Challenge your understanding of Japan through full language and cultural immersion at one of Greenheart Travel’s language camps in Japan! We welcome all language levels, including beginners.

Summer 2025 Dates

We love to reward students who plan ahead!
Apply by December 15, 2024 and save $300 on your 2025 program fee!

Kyoto:

• Availability from July 7th to August 31st, 2025
• Program Length: 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, or 8 weeks
• Age Requirement: 14-17 years old at time of travel (18-19 year olds on a case-by-case basis)
• Language Level: All levels welcome

Fukuoka:

• Program Start Date: June 30th, 2025
• Program Length: 4 weeks
• Age Requirement: 14-17 years old at time of travel
• Language Level: Complete Beginners and Low Beginners

Special Notes:

• Students will fly in the day before their program start date and start language classes on Monday.
• The program ends on August 31, 2025. Please plan accordingly to the amount of weeks you want to participate.
• Please note programs fill up fast so if you are interested you should apply as soon as possible.
• Availability for each start date may differ depending on your current language level. Once you have submitted your application and completed a language assessment, Greenheart staff will either confirm your preferred start date or offer suitable alternatives based on your current language skills.

Determine your Level

Start dates are determined by language proficiency levels, please see below to determine what level you are.

Complete Beginner Student

You have never studied Japanese before. You do not know how to read any hiragana, however you must learn to read hiragana before your arrival! We will send you a study guide upon acceptance.

Low Beginner Student

If you are familiar with the concepts listed below, but do not understand all the concepts listed in the “intermediate beginner student” section, you would be considered a Low Beginner Student!

• How to read hiragana
• Daily greetings
• “X ha Y desu” sentence pattern
• How to make question sentences
• “[noun] no [noun]” phrase
• Numbers 1 – 10,000
• Saying the time
• Pointing words “ko”, “so”, “a”, “do”
• Negative sentences “ja nai desu”
• “dare no” ~noun

Intermediate Beginner Student

If you are familiar and know all the grammar/vocab concepts listed above AND below, you are considered an Intermediate Beginner Japanese student and you will be placed in a higher class.

• The particle “mo”
• The sentence ending particles “ne”, “yo”
• Verb conjugation
• Present tense verbs
• Particles
• Time reference
• Inviting friends to places (“~masenka?”)
• Word order
• The topic particle “ha”
• Frequency adverbs

Advanced Beginner Student

If you are familiar with all previously listed grammar concepts including the ones listed below, you are considered an Advanced Beginner Japanese student. You can begin on any start date you would like.

• Past tense verbs
• Past tense of “desu”
• Describing where things are
• “arimasu” / “imasu”
• Adjectives / adjective conjugation
• “suki na” / “karai na”
• “~mashou” / “~mashou ka”
• Counting
• “te” -form
• “~te kudasai”
• “~te mo ii desu”
• “~te ha ikemasen”

Want to study in Japan for longer than just a summer? Check out our High School Abroad Japan program!

Summer 2025 Program Costs

We love to reward students who are planning ahead! Apply by December 15, 2024 and save $300 on your 2025 program fee!

Fukuoka Program Cost:

• 4 Weeks: $6,460

Kyoto Program Cost: 

• 2 weeks: $3,730
• 4 weeks: $5,380
• 6 weeks: $7,030
• 8 weeks: $8,680

Please note, all prices are listed in USD. 

Packaged into the Price:

• Grammar, writing, and speaking classes with certified Japanese instructors including in-classroom instruction and relevant educational outings
• Airport pickup and drop-off upon arrival and departure
• Host family accommodation
• 2 meals per day (Breakfast & Dinner)
• Comprehensive medical/accident insurance
• Cultural excursions & activities
• Half-day arrival orientation in Japan
• Online and on-site language level placement test
• Comprehensive program handbook with cross-cultural communication training and Japanese culture tips
• Certificate of completion at the end of the program for use on college applications
• Access to Greenheart Travel Facebook groups to connect with alumni and others on your start date ahead of your program.
• Greenheart Atlas Program 

Our Support and Services: 

• Extensive pre-departure advice and support your US-based program coordinator! They will be with you from your first inquiry, all the way through preparing to leave and your arrival in Japan.
• Support services from in-country staff upon arrival to Japan.
• Online pre-departure cultural and logistical orientation before you leave.
• 24-hour in-country and emergency support for the duration of the program, including 24-hour emergency phone numbers to reach a program manager at any time.

Additional Expenses to Budget for (Estimates):

• Daily lunch (nearby cafeteria available daily to students for approximately $5/day)
• For Kyoto program only: Public transportation to and from school each day (varies depending on placement, approximately $5/day)
• Flight to and from Japan
• Spending money for souvenirs or gifts

Payment Details

• $300 Application Fee due by the program deadline to formally apply
• $300 Commitment Payment due after acceptance within 14 days to save your spot on a certain start date
• Remaining balance is due 8 weeks before departure to Japan

Worried about the program fee?

Our goal is to help make travel accessible to everyone and we are here to help when you are deciding if this experience is financially do-able. Each year we offer scholarships for high school study abroad students! We also have a guide to fundraising your program fee, and many high school students fundraise in their hometowns ahead of their program.

We also offer a discount to U.S. families that have hosted an exchange student with Greenheart Exchange.

Please inquire here if you have questions about the program fee, scholarships, or fundraising for your program.

In this four-week program, you’ll be able to experience many sides of the Japanese culture!

Your time will be mostly spent in Fukuoka, which is a city filled with many cultural landmarks. You’ll be able to visit sites like Fukuoka Castle and Nanzoin Temple, while also having many restaurants, museums, and shopping experiences. Most weekends will have cultural excursions to other areas and cities in Japan, such as Osaka, Hiroshima, and many more!

This program is perfect for students who are beginners in Japanese and want to explore Japanese culture in a supportive, exciting environment.

This program is for 4 weeks starting June 30^th, 2025.

If you want to experience the rich history and tradition of Japan, Kyoto would be the choice for you!

Found all over Kyoto are historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, shrines, castles, gardens, and much more! You are able to spend your free time after classes exploring the traditional Gion district or stopping at the convenience store for snacks like onigiri, before heading back to spend time with your Japanese host family.

This program is perfect for independent students who want to sharpen their Japanese language skills and explore Japanese culture through a balanced mix of organized activities and time for personal exploration.

You can choose from either 2, 4, 6, or 8-week program durations.

All students live with carefully selected local host families. Prospective host families undergo a rigorous screening process. Participants can rest assured that only suitable host families will be selected. In order to qualify as a host family, the prospective hosts must:

• Successfully pass a criminal background check
• Undergo and pass an in-person interview with program staff
• Agree to and pass a home inspection

Due to the small size of Japanese homes, there is usually only one student placed per host family. Some families have larger homes and can accommodate two students. In this case, they will only share rooms with students of the same gender and will be closely supervised by their hosts. If you are applying with a friend and want to share a host family, we recommend applying early as those placements tend to fill up.

Having a Japanese host family will allow you to get to know the culture!

There are 12 skill levels at the language camp divided up into the following sections: complete beginner, beginner 1, beginner 2, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced. You will take a placement test before your program to determine your skill level, and appropriate language level placement, and an additional level test the first day of class.

Japanese Courses

• Classes are taught by native Japanese teachers who specialize in teaching a foreign language
• Lively and informal small classes with no more than 8 students per class
• Japanese lessons focus on practical communication skills first, including grammar, speaking and listening
• Excursions & cultural activities included in program fee to get real-world practice
• Class hours work somewhat like a university in that, depending on the class students are placed in, they may have morning classes on some days and afternoon classes on other days. It is not possible to choose the time and the schedule for each week. The schedule gets released the week before.For example, morning classes are usually from 9:30-1:10 p.m. Afternoon classes are from 11:25-3:50 or 2:05-5:45 p.m.

Getting To/From School

Each day, all students will be responsible for commuting on their own from the host family’s home to the school using public transportation. This is one of the few times during the day when students will be unsupervised, but thankfully, the public transportation in Japan is very safe and we rarely see any major issues. Curious what the experience of riding public transit in Japan is like? Check out this blog with stories from our alumni!

The public transportation will either be a train or a bus or a combination of both. In Fukuoka and Kyoto, the average commute time is about 20-40 minutes one way (50-80 minutes during high enrollment periods).  

We provide students with comprehensive guides for riding public transportation.

Fukuoka School Location:

Kyoto School Location

Activities

During your time in Japan, you will take Japanese classes for 20 hours per week (usually 4 hours per day). The other time is either free time spent with the host family, or there are lots of planned activities for students as well.

Here is an example of some of the activities offered at our Fukuoka camp, but please remember these vary based on the location and week you are there:

Tuesday – Yamakasa Rehearsal Watching
Friday – Shakey’s (Pizza Party)
Weekend – Trip to Shikanoshima
Tuesday – Casual Conversation Lounge
Thursday – Movie Night – The Beast and the Boy
Wednesday – Mukashibanashi Lesson
Friday – Daijayama Dancing and Dragon Festival
Monthly – Volleyball Practice with Pharmacist Team

Other activities include kimono wrapping, visiting a manga school or soba noodle-making. All of these activities are subject to change.

Most activities are free and if an activity requires an extra cost the student will be aware before they register for that event.

Students are picked up from the airport by either their host family or a language school representative and taken to their host family.

All start dates are listed as a Sunday, but students need to:

• For Fukuoka, students should arrive/depart at the Fukuoka International Airport.
  • Arrive in Japan on the Sunday start date between 8:00am and 8:00pm
  • Depart on the Sunday after their program ends after 12:00pm
• For Kyoto, students can arrive/depart at either airport in the nearby city of Osaka – Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM) or Kansai International Airport (KIX).
  • Arrive in Japan on the Sunday start date between 8:00am and 6:00pm
  • Depart on the Sunday after their program ends after 12:00pm