I’m planning to spend a month or two in Fukuoka this late this spring and have been looking at Meiji academy, Wahaha, and GenkiJACS. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any of these schools, and could tell me about their experience. Thanks!
Hey, I’m interested in these too. If you do attend one, please post about your experience
I definitely will
I was in the Tokyo branch a little over 8 years ago. Really depends on what you are looking for if it will be a fit or not. I think I went there for around 2 months? My Japanese definitely made good progress. More so than it felt like while in the school, funnily enough. I learned most of N4 on my own before going, and was put in the N3 class right away. It was quite a hard regimen. They gave me a short written test and then asked some questions verbally to assess in which class to put me. EVERYTHING is in Japanese. I think some teachers didn’t even speak basic English. There were some people at the front desk that could speak some English but prepare to feel lost at times ^^.
After these 2 months + 2 more months of self study, I passed the N3 easily. But I was also pretty exhausted after 
Some teachers are better than others, but overall I enjoyed my stay there. The teachers were always open to answer random questions about the materials. It was I think half day school (4h), half day off, but with homework to do as well. A thing to keep in mind is that you actually have to write Japanese in schools. That can be quite a shock if you normally don’t need to while self studying.
The cultural activities I didn’t like as much, I’d recommend exploring more on your own if you are not staying super short term. Organizing activities with other students almost always felt more rewarding.
I was put in a Sharehouse by them which was super great. I think a homestay would be great too. My house was half Japanese/ half foreigners which was a great balance. Be prepared to make some compromises for your stay. Living with other people can sometimes bring its own challenges.
The school also had a great balance of students. All westerners (Mexican, Spanish, American, English, German, Austrian, France I can remember). I heard in other schools there might be a higher ratio of Asian students, which might have some Kanji advantage over you. How true that is I can’t confirm. I think it is more prevalent in longer stay schools with learner visa.
The only thing I have to say is that the average age was really low. I was nearly the oldest student of the whole school with 27. I think most were 18-21. I’m not sure how it is in the Fukuoka branch because I think they have more long term students there.
Furthermore, I also can’t speak on how relevant my experiences are anymore. It’s already over 8 years in the past, and covid happened in between as well.
Fukuoka is a great city though. I’m sure you’ll love it. Not the best regarding food (IMHO, others swear by hakata tonkotsu, motsunabe and the yatais along the river) but the weather and the people are great.
I didn’t go to any of the schools listed but this reply tracks with my experience in a language school in Tokyo two years ago. I had a good amount of classmates who were Chinese who had the kanji advantage for sure. It was fun one upping them in class when I could. Trust they definitely one upped me too. I’m American
Only other advice I’d give is to have a decent cushion for spending money because things may come up. I had cockroaches and a housemate who smoked inside my sharehouse so I paid for a coworking office membership and spent a lot of time there (I got played for sure and couldn’t get a refund for my sharehouse, shouldn’t be happening to you). I would imagine that Fukuoka isn’t as expensive as Tokyo though
If the schools have decent reviews, I don’t think your experience will be too different from what’s been mentioned so far.
Fukuoka GenkiJACS alum here Class of ‘24
I was a one-year course student and found the experience immensely valueable. I’m still in Fukuoka, in fact, at business school with plans to work in the area after graduation.
The Fukuoka campus has a majority of classes in the “from zero” to “beginner” level (think up to JLPT N5). Depending on the incoming students, there may or may not be enough to form a higher-level (N4+) class. In my case, I came in with N4 certification, and placed in an upper-beginner class. After two months, my class was promoted up to intermediate. By the end of the year, I took and passed the N2. Along the way, short-term students joined and graduated based on their lengths of study.
One thing I don’t know is how far in advance the short-termers had to book their classes. For the year-long students, there was a hefty wait list (up to 18 months last I was around to eavesdrop).
Class learning is based on Minna no Nihongo, print-outs, partner and group activities. You’ll have homework, but nothing that can’t be completed in under an hour. And the lounge on the ground floor is a popular space to hang out, do homework, eat, and chill. I always did the homework immediately after class in the lounge with my classmates. Then had plenty of free time to explore and have fun.
Still true at the Fukuoka campus. Majority of students have English as a shared language which is nice for making friends in the beginning, but can feel a bit like a wasted opportunity when after class no one is using the Japanese they learned 
While there were youngsters, I think in my case, we had a higher than average age for the incoming class. At the time, less than a year after Japan reopened borders, many folks who probably had plans to come sooner (like me) were now several years older. And across all my classes, we ranged from late-twenties to early-70s.
Come to Fukuoka, it’s great. Come to Genki, they’ll get you talking and USING Japanese.
I recently finished a six-week course at WAHAHA Japanese Language School in Fukuoka, so I figured I’d share my experience in case anyone here is looking at short-term language schools in Japan.
Before I signed up, I looked at a few different schools in Fukuoka and visited some of them in person. WAHAHA stood out to me mostly because of the atmosphere. It felt much warmer and more personal than the other places I visited. They even let me observe a very small class before deciding, which helped a lot. Some of the other schools seemed more fixed about start dates and level placement, while WAHAHA was more flexible about fitting students in.
That flexibility was both a strength and a weakness. My first placement was too advanced for me. I gave it a couple of days, but it was clearly not the right level, so I ended up doing private lessons for a few days until another student arrived and I could be placed into a better class. It worked out in the end, but the first few days were frustrating.
Once things settled, I really enjoyed it. The school is small, and because of that you get a lot of personal attention. The teachers and staff were very kind, and everyone seemed to know each other. Students came from different countries and were at different ages and stages of life, but people still became friends quickly. A lot of us spent time together outside of class too, so it ended up feeling like more than just a school.
WAHAHA also helped me arrange an apartment about a ten-minute walk away. It was simple, but convenient and had what I needed. They also organized optional activities, like strawberry picking, ramen making, and an onsen trip, which made it easier to meet people and experience more of the area.
Academically, I got a lot out of the small classes and the amount of speaking practice. My main criticism is that the teacher changed almost every day, and sometimes that made the course feel a little less consistent. I also found the textbook harder to self-study from than something like Genki, since it was a beginner book but written entirely in Japanese. I would have liked a clearer syllabus or preview of what we would study each day so I could prepare ahead of time.
That said, I still had a very positive experience overall. I met students from other schools in Fukuoka, and after hearing about their experiences, I felt like WAHAHA was probably the right choice for me. I also met several students who were returning for a second or third time, which says a lot.
It is probably not the best fit if you want a large, highly structured program with a very predictable syllabus. But if you want a small school, lots of personal attention, a friendly environment, and a chance to actually get to know people, I would definitely recommend it. I learned a lot, made good friends, and was genuinely sad to leave. I’m grateful to all the teachers and staff there, and I hope I can go back someday.
Thank you very much for the insight into your experiences. Much appreciated.
How would you describe your Japanese proficiency level (before you attended class)?
I have been considering Meiji Academy - some of the attributes of the course that you attended sound similar to what I have read in reviews of the Meiji programs.
I am probably JLPT5-ish. I had completed Genki 1 (mostly self study) and about 6 levels of Wanikani, but my vocabulary was defiantly a weak spot for me. They didn’t have any absolute beginners when I was there, it seemed like a good number of JLPT 4 and 3 students. There were also a few of expats there taking private lessons and I assume they were more advance too, but I don’t really know. Student ages varied from teenagers to late 50’s.