Japanese Traditional Culture Study Abroad Course in Fukuoka

If you want to begin your Japanese language adventure or continue to improve from an advanced level, Meiji Academy is where I recommend. I studied at Kansai Gaidai University online during Covid and never had the in-person experience I was searching for so I found and chose Meiji Academy and I'm glad I did. The staff are very friendly and go above and beyond to accommodate to the student's needs. The teachers and very professional and are very detailed in their explanations, and even personally go one on one with you about topics or areas you need improvement on. If you have questions they are there to help. The housing option I chose was the share house and it was a fun experience and made some nice friends. If a share house experience isn't what you're looking for then they have affordable apartment options as well. I personally studied business etiquette and Keigo which will help myself to succeed in finding long-term employment here in Japan. There were many fun opportunities to meet Japanese students as well! Beginner or advanced level, I highly recommend Meiji Academy and you won't be disappointed!

The school staff is so nice, always available and ready to help, I immediately felt at home. The classes are efficient and fun and the professors are qualified. it was always a pleasure to talk with them even after the class ended. Basically, everything was organized by the school, the trips, the schedules, the apartment... I just had to go there, study and enjoy Japan :-) I got to know the Japanese culture and history and made very good friends. My apartment was in a very nice location. Even though most of the students chose the sharehouse, I was able to make tons of friends and spend most of my time with them! I would definitely go back if I had the chance! I really had a great time studying Japanese and exploring its culture with my new friends.

Even though I have been studying Japanese on my own for 2 years, I made much more progress by going to meiji academy for 2 months. I realized that I needed some kind of regularity that I wasn't able to get when studying alone. The teachers were nice and qualified, and I got along with them quickly. The staff of the school is also absolutely incredible. They made me feel comfortable from the beginning and they were always there to help when needed. I made friends who live in different places, on the other side of the world, and all those encounters permitted me to stay motivated and myself a new home.

I really love Japanese history and traditional culture so I chose the traditional culture course. It was very fun and interesting, we had many cool activities outside the school like some kinds of field trips. The meeting with a geisha was probably the most amazing activity.

Life in Japan is so different from the U.S. But I got used to it quite easily and adapted to my host country. I enjoyed making friends with classmates from all around the world like Germany, the UK, France and other parts of America. There were also several opportunities to meet with Japanese students during the language exchanges, and the Japanese volunteers during the cultural activities. The teachers were truly lovely people, some of them could speak English and some others only spoke Japanese so it was interesting to alternate between them for the classes. The language program was a bit challenging but not too much. It allowed us to make progress quickly while not being completely lost. There was plenty of time to visit the city and participate in the cultural classes that were incredibly interesting. I am glad that I took the traditional culture course so that I could take part in the Geisha experience that was unforgettable.

The majority of the students were around 20-22 yo and everyone had different periods of stay. I stayed for 1 month but there were students staying for 1 week to 3 months. There were new students every week, so that was great to get to know so many different people from different backgrounds. There is a "city tour" every Monday when a new student arrives, I was always happy to join it and get to know them!
The traditional culture course was crazy. It was exactly what I expected thanks to the reviews I read before applying. I love the traditional culture of Japan, kimonos, matcha, geisha... well, meiji academy was amazing on that point. Cultural immersion is guaranteed!

Have you ever been to Japan? Nope? Well, then let me paint you a picture what it's like to not only travel this AMAZING country, but actually live here. I stayed in Fukuoka for about 2 months. Fukuoka is one of Japan's biggest cities, yet, it really does not feel that way. If you know your world cities, I'd most likely compare it to Bordeaux (France), Auckland (New Zealand) or Hamburg (Germany). It's beautifully close to the shore, so you will often feel a nice ocean breeze when walking to school. Goals for sure! (Mentioning #goals, try the food. It's the beeeest). The school is a great place to be and study. Even if you are not the most enthusiastic or quick learner, Meiji will adapt to your pace and will help you make studying fun! I don't like going to class and then going home straight away afterwards. Thats why I opted for the traditional culture class. That way I could get my smart on in the morning and then change into a kimono and plunge into cultural heritage in the afternoon - or if I had no classes, plunge into the ocean which is crazy close to the school:D

Going to Japan was my birthday present ! All my family and some of my friends organised this for me. Thank you so much everyone !! I had the best time of my life in Japan and I will remember Meiji my whole life. The staff and the teachers are very kind and I hope I will meet them again in the future.
The best moment is when we were able to wear kimono at a tea ceremony. Some japanese kids were showing us how to do the tea ceremony, they were so cute ! They were interested by us as well so we were able to talk with them, even if I couldn't understand everything haha. Luckily there were also some Japanese students with us who helped us to understand. :D

Two months ago, I couldn't say a proper sentence in Japanese, and now here I am! I can have daily life conversations with native speakers! Such improvement doesn’t come by itself: I had very good teachers and I also studied on my own after the classes, learning the new vocabulary, doing homework. It is also important to practice with other natives outside the school. You're in Japan, so don't hesitate to speak to everyone!
About the traditional course, I'm glad that I took this course because it was so interesting! When I was in middle school, I was interested in Japanese pop culture, but now I'm more into the traditions of Japan. Japanese people also seemed happy that we were interested in their culture. Now the next step is to keep going on learning the language to be able to speak more easily with elders! I met some during the tea ceremony and I could feel that they wanted to explain some things to me but unfortunately, it was still a bit difficult for me to understand everything.