Meiji Academy - Japanese Pop Culture Course

Being the land of the wild and wacky, it felt only right to do a pop culture course in Japan. Honestly it was worth every penny and I enjoyed every minute of it. I mean, you get to learn Japanese AND hang around with kawaii girls at a maid cafe? Sign me up! I can't recommend this school enough, I would do my course 100 times over if I could!

I studied Japanese in Fukuoka (South of Japan, on Kyushu island). The school was great, the staff was nice and welcoming and the lessons and cultural activities were amazing. I love the Japanese language as much as I love Japanese pop culture so this program was perfect for me. I was probably born in the wrong country lol! I had a really fun cultural immersion. We had homework as well which was not too much but still enough for me. It is important to do your homework properly so that you can ask all your questions to the teachers afterward. I had a friend who was often asking one of his Japanese friends to "help" him with it, but I don't think it was the right thing to do. One other cool thing I did: I experienced the shinkansen! It was quite expansive but I thought I had to do it at least once in my life. Otherwise, I think the best way to get around is the bus or the airplane (but not really good for the environment so I would recommend the night bus for long distances!).

I think that Japanese culture is truly amazing, and I have wanted to learn Japanese for a while now. Of course, you can't learn a language in three weeks, but I am already able to communicate about daily topics so I am very proud of myself! We focused primarily on spoken Japanese which was perfect for me. This culture course was a good choice, with really cool activities. The robot center and the geisha experience were really interesting and fun. Fukuoka is a nice place that I recommend you to visit if you ever go to Japan.

I love Japanese pop culture because it is so different from European culture. We went to a maido kissaten (maid cafe), it was so weird, but also so fun! In Hakata, there is a special store about One Piece, I bought so many goods, it was like paradise! We also had a manga drawing lesson that was my favorite activity. I often draw manga when I have free time (or sometimes during my classes at uni haha), but I didn't know how to create a manga template. When I was in high school, I invented a story and started to draw the characters, but because of the exams, I got busy and forgot the idea. Going to Meiji motivated me and I decided to give it one more try!

The teachers are very attentive and invested with the students. It was encouraging to be surrounded by people motivated by a common passion! My friends at home don't really understand my interest in Japan, so I was so glad to meet the other students at Meiji. I recommend this school to those who want to learn Japanese while having fun and experiencing Japanese culture. Everybody was open-minded and lovely! As it was my second time in Japan, I think Fukuoka was a good choice. The subway is very convenient and easy to use and you have cheap restaurants everywhere. My favorite place was hakata station. You have a big shopping mall and you can spend hours in there without getting bored!

I love Japan!! And Meiji made me love Japan even more! One of my friends recommended me this school and he was right: the staff is really devoted and the classes were productive. I had lots of fun taking part in the activities, going to a maid cafe, to a manga exposition... and also eating ramens in the best yatai in the city!! I visited Kyushu for the first time and found out that it is a really nice place. The people there seemed to be happy to see foreigners and they talked to me easily. I often had opportunities to use what I learned during the classes outside the school when going to shops or restaurants. It was gratifying to notice that I was able to communicate properly! As Fukuoka is really close to South Korea, I decided to spend a few days in Korea before returning to my country. A very good experience!

Studying with Meiji Academy was the best choice I could have made! I've never been to Fukuoka before that and I'm happy to have discovered such a wonderful city! I went with the pop culture course because I first got into Japanese culture through anime and music, that's what I like the most in Japan. Meiji staff could give me very good addresses for finding figurines and other anime stuff. There is no area as huge as Akihabara in Fukuoka, but you can find lots of cool shops everywhere in the city. Some shops you have to visit in Fukuoka: Mugiwara store, pokemon center, Animate... Ask the staff of the school, they will be more than happy to help you! Other than that, the classes are well-organized with a friendly atmosphere. The pop culture activities were super interesting. They understood that I am passionate about manga culture, so they even prepared a class especially for me about drawing and planning manga!