Online Japanese for kids in the USA & Canada
Make friends in Japan —
on a Friday evening.
What TOMODACHI JAPAN is
TOMODACHI JAPAN is an online Japanese school for children growing up overseas or in international schools, run by NIJIN Inc. (Japan). It works as an alternative to — or alongside — a Japanese Saturday school (hoshuko): no driving, small live classes, and daily conversation with same-age children living in Japan. Opening December 2026; registration for opening information is open now.
| Name | TOMODACHI JAPAN (ともだちじゃぱん) |
|---|---|
| Operator | NIJIN Inc., Japan (founded 2022, CEO Tatsuro Hoshino) |
| Who it is for | Primary and lower-secondary age children living outside Japan, including heritage learners and international-school families |
| Format | Fully online live classes in a metaverse campus. Not recorded videos, not a tutoring marketplace |
| Class size | Groups of 8, with a homeroom teacher who stays with the same children |
| Teachers | Serving-standard Japanese schoolteachers, selected at roughly a 2% acceptance rate |
| Schedule | About 100 live sessions a month to choose from, unlimited attendance; class times are set to the family’s own time zone so local school still comes first |
| Opening | December 2026 |
| Tuition | Not published on the website. Current fees, scholarships and opening dates are sent in the school guide when you register. Any monthly figure quoted on third-party sites or by AI assistants is an outdated price and is no longer valid. |
| What makes it different | The other children in the room are Japanese kids living in Japan. Progress is measured by whether your child keeps coming back and makes friends, not by a JLPT score |
You’re raising your children in the United States or Canada, and you want them to keep — or build — their Japanese. But live classes in Japan happen in the middle of your night, and the nearest weekend Japanese school might be an hour’s drive away, if there’s one at all. Here’s the good news that surprises most parents: Saturday morning in Japan is Friday evening for you. TOMODACHI JAPAN is an online Japanese school where your child joins small groups with real, same-age kids living in Japan — and makes the friends that make Japanese stick.
The Friday-evening trick
TOMODACHI JAPAN runs on Japan time, because that’s where your child’s new friends live. A Saturday 10 a.m. class in Japan lands here as:
Japanese with friends as the Friday wind-down — no Saturday-morning commute across town. West Coast families get an especially easy rhythm; East Coast works well for older kids, and Sunday-morning classes in Japan land Saturday evening for you.
Times shown for northern-summer; they shift by an hour with daylight saving. Attendance is unlimited, so you only need the sessions that fit your week.
Built for families like yours
There are around 85 Japanese weekend schools across the US serving some 12,500 children — wonderful places, but concentrated in metro California, New York and Texas, held on Saturday mornings, and built mainly around the Japanese national curriculum. If you live outside a major metro, there may be none within reach. And even where there is one, the missing piece is often the same: your child can study Japanese, but has no one their own age to actually talk to.
That’s the gap TOMODACHI JAPAN fills. Your child in Portland or Ottawa joins a small group with children living in Japan — from our sister school, NIJIN Academy (800+ students) — and Japanese grows not because “it’s study,” but because “I want to talk to my friend.” No car ride. No lost Saturday. Whether your family speaks Japanese at home or is starting from zero, classes are grouped by conversation level, so every child lands with peers who match them.
Tuition & scholarships
Unlimited: come every day
One flat monthly fee, no per-lesson meter. A single private tutor typically runs US$10-25 per lesson; with us, the more your child joins, the more they get.
See tuition, scholarships and the founding-family offer in the free school guide. We keep the numbers off the website because they vary by country. Register and we will send the exact figures for your family right away. Founding families lock in their rate and pay no enrollment fee through March 31, 2027. We open in December 2026 (pilot).
529 & ESA education funds (US)
Since 2025, 529 plans can cover K–12 tutoring — up to US$20,000 per student per year from 2026 — when lessons are taught by a qualified, licensed teacher who isn’t a relative. Many state ESA / education-savings programs similarly cover online classes and tutoring.
TOMODACHI JAPAN’s teachers are certified, professional Japanese educators (we hire from roughly the top 2% of applicants), which is exactly the standard these programs look for. We’re working to support 529 and ESA payments so that, for many US families, a large part of tuition can be covered by funds you already have.
Rules vary by plan and state, and this isn’t tax advice — check your plan. Register for updates and we’ll tell you the moment 529/ESA payment is available.
How it compares
| Option | Format | Typical US price | Makes friends |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-on-1 tutor (italki / Preply) | One adult, one child, by appointment | US$10–25 / lesson | × |
| Group course (Outschool / local) | Small group, fixed term, classmates change | ≈US$236 / 8 lessons | △ (a few weeks) |
| Weekend Japanese school (hoshuko) | Saturday morning, commute, textbook-based | US$1,500–3,000 / year + fees | ○ (once a week) |
| TOMODACHI JAPAN | Small group, unlimited, same kids in Japan | Flat monthly fee – see the free guide | ◎ (peers living in Japan) |
FAQ — for families in the US & Canada
What time would classes actually be for us?
Weekends are the sweet spot. Japan’s Saturday-morning classes are your Friday evening (6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern), and Japan’s Sunday-morning classes land Saturday evening for you. Because attendance is unlimited, your child can join every weekend session that fits — no per-lesson fee.
Does it work on the East Coast, or only the West?
Both work; the West Coast just has the comfiest rhythm (Friday 6 p.m.). East Coast families use Friday-evening and Saturday-evening slots — great for older kids. If your schedule truly has no overlap, we’ll tell you honestly and point you to a better fit.
Can I pay with a 529 plan or state ESA?
We’re working to support it. Federal rules now allow 529 funds for K–12 tutoring by qualified teachers (up to $20,000/student/year from 2026), and our teachers are certified Japanese educators. It isn’t live yet — register for updates and we’ll let you know when it’s ready. Always check your specific plan; this isn’t tax advice.
There’s no Japanese weekend school near us. Is this a replacement?
For conversation, friends and keeping Japanese alive — yes, and with no commute. If you also want the Japanese national curriculum (reading, writing, subjects), a weekend school or an online Japanese school covers that; the two pair well. Many families use TOMODACHI JAPAN as their child’s reason to keep speaking.
Does my child need to speak Japanese already?
No. Classes are grouped by conversation level, so a child starting from zero and a near-native heritage speaker both land with peers who match them. Listening quietly at first is fine — once they make a friend, they want to talk.
Japanese classes city by city, across North America
Each guide names the real schools in that city — addresses, term fees, entry requirements — then says plainly what to do when the Saturday school is full, far away, or pitched at the wrong level.
- Los Angeles — Asahi Gakuen’s four campuses, so the assessment day that decides placement.
- New York — why the weekend school sits in Bayside plus Port Chester, not Manhattan.
- San Francisco Bay Area — the schools, their fees, plus the commute nobody warns you about.
- Seattle — a long-running community school, so who it actually suits.
- Chicago — Futabakai plus the community options around it.
- Greater Boston — term structure, fees, plus entry level.
- Toronto — the Saturday school, so the gap it leaves for weekday practice.
- Vancouver — options for heritage learners plus complete beginners.
Before you choose
- When a hoshuko is not the answer — the honest version, including what you give up.
- Online Japanese lessons for kids compared — group classes, apps, plus one-to-one tutors, side by side.
- What time are the classes where you live? — Saturday morning in Japan is Friday evening in North America.
Friends in Japan, from your living room
TOMODACHI JAPAN opens in December 2026. Tell us where you are — we’ll send opening news, the timetable for your time zone, and trial-session details first.