Local Life Japan
8F Shirakiku Grand Bldg, 1-7-4 Oakashi-cho,, Akashi, Hyogo 673- 0891, Japan
Local Life Japan
$155 discount for some courses and accommodations from 1-5 weeks until 19 Dec 2025 Show details »
Our Japanese Course is designed for students who want to build real-world communication skills and enjoy the full experience of exploring Japan.The focus goes beyond grammar and vocabulary, we emphasise speaking and listening in real-life settings, helping you navigate everyday situations with confidence.
With 15 lessons per week, the course blends essential grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation with lots of conversation practice. You’ll engage in role-plays, discussions, and interactive exercises that help you use Japanese naturally and effectively in daily life.
Small class sizes ensure personalised attention, and our experienced instructors tailor lessons to your level and goals. We use a mix of textbooks, real-life materials like news articles, and cultural content to bring your learning to life.
Whether you’re a complete beginner or aiming to improve your fluency, this course gives you the skills you need to speak Japanese confidently and experience Japan like a local.
Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary and Grammar
Local Life Japan does not hold classes on the holiday dates above. The school does not compensate for these holidays, so make sure to choose your start date accordingly.
You can choose from the following class times:
Class schedule may change depending on availability and season.
Average | 5 students |
Maximum | 9 students |
Age range | 18 years old and older |
Average | 30 years old (20 in the summer) |
Local Life Japan is the perfect place to immerse yourself in authentic Japanese culture while achieving academic growth. Our school is conveniently located just a 2-minute walk from Akashi Station, providing easy access to vibrant city centres like Kobe and Osaka, and unique / authentic destinations such as Awaji Island, Himeji and Arima. This prime location allows our students to experience the best of both urban convenience and authentic Japanese charms.
At Local Life Japan, we offer a variety of courses designed to teach practical Japanese that you can use every day. Whether you are looking for intensive study, conversational practice, or cultural immersion, our flexible programs cater to different needs and schedules, all with emphasis on practical learning, inside and outside of the classroom. Our classes are small, with avg 5/ max 9 students per classroom, ensuring a personalised and focused learning environment.
Our facilities include modern air-conditioned classrooms and a cozy student lounge with free WiFi to ensure comfortable and family-like community, where you can receive support both inside and outside the classroom. A kitchenette, and high-tech Japanese toilet are available on the same floor for added convenience.
Local Life Japan also emphasises local community and engagement. We organize a variety of social and cultural activities to help our students to experience the real Japan. From exploring historical sites to enjoying local community events, these activities foster a sense of belonging and provide practical language practice. We believe in a holistic approach to language learning, combining classroom instruction with cultural experiences.
The school is surrounded by over 200 cafes, restaurants and essential like supermarkets and convenience stores, all within walking distance. This vibrant environment provides plenty of opportunities for students to practice their language skills in real-life settings.
Join us at Local Life Japan and find your home away from home. Experience the authentic Japan, learn practical Japanese you can use every day, and become part of a supportive and engaging community. Your journey starts here, where you "Live the Language, Love the Journey".
The nationality and age mix at Local Life Japan varies over different time periods, courses and levels. Throughout the year, the average age is 30. In the summer, the average age is 20.
teaches students from all over the world, including:
does not hold classes on the holiday dates below. The school does not compensate for these holidays, so make sure to choose your start date accordingly.
Local Life Japan is ideally located just a 2-minute walk from Akashi Station, a major transport hub. Nestled in the charming coastal area of Hyogo, we are 10-25 minutes away from Kobe, Osaka and other city centers by metro.
Our location offers the best of both worlds - proximity to the bustle of multiple cities, while being an exciting gateway for unique areas like Awaji Island.
Akashi is a popular place for locals due to its high quality of life and lower cost of living, providing an ideal balance of accessibility and livability It was voted one of the Top Hidden Gem in Japan in 2024!
Our school is 10 minutes away from the ocean, facing the Seto Inland Sea, offering a mild climate and a relaxed atmosphere. Nature and historical sites are close by, with the historical Akashi Castle only 2 minutes away, where students often enjoy lunch at the castle park. Malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, Karaoke and the station are all within 1-2 minutes of our school.
Join us at Local Life Japan and experience a vibrant community with the perfect balance of urban convenience and authentic cultural immersion.
First of all Akashi was a fantastic location for my week’s visit. It a small, friendly town in which you get to know the locals. The school itself was also excellent. All of the teachers and lesson were engaging and the teaching material was presented at just the right level and a very high quality. We had many trips outside to practise our conversational Japanese and I really appreciated this as a useful boost to my learning. Out of the excursions, I particularly enjoyed the Kareoke. I did not stay in the school housing as I was accompanied by a family member, but from what I heard from classmates it was really good. We stayed at Hitomaru Kadan, a local Ryokan, which I would also recommend highly. In summary, my experience of Local Life was vey positive and I hope to return in he future.
Show details » Read more...The classes were sometimes really frustrating because most teachers would just tell us how to do it, but never when to use it or what it means in English. Whenever I asked I got an even more confusing answer, so either I understood from the start, my classmate explained it or I didnt get it at all.
The teachers were all really nice, they tried to hold conversations even though I didnt understand them.
The location was good, close to a station and lots of convenience stores nearby.
The facility was also great, and I liked how every room had different air conditioning.
The activities were mostly fun, but it would have been nice to be able to choose or help decide what to do, instead of just being told 'here this is what we're doing, come'.
The housing was amazing, I loved everything about my host family, my room, my way to school, I couldnt have asked for anything better.
Overall I really enjoyed the time I spent there.
The location of the school was fantastic, as it was very close to the station and a lot of restaurants and cafes. Akashi park was also close. I loved walking through it when I had the time. The school common area has both air conditioning (which is important when the days are 35 degrees) and wi-fi, as well as snacks, manga and switch games so there were plenty of ways to spend the breaks between lessons. The teachers were very kind and fun to talk to, and had great recommendations for lunch places in the area, as well as weekend activities. They would also help when we had a problem.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of people for most of my stay, which meant that it was difficult to tailor the lessons to the people present and some people were in classes that were ill-suited for them. Though Local Life Japan did their best to fix that. The textbook had some errors in it and some exercises were confusing enough that even the teacher did not know how to do it. Personally, I would have liked more speaking practice rather than sticking strictly to following the book, but I guess it's an individual thing. We had a different teacher nearly every day which allowed for some variety in teaching styles and let another teacher offer explanations if the students still didn't understand.
A lot of the activities were very fun, like the art aquarium we went to (it was gorgeous, and had a lot of sealife I had never seen before) or fruit picking and calligraphy. However, some activities were poorly planned, or did not work with large groups of people, especially when 11 year olds were mixed with people over the age of 20. For example origami, where no one really knew how to create anything other than a crane.
I got matched with a fantastic host family, that did their best to include me in their family and took me on trips during the weekend, while cooking delicious dishes and talking to me during the weekdays.
Overall, it was a very fun experience that I do not regret.
We had a wonderful three weeks' trip, and we are sure will see you guys next time.
Show details » Read more...Die Schule ist toll. Sehr gut gelegen mit schönen, hellen Klassenräumen. Das Mobiliar ist gepflegt und neuwertig. Das beste sind die Lehrer. Sehr aufmerksam und geduldig. Meine Hauptlehrerin war fantastisch. Sie hatte immer ein offenes Ohr für mich, egal welche Zweifel und Sorgen mich plagten. Als mid Fünfziger geht das Lernen einfach nicht mehr so einfach. Meine Lehrerin wusste aber immer, wie sie mich motivieren kann. Ich werde nächstes Jahr für mehrere Wochen dort wieder hin gehen. Für mich ist Local Life weit mehr als „nur“ eine Schule. Ich habe meine Lehrer alle in mein Herz geschlossen. Diese Schule ist das Beste das mir passieren konnte.
Show details » Read more...The school is located close to the train station and the instruction provided is very clear so finding the school is not hard. The surrounding of the school is also good where you have various options of nice foods, shopping area and even a market area to explore with.
The classes are designed for you to speak more Japanese thus building your overall speaking ability which I found it very useful. The one week class improve my overall Japanese speaking ability and of course increase my interest to further my Japanese learning journey. The teachers are all very nice and patience to guide me throughout the class to learn new grammar, words and also practicing speaking with me which improve my confidence in speaking in Japanese.
The activities available are also interesting. As the school is not too far from Himeji / Kobe / Maiko / Awaji Shima etc, there’s plenty of interesting activities/sightseeing you can do with the school or on your own. And you will have the teachers (the locals) to recommend you activities/things to try on when you are around that area.
Highly recommend to those who are looking for a place to learn speaking Japanese and immerse yourself in the real Japanese culture/life.
Locations:
Location of the school is very central and good to find
Location of my homestay family was also in a good distance to school, without long walks
Classes and teachers:
The lessons were well prepared and a good mix between learning new things and practicing talking. Every single teacher was amazing and responded to my needs - I cannot wish for more :)
Thank you so much, for teaching for me, though I was the only student. I really appreciate that!
Afternoon Activities:
All Afternoon activities were adjusted to my interests, so I was very lucky! We went to Himeji and Kobe city, to art and architecture related museums and even for dinner together. The activities were a good combination with the classes in the morning, to get to know Japanese culture and language.
If I would stay for more than one week, I would ask to maybe shorten every second activities a little to get home earlier, to get more time to rest. Because of all the new impressions and the three languages (Japanese, English and german) I was extremely tired every evening. I think a little time to rest between school and evening time with the family (just half an hour - to one hour) would have been perfect.
Homestay family:
What a lovely family I had! They were so helpful and showed me so much about daily Japanese life! We always had breakfast and dinner together and one evening they took me out for dinner to one of their favorite restaurants to eat Okonomiyaki. That was a great experience, though I wished my Japanese language were better, so I could talked more with the other guests. The mum also made me every day lunchbox with was soooo delicious!
The school is located close to the train station, which makes it convenient to travel to.
The classrooms are clean and cool. The teachers are kind and accommodating and try to push you to use more japanese when possible to help build more confidence. The activities avaliable were nice and interesting. Housing wise, it was a nice experience living in a japanese household and eating japanese home cooked foods.
Homestays are carefully selected and offer students the opportunity to learn more about the local culture in a comfortable setting while studying Japanese in Akashi. These homes are often around 60 minutes away from the school by public transport. Families usually offer affordable meal plans that allow you to sample the local cuisine. If you have special requests or diet restrictions (because of religion or health reasons), please let us know in advance. You must check out 1 day after your classes end (usually a Saturday). Learn more about homestay housing
We cannot apply for visas on behalf of students. However, the school can supply you with all the documentation you need to support your visa application.
Your letter of acceptance will be sent to your home address by regular mail at no charge to you. If you wish to receive your paperwork by express mail, you will be charged ¥ 6,500 when you register.
Please note that we do not book flights for our students. If you are researching airfare costs, we recommend using Kayak.com, a search engine that lets you compare flight options from your home country to Akashi based on your budget, schedule and preferences.
Study abroad worry-free with Language International's health and personal effects insurance coverage. When you book a course with us, you can opt to purchase an international insurance plan that covers not only your health care cost but also loss of your personal belongings. You must book your insurance in advance when you register.
Have questions? Get answers from Local Life Japan staff, Language International student advisors, and past students.
Ask a questionLocal Life Japan