Study Japanese in Fukuoka!

Why are we telling you to study Japanese in Fukuoka? Well, very often, when people think about studying Japanese in Japan, their first approach is to look for a Japanese language school in Tokyo. Nothing wrong with that of course! But what if you are not comfortable with huge cities? What if you don’t like to be surrounded by tens of millions of people? What are the alternatives? Can you learn Japanese outside of Tokyo?

Well of course! There are dozens and dozens of cities worth talking about. But today we will pack our bags and head to the beautiful city of Fukuoka.

Why study Japanese in Fukuoka?

So, you’ve opened Google map, and you’ve searched for Fukuoka, because quite honestly, it is probably the first time you have heard about this city. Or if you have heard its name somehow somewhere, you were not really able to place it on the map.

It’s fine, we are used to this. Fukuoka is one of these hidden gems. The kind of city you discover because you have been to Japan countless of times, and the usual Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka is starting to lose its charm and is becoming too familiar for your curious mind. But because people who can afford to travel to Japan many times, either for financial or schedule reasons is quite limited, in the end, not a lot of people end up looking for new cities and discover Fukuoka.

Thanks to this, when you study Japanese in Fukuoka, you get a fully immersive experience. Because, since not a lot of people speak English here, using the Japanese you have learnt is crucial. It’s the difference between eating a rather bland sandwich out of a convenience store, where you do not really need to communicate with anybody to be able to buy it, and ordering that delicious ramen with a double serving of menma (メンマ) because that’s your favourite topping and you have been craving it for several days!

What Japanese language school in Fukuoka should I choose?

Of course, we will tell you to study with GenkiJACS! Because we like to think we are the greatest Fukuoka language school! But if we are honest, there are also several great schools in the city. They are adapted to all kinds of needs for very different student profiles. So trying to give a straight answer to what could seem like a very simple question is not really possible.

However, there is one thing we are certain of if you study Japanese in Fukuoka with GenkiJACS is that you will get the following:

• Small classes. With a maximum of 8 students per class, and on average 4 to 5 students, GenkiJACS offers by far the smallest classes of any accredited Japanese language schools in Fukuoka
• Focus on communication. We are not saying that learning Kanji is not essential to master the Japanese language. But we strongly believe that being able to speak Japanese is essential for having a great living experience here. So with us you will learn to communicate before you learn that obscure kanji for praying mantis that even Japanese people need a dictionary to read (and if you are curious, here it is: 蟷螂)
• Professional teachers. All the teachers in GenkiJACS are professional career teachers who have been through a thorough training to become teachers.
• An immersive experience. We teach our classes in Japanese and teachers will use very minimal, if not none at all, English so you can get plenty of practice when it comes to speaking Japanese. Having small classes and professional teachers means we have the right environment to do that. And our students feel the difference when they end up on their own and need to order that ramen we talked about!
• An accredited school. GenkiJACS is accredited by the Japanese government. This means that the curriculum and method we use is approved by the Japanese government and is the best approach to learning Japanese.

What is it like to live in Fukuoka?

Take it from someone who has lived in 5 different cities in Japan, Fukuoka is amazing! And it’s not surprising that Fukuoka ranks #1 in the most desirable cities to live in Japan raking regularly. (2020 ranking here in Japanese)

Maybe it’s because of the food! Fukuoka is famous all over Japan for having really good food and tons of restaurants. We prefer to warn you in advance, even if you study 1-year with us, we are afraid it won’t be long enough if your goal is to try all the restaurants of the city!

Or maybe it’s how affordable the city is. No overpriced accommodations here, and for a reasonable rent, it is quite easy to find a place close to Hakata station, the central station of the city (and of Kyushu!) or Tenjin, the shopping district. Making your everyday life very enjoyable and convenient.

Or could it be because of how accessible the city is? It has an international airport located 2 stations away from the central station of Hakata, so extremely convenient. Hakata is also the largest station of Kyushu, the island where Fukuoka is located, so traveling to other cities on the island has never been easier.

At GenkiJACS, we like to believe that it’s all of the above, and also because:

• Ride a train for 30-45 minutes, and you are at the beach
• Do the same, in another direction and you are in the mountains
• Ride a boat for a few hours, and you are in Korea
• Fly for a couple of hours and you’re in Okinawa
• The list is long… and there is always something to discover about Fukuoka!

If you want to learn more about Fukuoka, you can also check that page on our website: Welcome to Fukuoka. You are also interested in the latest news about Fukuoka? This website, in English, is pretty great: Fukuoka-now

If reading all of the above made your heart beat faster, and if you wondered why it took so long to hear about Fukuoka, we wonder the same thing! So get in touch with us, and let’s talk about studying Japanese in Fukuoka!