The Yamasa Institute — Local services in Okazaki

The Yamasa Institute is one of the finest examples of what good teaching and education can do. Totally focused on the needs of the Japanese language student learning, the school offers all types of courses to suit all students needs. Whether studying Japanese for entering university, language proficiency testing, business or personal development, the Yamasa Institute has the perfect course available. More than a school, the institute has a wide variety of accomodation available for students, very easy to organise, which means that students can focus entirely on having a quality educational experience. The school has robust methods for assessing language levels which enables the teachers to tailor your educational experience to your needs. The quality of the teaching is incredibly high. I work as an educator and can recognise excellence in teaching. The institute also has regular cultural experiences and trips to local attractions as well. The institute also assists students with information on negotiating daily life in Japan, such as visas, accomodation, work etc. The Yamasa Institute website is also excellent as all of the information of course, prices etc are freely available to help planning, and the school is always very responsive to any email requests for further information. One huge advantage of the school, is that being in a rural area, most of the local people will only ever speak to you in Japanese providing a full immersion experience. I found that in Tokyo and Kyoto, that people often spoke to me in English, providing me with less opportunities to practice speaking Japanese. The other issue, is that the cost of daily living is lower than in bigger cities. The town of Okazaki, however, is still big enough to have major shopping outlets and is quite close to Nagoya for other attractions. I can’t recommend this school...

I've attended Yamasa in a few different ways, both in person and online, and it's always been a great experience. Teachers and Staff are so supportive (and there is support on site for English, Chinese, and Portuguese speakeasy), but they will also push you to improve and work towards your goals.

Okazaki is a great town, it's not very busy but it has everything you need. The school is right near JR Okazaki Station so getting to Nagoya is super easy. There is heaps of great food around Okazaki!

If you're serious about improving your skills, especially if your goal is to study or work in Japanese, I highly recommend...

The best school, the best staff, the best location to visit central Japan.

I loved my time at Yamasa so much did I went back twice - I'd go back again if I only could! On top of a caste range of courses at competitive prices, the school offers a lot of activities and organises one day trips regularly. I have the best memories with them, and my Japanese improved so much thanks to the teachers and all the staff. What a gem of a school. They also organise wonderful events, I remember their haunted house been great!

If you want to learn Japanese and maybe explore Japan a little bit this is the best...