SAGA — A Japanese language school for international students has opened at a long-established inn in Saga Prefecture in southwestern Japan’s Kyushu region, offering young university graduates from overseas the chance to learn Japanese for two years while working part-time at local inns and other facilities.
The new institution, ICA Ureshino School, was opened at the historic Wataya Besso inn in Ureshino, Saga Prefecture. The Ureshino Onsen hot spring is known as one of Japan’s three most skin-beautifying hot springs. The school was established by the Tokyo-based ICA International Conversation Academy, which operates Japanese language schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area. It is envisaged graduates will find work in Japan, particularly in the local area, which is struggling with labor shortages, amid hopes they will become established as tourism professionals.
Former banquet halls at the inn are rented by the school to serve as facilities including classrooms, a library, a staff room and a nurse’s office. It received approval from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in October 2024. It is apparently rare in Japan for an educational institution to be located within a lodging facility.
The Wataya Besso inn is seen in Ureshino, Saga Prefecture, on April 25, 2025. (Mainichi/Akiho Narimatsu)
The first year’s intake consists of 40 students aged 21 to 35 — 20 from Nepal, 16 from Pakistan, two from Bangladesh and one each from Uzbekistan and India. They attend Japanese language classes for four hours each weekday, divided into morning and afternoon sessions, to acquire the skills necessary for smooth workplace communication.
If granted permission for activities outside their visa status, these students can work for up to 28 hours a week. They plan to work part-time or as interns at local inns and elsewhere while studying Japanese.
An entrance ceremony was held on April 25, and 18 of the 40 international students attended in person, with each standing to introduce themselves to local attendees. Students unable to enter Japan in time for the ceremony due to visa issues participated online.
Principal Hiroko Nakano encouraged the new students, saying, “I hope you learn Japanese language and culture, make friends with members of the local community, and discover your new colors.”
A classroom at ICA Ureshino School, utilizing a banquet hall at the inn, is pictured in Ureshino, Saga Prefecture, on April 25, 2025. (Mainichi/Akiho Narimatsu)
Representing the new students, a determined Gurung Preety, 35, from Nepal, stated, “I’m interested in Japanese culture, art and history. My dream is to work for a good company. I want to learn a lot and work hard toward that dream.”
Wataya Besso has a floor space of about 66,000 square meters, with over 100 guest rooms. While being a long-established business, operating from 1950, the inn has diversified its operations, renting renovated rooms as satellite offices to companies, among other measures. The initiative to rent out rooms gained national attention as its start in April 2020 coincided with the state of emergency declared in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wataya Besso Inc. President Kohara Yoshimoto, who attended the ceremony as a guest, addressed the students, “I imagine you have anxieties as well as expectations and hopes, but our staff and the local community will help you resolve them. If you can create a new local economy in Ureshino while studying, it will shine a bright future on your home countries too.” He told the media he hoped to expand this model nationwide.
The local community is also hopeful. The Ureshino Municipal Government in November 2024 signed an advancement agreement with Linkstaff Co., a Tokyo-based company affiliated with the school’s operating body that specializes in personnel placement. In a greeting at the ceremony, Ureshino Mayor Daisuke Murakami stated, “This is a significant step forward for the city. As the number of tourists from overseas increases each year, I expect that those of you who have acquired high skills in your home countries will become game changers in the (local tourism) industry by learning Japanese.”
(Japanese original by Akiho Narimatsu, Saga Bureau)
AloJapan.com