Genki Japanese and Culture School

I stayed for a month at Genki and it was a very enjoyable. The courses are clearly more focused on increasing your speaking skills, and the method to do that are working pretty well -- there are lots of repetitions, but the teachers are so upbeat and enthusiastic (not to mention very kind and patient) that it doesn't get boring, and you actually learn quite a lot within a week.

The school is in a good location, near Shinjuku Station and even nearer to the Shinjuku Sanchome underground station. It's easy to meet new people and friends inside the facility, and even if you're more of an introvert, I think you will still feel quite at ease -- I'm personally not very good at talking with people I'm not familiar with, and still felt great in the school.

I can't say much about the housing part as I booked an Airbnb in Saitama on my own, but I'm sure that sharehouses or host families can be great experiences too.

As a whole, I would greatly recommend this school to anyone who wants to get better at (spoken) Japanese fairly quickly; it's fun and the learning environment is very enjoyable and comfortable!

good quality of teaching, a lot of practice and dialogue, so i improve a lot in conversation using Japanese.

I thought the teachers were very good, patient and knowledgeable. The school environment was sometimes challenging with climate control-classrooms could get stuffy and were often too hot or too cold.

Genki JACS school is in an excellent location right in the heart of Shinjuku. It is located next to a peaceful shrine and easy to walk to from the main station. While small, the classrooms were bright and clean. The teachers (who rotate everyday) were knowledgeable, energetic, attempted to get to know the students and well prepared. The homework load was consistent and manageable requiring some time outside of class, but not overwhelming. The grammar lessons were clear and provided a review period the next day. Teachers began by engaging students in conversation and the instruction was varied based on each teacher’s style. I would highly recommend this school to someone wanting to improvement their Japanese conversational skills. The office was supportive when I needed help with my mobile phone and also provided activities around Tokyo on the days when we didn’t have class. Loved my experience!

My son spent two weeks at the Genki School in April 2024 to prepare for his final school exams in Japanese later this year. He did both the language and conversational classes.

Although he was not there for long, the work was intense (but fun!) and there was significant improvement in his confidence speaking Japanese by the end.

Class sizes are small and the teachers uniformly excellent.

The Shinjuku locations is very convenient and easily accessible by public transport (there is an entrance to Shinjuku SanChome on the doorstep). We stayed in an apartment within walking distance so did not use the accommodation service.

All in all it was a great experience and highly recommended.

The classes were really fun. It was a small number of people in my class so that meant that I got a lot of attention from the teachers. So a lot of opportunities to speak Japanese and make mistakes. It also meant that i got really close with all my classmates. We have become really good friends that are still hanging out after i ended my time with genki jacs. The teachers are all very capable and know how to teach. The staff is also really helpful, the helped me out with a problem i had regarding garbage disposal. The contents covered in the classes was a bit too slow for my liking. We spent a lot of time on the same grammar points, when I would rather have learned new ones. However this did mean that the grammer points we covered are really stuck in my brain now.

My housing (private apartment was fine), it was a bit dirty when i arrived, lots of house dust etc but i quickly cleaned that when i arrived. The shower was uncomfortable because i am very tall, 1.93, but thats to be expected in Japan. The location was also really good, only 15 minutes by subway from the school!

I liked that each teacher had their own way of teaching, it made it easier to understand because they all had different examples. And I liked that we mainly spoke in Japanese, and that we actually got to practice speaking it. The teacher and staff are incredibly kind. I didn’t have any negative experiences while studying there.

I had a great experience studying with GenkiJACS. The teachers were so nice and were there always for you if needed. I met a lot of people and made really good friends there. I would definitely repeat my experience with GenkiJACS.

Great school. Dedicated teachers, classes with small numbers of students, focus on conversation.
The school is very well located, in the center of Shinjuku. Many students live outside the neighborhood and use the subway to get there. I stayed in a small hotel close to the school, a little more expensive but very convenient. The school is great for those who want to learn how to communicate efficiently, not focusing on tests like JLPT. There are homework assignments every day and the classes are full of content, requiring a lot of dedication.

I found Genki JACS after searching a lot of different schools to get my visa sponsored. With pandemic, it was really hard to come in Japan, but online staff did everything nice to make things easier for me. The website is clear, student monitoring is really good also.

I already had people in Japan to take me up, but they asked me if I needed transport, quarantine place, room, and everything needed to respect sanitaries immigration rules.
I had to send my temperature everyday and it was reminded by mail if I didn't, so they are quite serious about it.

After 15 days, I was able to come in class and I did one month. The school is near Hanazomon Shrine, in Shinjuku sanchome. It is just near the E2 exit of the subway station.

Every student were serious about studies and teachers were interesting, so class was a good learning environment. Classes were everyday for 4 hours, from 10h25 to 14h05 with few pauses, and we had homeworks at the of each day. So it was quite intensive, but efficient.

As a negative point, the school is expensive. That's all I think.

After arriving in Tokyo it was really easy to get setup in my accommodation. The school didn't have the time I wanted to start available because of short notice, but I was still able to check into my accommodation the week before I started.

All of the teachers at GenkiJACS had really diverse personalities so school never got boring. There were many opportunities for conversation, reading, and writing practice. I liked every teacher, except one.

The school was really close to many convenience stores and the centre of Shinjuku. The only downside to the location was the GenkiJACS lunch hour coincides with the lunch hours of many of the companies in Shinjuku. So, it was pretty hard to find a restaurant that wasn't full.

In summary, everything was really good!

Staff were friendly and professional.
Location was excellent
Small class sizes were perfect for learning.
Admin staff excellent and friendly.

It would have been most beneficial to have some extra classes on offer for students. Everyone is there to get maximum learning.
Extra Kanji classes for instance; writing and listening sessions.

Teachers were brilliant, the location is good and classes were helpful (although 1 week is not enough time). I loved the atmosphere created and how quick it was to get into the routine. It was too expensive for me though, but that is a personal thing anyways.

I'm completely new to Japanese language and only took for 2 weeks course. With the teaching method, I doesn't feel stress when learning and teachers are very patience to answer all the queries or doubt posted by students. The teaching method was interesting and easy to understand. A convenience location for me. I like the most on the teaching method as I could understand it as I'm completely zero knowledge in Japanese language. It will be good if could have more classes (may be six classes) in a day could be choose in order to learn more within the limited period that allow.

The school was in a great location in Shinjuku. Some classrooms were a little cramped for an 8-person class. Teachers and staff were friendly and helpful. The day trip to replace classes on a national holiday was well-organised and very enjoyable.

The classes were fun but moved at a fast pace i think that if you know that and are willing to put in the effort you will be fine. How much you like the classes depends on how you get along with classmates and your teachers.Overall I think that it was a great experience and i learned a lot.

When I first joined the class, I felt like I was back in the Philippines. The reason is that the energetic teachers taught me like teachers at a Japanese language school in the Philippines called Jiang Dee. That's why I was away from my parents and living in Tokyo alone, but now I can feel safe. I came to Japan in the hot summer, so I thought I could only study in a hot room. Thanks to you, it was nice to have an air conditioner. I think the teacher is really good at it. I felt as if the teacher had made me a genius. In other words, he taught me a lot of unknown Japanese. Not only that, but a teacher like an angel taught me, so I couldn't suppress my overflowing feelings. Karaoke was also fun. There are no particular problems at Genki Japanese Language School. However, she will laugh as soon as she tells Eri that I'll be sorry when I go home after the class is over. I really liked Eri's laugh, though I don't understand it. I feel various feelings. I'm happy that I've finished studying, but if I have the money, I should have studied for over a month.

The class was interesting and fun and I studied well

It is very convenient because it is near Shinjuku Station

There are a lot of events You can meet Japanese at that event

I stayed in the host family's house and I liked them very much! I'm so happy to get to know such a nice people. Also the school, teachers and my classmates was very wonderful, I miss all of them so much, because they teach me a lot in many ways. Thanks for the school and teachers that I can understand Japanese language, culture and people's life style even more better than before.

First day was kind difficult because I didn't knew that I needed to go to my host family's house all by myself from Narita Airport, it was kinda stressful for me because I was so tired after a long flight. Also the first day in school was confused because I didn't knew when my school started (my host family was confused too about it).

But because the school was in Shinjuku, it was very good because then it was easy to meet up with my "old" Japanese friends. Shinjuku area is great because it's easy also moving around in Tokyo, except to my favorite place, Harajuku and Shibuya.

The school method is very good, I loved to study so intensive after so long time and I was very thankful for learning a lot Japanese than ever before. Thank you for it.

I really learned a lot at Genki Jacks , and I really loved my teachers , because they all were so helpful , and I liked a lot about the classes designs , because each class had a special Japanese culture design , the school was located in one of the best places in Tokyo , which is Shinjuku , and the share house was with Japanese people so I could practice Japanese.

the only thing that I didn't like was the activities time , it wasn't suitable with my schedule, so I couldn't go to any one.

I really want to thank you for organizing this opportunity , and making study abroad so easy.

I am studying Japanese at university.For me studying japanese was always boring. but studying with GenkiJacs is so much fun! Teachers and staff helpful and kind. I am glad I studied with them. Thank you so much !

I enjoyed having the opportunity to visit Japan for the first time and I liked the school. All the teachers are very kind and willin to help. The location was very convenient and super clean. I also enjoyed the apartment that came with the school. Very clean amd super close to school. I did not like that the total beginners program was extremely fast-paced and I got lost very quickly so I had trouble understanding how it was a total beginners class. I also did not appreciate the teaching method. Although that method is more effective with children, teaching adults that way I just don't think works. But I will say after constantly talking to the school they were able to make adjustments for me and give me one-on-one lessons which allowed me to make more progress and ask questions. And I did not feel comfortable with the fact that no English was allowed simply because if you don't know any Japanese (like a total beginner would be) how can you ask questions or learn anything if you have no clue whats going on. But as I said I appreciated the fact that they gave me private lessons and I learned a lot more that way than in regular class. I loved the school, my only complaint would be the method of teaching.

The classes have a focus in funny teaching method, I think this can help beginners to familiars with the language, but for serious students is a horrible experiences, I felt so many times as a kindergarten student and the worst was the fact I felt I was at the wrong level for my hold time there, to be detail my first two weeks I stay at a basic class and I fought with to school to change me, and only after 2 weeks they put me and a different level and that doesn’t help at all seems I heard for 3 months from the others students I should be at that class because I already know the information, and received after 3 months a certificate for High elementary Japanese, was a disrespect with all my years of Japanese’s study, I had from the Japanese government the recognition of intermediate level and the school refuse to accept this I put me in a Hight class, maybe because at that school only have basic classes, in 3 month I learn almost nothing with the school, hopefully at my homestay the mother explain me a lot of things and I had great talkies with her every day.
The location is good, Shinjuku is an easy place to go in Tokyo, so I had no complains.

The school facilities were all right, I mean nothing great, but for a school, a table, chair and a whiteboard is good enough, but I should say that have the chairs not facing the whiteboard gave me many days with neck pain, would be good if the chairs face the whiteboard.
The actives 0, they have only a few, few actives and only ate holidays, they don't offer you a Japanese cultural activity if you don't buy a new course with these activities, so if you and to do something find by yourself.

The housing was provide for the Homestay in Japan, and this homestay safe my experience, after 2 weeks at that school for the first time of my life I felt like I don't want to study Japanese any longer, I want to leave, but the family was incredible they help me in anything they could, was absolutely amazing, if I manage to keep going to this awful school was because of this family, I am nothing but thankful for this family.

The course was really great. I really liked all the teachers.I felt confident in their teaching ability and they were also very lively and friendly which made learning extremely fun. I wish I could have stayed longer but I feel very lucky to have found Genki Jacs and will 100% be back! It was really nice to be able to finally unlock the Japanese that was stuck in my head and have some real Japanese conversations with my classmates and with my friends and visitors at my hostel.

The teachers were great. In particular, they were really funny and energetic, which helped loosen the tension that can accunulate for people trying to speak a language they dont know. The location was as central as anyone could ask for, and the vanue was great.

Classes: If you attend everyday and take notes you'll be fine. Know Hiragana ahead of time. Preferably Katakana too. It will be a HUGE leg up for you.

Teachers: Friendly and helpful, though they're often busy. Don't expect much extracurricular help unless you have a pre-planned session.

Location: Easy to find by a shrine. Also near some good restaurants.

Facilities: Small facilities, it's not a big deal though. It serves its purpose and has a Wii to use.

Housing: Host Family was a good stay. No complaints and made friends!

The teachers were great fun and really helped the learning process. My schedule was changed several times, and so were the classrooms, which made it feel like they were a bit unorganized. The actual classrooms were too small, the toilet facilities were cold, and had no hand drying facilities. I don't think it was necessary to take shoes off and on, in a classroom. They don't do that in an office, why do it, in a classroom? It creates havoc in the hallway, there was not enough room for a bunch of students leaving at once to change shoes.
My housing was lovely, however they advertised that if I booked a dinner and breakfast homestay, I would be 30-40 minutes by train/subway to the school. However it took 75 minutes, which was most frustrating!

Learning at Genkijacs was a wonderfull experience, I learned so much and can't wait to go back when I have the chance!
Classes are small so everyone gets a lot of personal attention.My classmates came from all over the world, both young and old but everybody was super friendly and enthusiastic students. I was very happy to be placed a level lower after my first week. That was something I would have never thought of myself but it turned out to be a more useful learning experience, repeating a bit more instead of struggling with the new material that was a bit too difficult for me at that moment.

The housing was good, in a quiet residential area but really close to the metro and to Ikebukuro. The distance to the school was ok as well. The room was pretty small but for a short stay I didn't need more than that.

The staff from Genki Jacs was very helpful, and in terms of schedule, I liked it best when I had classes from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm because it left me enough time to enjoy the city in the afternoon. And the location of the school is really good. There is already a lot to do around Shinjuku, and other areas of the city are easily accessible with the metro. I didn't participate much in the activities organized by the school because I had already been to Tokyo twice before, so it wasn't completely new to me. I went to one dinner party with Japanese students, which was fun but there were all much younger than me so I didn't have much in common with them. And since I was a beginner in Japanese, we talked English so I couldn't really improve my Japanese.

The teachers were really nice and I thought it was good to have several different teachers throughout the week. And I think it was really well organized between learning new things and repeating the things we had learned the days before. I appreciated that we were only 7 students for the first 2 weeks. The last week we had 2 more people but it was still ok. The housing was good, in a quiet residential area but really close to the metro and to Ikebukuro. The distance to the school was ok as well. The room was pretty small but for a short stay I didn't need more than that.

The staff from Genki Jacs was very helpful, and in terms of schedule, I liked it best when I had classes from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm because it left me enough time to enjoy the city in the afternoon. And the location of the school is really good. There is already a lot to do around Shinjuku, and other areas of the city are easily accessible with the metro. I didn't participate much in the activities organized by the school because I had already been to Tokyo twice before, so it wasn't completely new to me. I went to one dinner party with Japanese students, which was fun but there were all much younger than me so I didn't have much in common with them. And since I was a beginner in Japanese, we talked English so I couldn't really improve my Japanese.

The teachers were really nice and I thought it was good to have several different teachers throughout the week. And I think it was really well organized between learning new things and repeating the things we had learned the days before. I appreciated that we were only 7 students for the first 2 weeks. The last week we had 2 more people but it was still ok.

The classes were composed by only a few people, the teachers always nice and willing to help.

I liked the classes and how they were structured. We had speaking, grammar and listening comprehension each day and I really think this helped me identify the areas that I needed more improvement on. I noticed that I was doing pretty well at speaking, but that I struggled with some of the listening comprehension exercises. The amount of homework was enough to practice the day's lesson, but was not overwhelming. I liked how we had different teachers, which allowed the students to experience different styles and also hear different voices speaking Japanese. Since I have just my tutor to speak with, it was good for my language study to hear different sounding voices. I would definitely like to study at Genki again.

Choosing Genki JACS Fukuoka school was the perfect beginning of my Japan journey. Teachers and staff are so helpful. Staff are good English speakers. Teachers don't speak English in the classes so it improves your listening and learning skills easily. They're always so kind and smiling. School is located in the city center. Close to Hakata Eki which is biggest train station in Fukuoka and also a huge shopping center. There is always an activity that you would like to join. About culture, hobbies, to have new friends... I tried both homestay and dormitory. I am still in contact with my lovely host mother. We became friends so easily and she helped me a lot. Sharely Style Hakata Dormitory was old but useful. It was 2 stops away from center, 25 minutes with bicycle. Dorm was more quiet than I expected, everbody was respected each other. End of all I loved the school, learned beginner level Japanese easily and made friends for a lifetime...

I took a one week class, which I really enjoyed. The initial placement was accurate with the teacher being very good at assessing where I would benefit most. I really liked the small classes - I had 7 in the height of the season. Location is very easy to get to and central, which makes it easy for the metro and trains. The school is also close to other amenities - Family Market, shopping etc.
The school has very skilful teachers.

-Location:
10 minutes walk from Shinjuku station. 20 metres to the nearest exit of Shinjuku 3-Chou-Me station. Super convenient.

-Facilities:
Classrooms were always neat and tidy, arranged for small classes. Mine was 4 people, down to 2, but I believe they would have classes up to around 8. Student lounge is lovely, with free tee and coffee. Hang out here to play the Wii U with other students, or just study and chill.

-Activities:
Some of the courses included trips around Tokyo, but I didn't do this unfortunately. However, the school does put on a social event every Friday night, as well as a movie afternoon in the student lounge roughly once a week. There is also a small graduation ceremony every Friday to see off students who are leaving the school.

-Teachers:
Possibly the best and most helpful Japanese teachers I've ever had. Always friendly and happy to chat with you, or answer any questions. Another student and I would study after classes most days, and the teachers always answered all the extra questions we came up with.

-Classes:
Always fun and interesting, thanks to the excellent teachers. The timetable gave me different teachers each day, so I got to know quite a few of the teachers and experience their different lesson styles. The is an all-round approach on communication at the school. We did not sit any tests during the classes, although we did do a wide range of activities to focus all of the 4 skills reading, writing, speaking and listening.

-Housing:
Stayed at Will Fuchu, about 10 minutes walk from Musashinodai station. Although about a 30 minutes train ride, I found myself allowing up to 1 hour for travel. I found this quite close, but many people told me I was staying super far away, so that's up to you. Japanese trains are great though, services every 10 minutes on this line. Housing was fairly clean and tidy, with plenty of bathroom and such facilities for residents, and a huge shared kitchen. Only complaint I may have had is that I didn't find the mattress very comfortable, but again this is subjective, and can be fixed if you're here for a long stay.

All up, I can't recommend the school highly enough, and I'll definitely be back as soon as I get the chance.

From the beginning, the employees at Genki Jacs always made sure I was alright and comfortable in my new environment. The teachers speak both English and Japanese, but only use the second in class. I thought it helped me a lot in understanding and learning Japanese . If you've already had Japanese classes before, there is a possibility that you'll have to be with a less advanced group. Overall, I really loved my experience at Genki school even though it was expensive.

In my opinion the staffs were very friendly and experienced and I really feel like I improved my Japanese. I liked how there was a lounge area at the middle where all the classrooms are so everyone could interact and talk with each other. The location was good (being in the middle of Shinjuku) but it was very far from all of the housing. I liked that people could go into the program at any point in the summer and get off at any point, but I think that one of the drawbacks is that there weren't a very strong sense of unity among all of the students because everyone was starting and finishing at different points.

Everything was of great quality from the teaching method to the textbook, teachers, activities, and the school itself! I did not avail of their housing assistance, so I cannot comment on that. The location is also perfect!

I really liked GenkiJacs for several reasons. Although I have only been there for a week, I felt like I learned a lot, and I feel confident continuing on my own. I think this is because of a combination of the small classes, where you will not doze off but gives you opportunity to participate, and the amount of studying you have to do in one day is exactly fast enough.

Genki JACS was my third Japanese school that I attended in Japan. It was the best out of the three schools I have attended.

At Genki JACS - Standard classes met my needs - which focus on verbal / listening skills - lots of verbal repetitions, learning informal conversations...
Conversation classes - may have been great for an extrovert student, but were a waste of time for me - the introvert. I do not talk in public. I should have asked for private lessons in lieu of conversation classes.
I tried to buy private lessons in June- but they did not have teachers available in June for private lessons.
The head of the teachers was available and kind enough to guide me on how to improve my listening skill outside the standard classes (my listening skill was/remains my weakness). I got a lot of audio material to practice in Canada.

Housing- Good location and excellent free WiFi connection, so FreshRoom Guesthouse met my mandatory requirements.
The rest was not very important for me. I was okay with the rest- small room, the shower, the laundry facilities etc.

Tokyo is an amazing capital. Lots to do and see.
Easy access to travel out of the capital for a day. Every weekend, I traveled outside the capital on my own. It was very safe

No comments on the school- social activities since I did not participate.

The classes are always small, which is great because we get to practice the grammar, terms and vocabulary in class. Also, the fact that students are from a lot of different countries made it a very interesting experience. Teachers taught in a way that made Japanese easy to learn and making grammar and vocabulary easy to memorize for beginners. They would always connect things we need to learn in class in real life, which also give us a better sense of how an ordinary Japanese daily life is like. Apart from that, the school is in Shinjuku next to Hanazono Shrine, it is a very busy area in both morning and night, sometimes we would just wander around after school for hours.

My time at Genki Japanese and Culture School was totally fun.
The teachers were all very kind, funny and helpful. They taught Japanese in a good and understandable way.
The classes weren't too big and had the right size of about 6 students, so that you could learn very well and pay attention. It was very informative.
When there was a National Holiday during weekdays, the school offered the possibility of joining a culture excursion which were very interesting.
In conclusion it was fun and informative.

All is perfect, the activities, location, teachers and classes. BUT, I was an absolute beginner. The courses were intended for students who knows Hiragana. The teachers were very surprised that I didn't know Hiragana at all.
It was very, very difficult for me. I did not improve on the language.

The school is great. The groups are small so you can talk a lot with your classmates and teachers and improve your speaking skill. The location is good because the Hanazono temple is very near the school and it is very beautiful. There are a lot of restaurants and two convenience stores. Besides, the school is in Shinjuku and you can enjoy everything about this district.

The housing was good, too. In general, everything was awesome.
Don't miss the chance to go to Japan and learn japanese at Genki!

I had lots of fun. The teachers were very helpful and cheerful. In general, I enjoyed very much the classes. It was especially important for me that there was a small number of students per class (we were never more than 8) which in my opinion helped in keeping the class dynamic and fun.

It was an excellent school in a wonderful city. You will fall in love with everything that is around you in Tokyo.

The Japanese language is a difficult language and eight weeks is not enough.

I had my accommodation in a shared house named "WILL 府中", and it was one of the best housings. I most recently lived there and found all of the best friends you could find in your life.

There is no doubt that these were the best eight weeks of my life.

It was the best thing that I have done, The school might be small but it had a very good reputation also the staff is so nice and friendly. The school is located very close to the shops and restaurants. The quality of teaching is very high, I did a private course for 3 weeks only but I learned a lot and I'm able to speak basic Japanese now. Also, the agent from the Language International website was extremely helpful and responded whenever I needed which made feel comfortable .

All that I can say about my time studying at Genki JACS is superb, I really enjoy it. The classes are made using the minimum of English possible, making you to be able to really focus into learn Japanese. Teachers and staff are always there to help and answer your questions and, the school has a calm and friendly atmosphere, even localized in the middle of Shinjuku.
As for housing (Shared dorm), the only bad thing was being a little too far from the school, making transport fees expensive, but that aside, the school is nearly perfect and I really recommend it.

The teachers in Shinjuku are a joy to be around. I was a beginner, so everything was new to me, but they were very helpful. I had never been to Japan, so I am glad that transport to the guest house was arranged for me; it was worth the stress reduction. My stay at the guest house made me many new friends most of them Japanese. One of my co-students, who stayed at the guest house, helped me find my way to the school and that was a great help.
I am now at the Fukuoka school, and it is much bigger and the town is more calm. I am living with a host family and they have been wonderful.