Yoshio Hattori President

Welcome to the English language homepage of The Yamasa Institute's Aichi Center for Japanese Studies. As one of the few truly international institutes in Japan, it has been a great pleasure to see our relationships with our partner universities and direct admissions grow and be able to offer new opportunities to students of Japanese. The contents of this homepage are provided to introduce you to The Yamasa Institute, our programs, the city of Okazaki and to aid understanding of the policies and procedures of the Japanese Government concerning students who come to Japan. I hope to help those people who wish to come to Japan to study Japanese and Japanese culture and I am working hard to give even more opportunities for students to come to Japan.

Over recent years Japan has become a center of interest for a great many people around the world. For many people Japan remains an enigma. Understanding the Japanese people and our culture, comprehending the role of a long insular history and an almost entirely monoethnic society, is difficult enough. Doing so without an understanding of the language is even harder.

The Yamasa Institute is the place where students from around the world begin to encounter the "real Japan". Living with, studying with, genuine communicating with Japanese people is the key to understanding Japan and its people. The Hattori Foundation has been working since 1919 to improve the quality of education and real understanding across cultures. No effort has been spared in building Yamasa to the point where it is now recognised as one of the leaders in Japanese language education. Please be assured that these efforts will continue.

I hope that we will soon have the opportunity to welcome you to Okazaki, and wish you the best for your studies. As a Yamasa student, you will soon discover not only a dedication to excellence and quality education, but also that the entire resources of the Hattori Foundation and the Institute are dedicated to helping you in your quest to discover Japan.

Yoshio Hattori
President.
1991 - Present

For more information about Yamasa please click on the link buttons on the left hand side of this page.