The Tokyo School of the Japanese Language, also called the Naganuma School, is according to themselves, one of the oldest, most accredited and most respected Japanese language schools in Japan.
Unless my story is an exception, they do not deserve that respect...
This story begins when I was studying at another language school in Tokyo. I was not satisfied with the teaching methods of this school, so I was looking for an alternative. Someone recommended me Naganuma school. However, I was concerned how switching schools would affect my student visa. You may from your own experience know how difficult it is to ascertain information about visas in Japan. The information is not readily available in the internet, and it is not easy to learn anything from the immigration office either. To say that the staff who work at the immigration office who are supposed to speak English can speak English is really an exaggeration. Typical of Japan, it is also difficult to make them tell you anything that they might have to stand responsible for later. Out of fear of responsibility they will often not even tell you their name for later reference!
Enough said about the staff at the Immigration office. Knowing all this from past experiences, I decided to instead discuss this with the staff at Naganuma school. After all, they make money on being experts on these matters, thus getting more customers. I also expected them to know the little secrets about Japanese visa rules, things the Immigration Office would not tell you.
So I tell mister Yoshiro Kawase at Naganuma school what I want to do. He tells me I can not just switch schools like that without losing my student visa. Furthermore, it will take 6 months to get an application for a new student visa processed. However, he tells me, although they do not recommend it, it is possible to leave Japan for a short while, return on a visitor visa and stay in Japan up to the 90 day limit of the visa.
So that is what I do. I go to Seoul for a four day trip, and when I return to Japan, I get rejected in immigration! Kawase-san "forgot" to tell me about the very real risk of being rejected in immigration if you do this kind of thing. This caught me completely by surprise, as I had heard many stories of people doing just this before. What I later learned is that this worked before, but after year 2000 Japanese immigration policies became much more strict.
I still got into Japan though, one month later. But now there is a file on me in the immigration computer system, and every time I try to enter Japan from now, I will be under much stricter scrutiny than most people. And, the next time I tried to enter Japan again, I got rejected yet again.
When I told my friends about what had happened, many had reactions like: "What? Didn't you know that you can't study on a tourist visa? You should have known that" While that may be true, Kawase-san at Naganuma school certainly should know this. But he still didn't tell me. I believe they do this on purpose. A student who takes this kind of chance and make it through immigration, is another seat filled at their school, and more $$$ to them. A student who doesn't make it through immigration is not their problem...
So, while the teaching methods at Naganuma school might be good, ask yourself:
Do you feel comfortable studying at a school with this kind of business ethics?
