Held at Tobaru House in Southern Japan
I’m Excited to Share My House and My Culture with You!
As a lifelong student of languages, including my first love French, as well as German and now Korean, I’ve always believed that the best way to learn a foreign language is to immerse yourself in it as fully as possible, speaking it every day when possible, while also interacting with the culture the language comes from.
Tobaru Japanese Travel and Immersion Program
Centered around our family’s country home in rural Kyushu, Japan, we create meaningful experiences that solidify your understanding of Japanese culture and of our language that can impact you for the rest of your life.
Tobaru House is named after the village where my great-grandparents built this home in the early 20th century. I grew up in the city of Kitakyushu and have spent most of my life in bigger cities, from Tokyo to San Francisco and now in Portland. But whenever I would visit my grandparents and relatives in Tobaru I was always struck by how different life was in the country, whether it was how we cooked, how we got around, or even what we talked about. I think for people visiting Japan or learning Japanese, it’s very hard to have experiences in authentic rural areas, so I’m so excited to show you a different side of life here.
Immersion Program at Tobaru House
Venue: Shimotobaru, Koge, Chikujogun Fukuoka – https://maps.app.goo.gl/XzJCogMw96WEUreT8
Dates: TBD
Pricing: Dependent on length of stay
Format:
- Morning 9 to noon: Focus on Japanese language, only Japanese will be spoken
- Afternoons, self-visits to sites and locations, Onsen and so on or guided sightseeing to temples, castles, the countryside, and other areas of interest.
| Happy Immersion Participants | |
| To a Japanese native who grew up in Kyushu, the Tobaru house may be just that – a regular old family home. To a visitor, however, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For an authentic cultural experience, this is the real deal. The small town does not get many foreigners, so prepare for both the occasional stare as well as enthusiastic locals eager to show you around. Despite its relatively low population, the location offers a scenic bike road, an onsen within walking distance, and lots of karaage. Personally, I delighted in the simple things during my stay: grocery shopping and cooking with Yuko-sensei to host dinner parties and trying to talk to everybody! Andrew | “I had the great pleasure of staying at Tobaru house for a week. It’s a beautiful home steeped with stories and memories that you can feel. Just walking its halls gives a sense of peace, and the home itself is rich with family history that is best heard over a cup of tea in the sun-lit dining room. Surrounded by fields and rolling hills in the distances, the whole area has a sense of calm to it that I have not experienced elsewhere. Beyond the quaint garden surrounding Tobaru, there are some excellent places to visit just a short walk or bike ride away in the nearby town of Nakatsu. Nakatsu castle and its grounds are stunning. A sprawling onsen is secluded in the hills within walking distance of the home that I frequented quite a few times during my stay. Many impressive shrines are a short transit or taxi ride away. Tobaru house is the place to go if you’re looking for a peaceful retreat where you can learn about Japan and make life-long friends along the way. This is the real Japan, and you’ll be hard-pressed to get such an authentic experience anywhere else.” Justyn |