保育園

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 保育園, read ほいくえん, is a day care or nursery facility that looks after young children.
• Basic usage: It is the place where a child is dropped off in the morning and the institution whose grounds the children use.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A facility providing day care
  • It denotes the day care facility where a child is dropped off and children spend time, including its yard. It is not a general word for school instruction or merely the grounds.