Voices from Fukuoka
Interviews with people from outside Japan who actually live here. What brought them, what surprised them, and what was hard.
Why Fukuoka
What makes Fukuoka good is the quality of the community. The city is the right size, small enough that you keep running into the same people.
The person at the café, the person at the gym, your neighbor. Because those relationships continue, you stop needing textbook Japanese and start needing the Japanese that reaches that particular person. Talk to the same people long enough and the words you can actually use start to add up.
I moved back to Fukuoka in 2022 myself, and built every relationship here from nothing. So I know, not in theory but from having done it, where people trip up first.
The meetup
People from all over the world, and locals who want to meet them, gather at a café in Hakata. It costs 100 yen plus a drink, and you don’t need to speak Japanese well to come.
This is the part that matters for learning. You meet the same people again, so the conversations continue instead of resetting every time.
Lessons
One-on-one Japanese lessons, from N5 through N1, business Japanese, and interview practice. Every new student takes a placement test first, so the first lesson starts from where you actually are.
Lessons are normally online. If you are in or around Fukuoka, in-person lessons are possible as well. Slots are limited, so send a message and we will work out the details.
If you are working, studying, or job hunting here
The tests on this site tell you where you actually stand, rather than where you think you are. Japanese level, keigo, job interviews, workplace habits, business culture, and living in Japan.
You can try one for free before booking anything.
If you are only here for a few days
Most people reading this page live here. If you are visiting, you do not need lessons. You need about eighty words, and you need to know the order things happen in at a yatai.
There is a free page for exactly that. Pick the situation you are standing in, the hotel, a taxi, the convenience store, a stall in Nakasu, an onsen, and you get the words for it, with audio you can play out loud. No account, no payment, nothing to install.
If you get home and find you want more than those eighty words, the rest of this site will be here.
Questions people ask
Where do people at the meetup come from?
Japan, of course, and the United States, Switzerland, Taiwan, Korea, Spain, South Africa, the Philippines, Romania, Canada, India, Italy, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, Indonesia, and more. Everyone there is based in Fukuoka and building something here, which is what makes the conversations worth having.
Do I need to speak Japanese to come to the meetup?
No. People come at every level, including people who speak almost none. Board game nights exist partly for that reason: you play first, and the talking takes care of itself.
I live in Fukuoka. Can I take lessons in person?
In-person lessons are available in and around Fukuoka. Send your preferred place and time through the contact form and we will arrange it individually.
Do I have to be in Fukuoka to take lessons?
No. The lessons are online by default and most students are not in Fukuoka. Being here only adds the option of meeting in person and coming to the meetup.