Kudan Institute of Japanese Language and Culture is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
It all started 30 years ago, when a trading company’s client wanted to offer exchange programs to Japan, but cannot find the right school.
Upon hearing that, we thought that it would be good if we could provide a place or exchange students and promote the Japanese culture at the same time and Kudan started.
At that time, our students were mostly from China, Korea, and Taiwan.
We wanted to provide a place that offers not only a place to learn the Japanese language, but also a place to actually apply your knowledge and language skills – Japanese we use in real life.
In those days, Japanese language schools didn’t offer home stays, or holiday courses for the summer and winter holidays, exchange events where you can make Japanese friends --- we created this school system with that goal in mind.
When you learn with various students who come from all over the world – the same school, the same classroom, the same activities – your world gets broader.
Everyone’s passion is shown through various ways. Students express their love of Japan, the Japanese language and culture, with eyes bright with excitement.
From our staff members, the teachers who teach every day, and to the host families, everyone learns from each other some way or another. Interacting with various people helps us mature and grow.
Knowing this, we have always strived to provide an institution where students and staff members alike can nurture each other. And here we are, 30 years later.
We feel endless gratitude towards everyone who have made the school the way it is now – the teachers who have supported Kudan, the staff members, and more than anything, the students who are the lifeblood of our school.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. May Kudan continue for ten, twenty, thirty more years to come!