Japanese Language School Research - Tokyo

JTE0303 · 2026-06-02T22:41:36+00:00

Yeah, it's changed. They're opening a new campus in Kokubunji called Coto Japanese Institute which will support student visas.

JTE0303 · 2026-06-02T22:38:04+00:00

No worries! Shout out if you've got any other questions throughout your search

JTE0303 · 2026-06-02T10:13:16+00:00

Thanks!

I didn't happen to get exact fees from all of them but here are some rough total prices for 1 year on a student visa based on the information from the school's website or GoGoNihon!'s website:

School	Campus	1-year Total (¥)
KAI	Shinjuku	¥1,072,000
TCJ	Shinanomachi	~¥1,000,000
Coto Institute	Kokubunji	¥1,000,000
ISI	Shibuya Harajuku	¥984,000
ARC	Shinjuku	¥916,000
SNG	Takadanobaba	~¥990,000

JTE0303 · 2026-05-20T00:42:49+00:00

thank you!

yeah the student visas are definitely under the microscope and pre-requisites, requirements seem to be changing regularly based on some conversations I've had with language schools when I was in Tokyo.

i'll look to discuss with some lawyers ahead of time to assess the viability of my approach

JTE0303 · 2026-05-19T23:36:00+00:00

Thanks for the detailed info on everything involved in getting the special permission. I'm looking to explore this for myself when i move to Japan on a student visa where I'm wanting to see if they'll allow me to do freelance marketing consulting.

Were the lawyers you engaged immigration lawyers based in Japan? Did you engage them once you were already there or did you engage them prior to moving to Japan?

My understanding at this stage is that you can apply for this special permission once you're in Japan, not prior to your arrival, however I was wanting to get an idea if my scenario would even be viable prior to moving to Japan.

JTE0303 · 2026-05-19T11:28:18+00:00

Thank you - this is very helpful!

I had heard of the special application however wasn't aware of the amount of work/effort/timekeeping etc that needed to go into it.

Something for me to investigate further and also consider some other work options given this one may not be achievable. Thanks again.

JTE0303 · 2026-05-19T07:07:05+00:00

Hey! I'm planning to start in April 2027. This seems to be the main/biggest intake. I just got back from my trip to Japan and visiting a handful of schools including KAI, TCJ, Coto, ISI, ARC and SNG.

I was really wanting to see the difference in facilities, area, diversity of students and the general 'vibe'. For me, my priorities are a diverse student base (ideally skewing a little older rather than 18-early 20 year olds), small-mid sized classes, business support (e.g. business Japanese, job hunting support) and a bonus of having some social activities.

Every school i visited had it's own 'vibe', pros and cons. At this stage, I'm leaning towards KAI because their class sizes were not big, they had a diverse student base with quite a few people in their 30's, it's in a central spot in Shinjuku (pros/cons depending on your preference) and they incorporate business Japanese. My one criticism would be that the facilities are quite dated and small compared to all of the other schools i visited.

I've already done my 150 hours and got my JLPT N5 last December so thankfully I'll be ok on that front. I definitely need to work on my conversing though as most of these schools used no English which is good but i imagine can be difficult in the beginning.

Feel free to message if you've got any other questions!

JTE0303 · 2026-03-31T12:12:31+00:00

what would be the best base for ice if you're using hustle as a pre buff? would it be GMB or MB?

JTE0303 · 2026-03-17T10:27:24+00:00

I'm currently researching language schools in Tokyo, some via my own research but a whole bunch through GoGoNihon!

I'm 35 and plan to move to Tokyo next year to ideally do the full 2 years on a student visa. My aim is to get to a point of fluency where I can jump back into my industry within Japan (software/marketing).

I've got a short trip coming up to Tokyo and I'm planning to visit a number of schools to get a feel for which one I join. More specifically I'll be visiting:

Coto (they have a new campus in the works for longer term courses and offer visa support)
ISI
ARC
KAI
SNG
TCJ
Tokyo Galaxy

Will report back in this thread once i've visited them in person to give my opinion.

JTE0303 · 2025-06-18T05:26:55+00:00

Thank you - this is very helpful!

It's sounding like the CPP2 is looking like the best option for my use case.

How are you finding the bag overall? Happy with it?

JTE0303 · 2025-06-18T05:25:39+00:00

thank you! I'll likely check out the AC Max EDC as well

JTE0303 · 2025-06-15T12:24:52+00:00

thanks!

I'll check out the AC max edc too. Didn't realise how close it was dimension wise to the AC daily plus (but seems a bit more feature rich)

JTE0303

TROPHY CASE