Ojiya Study Abroad

OSA General Information:2024

 OSA is the program for the people who want to learn practical Japanese and experience very ordinary Japanese life as a part of our community in Ojiya, a peaceful country town in Japan. Ojiya is about two hour train ride from Tokyo.


1) Our program:

We are not a Japanese language school where many students study the same level of Japanese together. We set up our program to meet individual needs. You can spend much of your time studying Japanese, or you can spend more time participating in our local events and activities so that you can experience our daily life and learn about our culture. The program we offer is very flexible. You can start your stay anytime you like. You can stay with us as long as you want from a few weeks to one year. No age limit either.

In addition to that, we try our best to minimize your expenses because what we seek for is not profit but wonderful meetings between international people and us local people.


2) Application:

You must apply at least 3 weeks before you want to join the program.
(But please send us a mail before your apply. Sometimes we are fully booked.)
You can get our application form from our web site, fill it out, and e-mail it along with a few photos ( No need to be official ones. Family photos or ones with your friends or pets will be fine.) and your self-introduction to our director: (Mr.) Suzuki skshingojp@yahoo.co.jp
If you need an official letter of invitation for your visa, we need to hear from you 4 weeks before the day of your start.


3) Selection:

We select the applicants we accept through mails, reference letters and an on-line interview if possible . We want to have friendly people with good sense of responsibility.


4) Payment of OSA program fee:

Standard monthly fee for one month is US$900. It must be paid in Japanese yen (at the exchange rate of the day) within a week after you arrive here. For a stay shorter than a month, the fee might get a little higher.


5) Details of our program fee/person/month:

・ ‘Private bedroom’ and ‘kitchen, bathroom, washroom , and living quarters shared by 2-3people’ plus ‘basic food (bread, rice, bottled drinking water, and most of seasonings for cooking )’ US$290

・ Electricity, gas, water, the Internet, and community fee US$ 70

・ Private and group Japanese lessons offered by experienced professional instructors plus talk time with local people US$340

・ Small compact car shared by 2-3 people in the same guest house(When you don’t drive, you’ll be given a ride by your share mates or our staff members.) US$120

・ Life support by English speaking staffs plus participation in sight seeing, various local events, school visits, and day trips. US$ 80

Total US$900

Actually it costs $1,200 /person to cover all the costs including house and car insurance, furniture, household appliances, staff members for your life support and so on. Standard monthly fee of $900 is made possible by the financial help ($300/person/month) from our people in exchange for your active participation in local events and school visits.

You can make your fee even smaller by teaching your own language to local people, working on a farm, shoveling snow and so on. Applicants who stay on our program for over three months make $300-500 per month on average by teaching their languages to local people 4-6 hours a week.

But you shouldn’t expect to start making money as soon as you get here. We will help you get a good part-time job after you get used to living here. (Some visas don’t allow you to work officially, though.)

Your guest house is fully furnished including fridge, washing machine, TV, microwave-oven, futon mats, towels, dishes, pans, air-conditioners, and heaters. But you might need something else for your own use. We recommend you prepare $100 for them.


6) Group application:

If you want to join us in a group of four or more people with someone who has an international driver’s license, we’ll think of some discount.


7) Homestay

Everyone stays in one of our guest houses first. As you make friends with local people, you are invited to visit their families. Then they invite you to stay with them for a few days…. This is how we arrange for you to stay with local families so that both you and the family feel quite comfortable right from the beginning.


8) The people we want to have here:

・Those who have clear target and study hard (We don’t want people who just fool around.)

・Those who are friendly and willing to mingle with local people.

・Those who follow basic social rules and get along well with people around.

(Sorry but we can’t have people who smoke or drink too much.)

・Those who speak basic Japanese or English.

・Those who have enough fund to stay here on.( We know money is important

for everyone, but we don’t want people whose main concern is always money. )


9) Insurance:

Be sure to have proper insurance to cover unexpected injury and sickness. Your insurance should also cover any liability for damage and loss you may cause to the properties in the guest house or the host family. General liability insurance costs only a few additional dollars, but it’s very important when you live in someone else’s house. The driving of one of our cars is covered by OUR insurance (we know it is difficult and costly to buy driving insurance outside your country).


10) International Driver’s License:

We recommend that you bring an international driver’s license if it’s not too difficult to get one. We have a small compact car for each guest house. Driving in a local town in Japan isn’t as difficult as you might think.


11) Certificate:

You can get an official certificate when you complete your study ( 3 months or longer),which will help you get a good job back in your own country or get some credits from your university. We will also help you get a job at one of the local companies in and around Ojiya, or get into a Japanese college if that’s what you are aiming at.


12) For more information: Write to Suzuki, director of the program. skshingojp@yahoo.co.jp

We’ve had ３２0 people join us since we started this program in 2014. (Closed from March 2021 to July 2022 due to Covid.)
We understand everyone wants something different. We are doing our best to meet each participant’s expectations. (*^_^*)