Guide · how to decide
Choosing the right kind of language school
Pick the school that fits your visa and goal. Do not pick the one with the nicest photos. Use this order; skip nothing.
1. Decide the visa first
If you need a student visa, you need an immigration-notified Japanese language institute (or a university / vocational course that can actually sponsor that status). A “Japanese class” at a conversation school or ward office will not get you a Certificate of Eligibility.
If you already have status (work, dependent, working holiday), a short or part-time course is usually enough. Do not pay for a two-year visa program unless you need the visa.
2. Name one primary goal
Choose one. The school should match that, not all of them:
- Daily Japanese: general / conversation-heavy course.
- JLPT: a school that actually runs exam-prep classes, not only “JLPT” in a brochure.
- University in Japan: university 別科 or a language school with a real university-prep track — then confirm which universities they have sent students to.
- Short stay: weeks or months; working holiday or visitor rules still apply.
3. Match length to the visa
Student visas usually need a long, full-time course (often a year or more, with enough weekly hours). Three months of study is a different product. If immigration will not treat the course as student-visa study, the school cannot fix that with marketing.
4. Pick the city you can pay for
Tokyo costs more to live in than Osaka, mostly because of rent. See Tokyo and Osaka living costs. A cheaper school in a city you cannot afford is the wrong school.
5. Confirm five facts in writing
Email or call the school. Get answers, not a PDF of cherry blossoms:
- Can this course sponsor a student visa / COE?
- What is the total first-year cost (tuition, materials, insurance, enrollment)?
- Which intake months and application deadline?
- Where is the campus, and how long is a typical commute?
- Do they help with housing, or do you find a share house yourself?
If they will not answer those, keep looking. Rankings on this site are a shortlist, not an application.
One-line rule
Visa + goal + length + city you can live in, then compare two or three official sites. Do not choose a school because an agent is paid to recommend it, or because it appears first in an ad.