages, on the other hand, are yours to complete at home and are purely optional memory records.

3. Cover and issuance information

The front cover and the first few pages of the handbook typically contain:

• Your name (氏名 / shimei) — the mother's name as registered.
• Address (住所 / juusho) — your registered address at the time of issuance.
• Expected due date (出産予定日 / shussan yotei bi) — the estimated date of delivery recorded by your clinic.
• Date of issuance (交付年月日 / koufu nengappi) — when the municipality issued the handbook to you.
• Issuing municipality (交付市区町村 / koufu shiku-chouson) — the name of the city, ward, or town that issued the handbook.
• Blood type (血液型 / ketsueki-gata) — may appear here or on early pregnancy record pages.

This cover information is filled in at the municipal office when you submit your pregnancy notification (ninshin todoke). If any information changes — for example, if you move — the old handbook remains valid; let your prenatal clinic know your new address.

4. Pregnancy health record pages

Following the cover information, the handbook moves into the pregnancy health record section. This part is filled in by your doctor or midwife. It typically covers:

Early pregnancy information

• First day of last menstrual period (最終月経 / saishuu gekkei) — used to calculate the due date.
• Estimated due date (分娩予定日 / bunben yotei bi) — as calculated by the doctor.
• Initial pregnancy confirmation — date, gestational age, and notes from your first prenatal visit confirming the pregnancy.
• Blood type and Rh factor (血液型・Rh / ketsueki-gata / Rh) — important for birth planning.
• Pre-pregnancy weight and height (妊娠前体重・身長 / ninshin mae taijuu / shinchou) — used as baseline for weight gain tracking.

General health and obstetric history

These pages record your general health status at the start of pregnancy, including any pre-existing conditions, allergies, previous pregnancies and births, and relevant family health history. They are completed by the doctor based on your consultation and are the foundation for your prenatal care plan. You do not fill these in — if you have information to share (for example, a prior pregnancy or a medical condition), tell your doctor so they can record it accurately.

5. Prenatal checkup record: key terms in English

The prenatal checkup record pages — often referred to as the 妊婦健診の記録 (ninpu kenshin no kiroku) — are the most used pages in the handbook during pregnancy. Your doctor or midwife records the results of each checkup visit here. The following table gives English names for the most common items you will see in these columns.

Result notation: what the symbols mean

Results in the checkup record columns are often written as symbols rather than numbers. Common notations you may see:

• (-) or − — negative (not detected). Common for urine protein and urine glucose results.
• (+) or + — positive (detected). If you see a + for protein or glucose, your doctor will advise next steps.
• (±) — trace or borderline. Discuss with your doctor.
• Numbers — actual measured values (weight in kg, blood pressure as systolic/diastolic, etc.).
• Stamp or signature — the doctor or midwife's verification that the checkup was conducted.

If you see any notation you do not understand, write it down and ask your doctor or midwife to explain it at your next visit. Do not search for interpretations of specific numerical results online — the significance depends on your individual history and should be explained by your medical team.

6. Birth record pages

After the prenatal checkup record section, the handbook has pages for recording the birth itself. These are completed by the medical staff at the hospital or birth center where you give birth. They include:

• Date and time of birth (分娩日時 / bunben nichiji)
• Gestational age at birth (分娩時妊娠週数 / bunben-ji ninshin shuusuu) — the number of completed weeks of pregnancy at delivery.
• Type of delivery (分娩様式 / bunben youshiki) — for example, spontaneous vaginal delivery (shizen bunben), assisted delivery, or cesarean section (teiou sekkai).
• Birth weight (出生体重 / shusshou taijuu) — recorded in grams.
• Birth length (height) (出生身長 / shusshou shinchou) — recorded in centimeters.
• Head circumference at birth (頭囲 / toui) — in centimeters.
• Chest circumference at birth (胸囲 / kyoui) — in centimeters.
• Apgar score (アプガースコア / apugaa sukoa) — a standardized assessment of the newborn's condition at 1 and 5 minutes after birth.
• Placenta and umbilical cord notes
• Baby's sex (性別 / seibetsu)
• Doctor's or midwife's notes on the delivery

7. Newborn and infant growth records

Following the birth record, the handbook contains growth record pages for the newborn and infant periods. These are primarily filled in by your doctor or health visitor at each infant health checkup. The most prominent feature of these pages is the growth chart (seichou kyokusen / 成長曲線).

The growth chart explained

The growth chart plots your child's height and weight against a set of percentile curves (パーセンタイル / paasentairu). The curves represent the range of measurements found in a reference population of children of the same age and sex in Japan. You will typically see curves marked for the 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97th percentiles.

• The 50th percentile is the median — half of the reference population is above this line and half is below.
• A child whose measurement falls on the 10th percentile is larger than 10% of the reference population and smaller than 90%.
• Being anywhere within the overall range shown on the chart does not by itself indicate a problem. What matters most is the trend over time and whether the growth pattern is consistent.

The growth chart pages are typically organized separately for weight (体重 / taijuu), height/length (身長 / shinchou), and head circumference (頭囲 / toui), with separate charts for boys and girls. Measurements are plotted as dots, and over time these dots form a curve for your individual child.

8. Infant health checkup records

Japan has a structured schedule of publicly subsidized infant health checkups (nyuuyouji kenshin / 乳幼児健診). The timing and number of checkups provided free or at reduced cost by each municipality may vary, but the standard checkups in Japan include:

For each checkup, the doctor records measurements (height, weight, head circumference), developmental assessment notes, and any referrals or follow-up recommendations. The 18-month and 3-year checkups in particular involve more detailed developmental assessments including language, motor skills, and social development. If you are uncertain about what a note or recommendation in these sections means, ask at your next appointment.

The handbook also typically has space for the results of newborn screening tests (新生児マス・スクリーニング / shinsei-ji masu sukuriningu) conducted at the hospital shortly after birth. These are routine blood tests that screen for a range of metabolic and other conditions. If any screening result requires follow-up, the hospital will contact you directly — the handbook page is a record, not the notification.

9. Vaccination record pages

The vaccination record section (yobou sesshu no kiroku / 予防接種の記録) is one of the most important parts of the handbook for long-term use. Every time your child receives a vaccination in Japan, the date, the vaccine name, the lot number, and the administering doctor's information are recorded on these pages.

This record becomes essential when:

• Enrolling your child in daycare (hoikuen) or kindergarten (youchien) in Japan, where vaccination history may be requested.
• Enrolling your child in school in Japan or abroad.
• Traveling internationally, where certain vaccination records may be required or helpful.
• If you relocate to another country and need to share your child's immunization history with a foreign healthcare provider.

If you are planning to travel or relocate internationally, ask your pediatrician whether a translated vaccination certificate or a standardized international format summary is available. The Boshi Techo vaccination pages are in Japanese, so a foreign healthcare provider may need assistance reading them. In some cases, the clinic can provide a summary letter in English.

10. Parent-filled record sections

In addition to the medical record pages, the Boshi Techo includes sections that you fill in yourself as a parent or guardian. These are personal memory and milestone records, not medical documents. They typically include spaces for:

• Your thoughts during pregnancy — a space to write about how you felt, what you were looking forward to, or messages to your baby.
• Birth story or notes — your personal account of the birth experience.
• Baby's first milestones — spaces to record first smile, first word, first steps, and similar developmental moments.
• Feeding record — some editions include a space to note whether you breastfed, formula-fed, or a combination.
• Photo spaces — some handbooks have spaces for photographs of the baby at various ages.
• Family information — a space for parents' names, siblings, and family notes.

These sections are entirely optional. Some parents fill them in carefully as a keepsake; others leave them blank. Writing in these pages in English, your home language, or a mix of languages is perfectly fine — this section is for your family, not for medical use. Many families look back on these pages with great fondness years later.

11. Using the Boshi Techo abroad

One of the practical values of the Boshi Techo is that it contains your child's complete health, growth, and vaccination history in one place — which is useful if you travel, return to your home country, or relocate internationally.

What to share with foreign healthcare providers

When visiting a doctor abroad, the following pages of the handbook are typically the most relevant to share:

• The birth record pages — birth weight, length, gestational age, and Apgar score.
• The growth chart — the percentile chart with your child's measurement history plotted on it.
• The vaccination record pages — to show which vaccines have been administered and when.
• The infant checkup record pages — for any notes on developmental assessments.

Foreign healthcare providers may not be familiar with the Japanese handbook format. It can be helpful to:

• Request an English summary letter from your pediatrician in Japan before you travel, particularly for the vaccination record.
• Use a translation app to explain the key sections.
• Bring this guide (or a printout of the key terms table in Section 5) to help the foreign provider understand the column headings.

Keep the handbook safe

The Boshi Techo is a paper document, and there is no nationwide electronic backup in Japan. Keep it in a safe, dry place and bring it to all appointments. If you lose the handbook, contact your local municipal office — some municipalities can issue a replacement, though the lost medical records cannot be recovered. Consider photographing the key pages periodically as a personal backup.

12. FAQ

My handbook is entirely in Japanese and my municipality does not offer a bilingual version. What can I do?

First, confirm with your city or ward office that no bilingual or translated version is available — sometimes they are available on request or through the public health center even if not offered at the initial counter. If no bilingual version exists, a translation app (pointed at the camera) can help you read the pages at home. The term table in Section 5 of this guide can also help you understand the column headings in the checkup record pages. For any medical questions, bring a list of the terms you want clarified to your next appointment.

Why are some pages in my handbook blank even though I have had multiple checkups?

Different pages in the handbook are used at different stages of pregnancy and your child's development. A blank page may simply mean that the particular checkup or stage has not yet occurred, or that the clinic records on separate pages that are filed at the clinic rather than in the handbook. Some clinics also use printed sticker labels to complete the handbook entries rather than handwriting. If you are concerned that a page should have been filled in but was not, raise it with your clinic at your next visit.

My baby was born before term. Are the growth charts still applicable?

For preterm babies, your pediatrician will typically use a corrected age (also called adjusted age) rather than chronological age when plotting growth on the chart — meaning they subtract the weeks of prematurity from the baby's age. Your doctor will explain how to interpret the growth chart for your specific situation. Do not apply the standard chart without your doctor's guidance if your baby was born preterm.

I am moving to another country. Should I bring the Boshi Techo?

Yes. The vaccination record and growth data in the handbook are useful for any healthcare provider who will care for your child abroad. Before you leave Japan, ask your pediatrician to provide an English summary of the vaccination record and any other key medical notes. Keep the original handbook safely — it is a unique document that cannot be fully replicated once lost.

Can I request my child's health checkup records from the hospital or clinic in addition to what is in the handbook?

Yes, in general. Medical facilities in Japan hold their own internal records of your consultations. If you need copies of clinic or hospital records (for example, for insurance purposes or when transferring care to a new provider), you can typically request them directly from the facility. There may be a fee and a waiting period. The Boshi Techo is your portable summary record, while the clinic holds the full detailed notes.