Volunteer group ‘Cosmos Urawa’ had decided on quitting its activity of teaching Japanese language to the residents of I-House for more than 20 years.  ‘Nihongo no heya’ a volunteer group from Saitama City International Exchange Center practically took it over and opened their Japanese private courses in May this year.

‘Nihongo no heya’ has its own headquarter in Urawa and a branch class in Omiya, so the class at I-House was their 2nd branch class and named ‘Sakura’ after the name of the ward.  The class meets every Tuesday from 10 to 12 at the meeting room of I-House.  The learners are not limited to the residents, who are regular students, but also their family members and friends living off campus as well.  What captures a great deal of attention is that some of the learners are taking their children along the class.  The group’s long experience in child care support makes it possible.

They developed some original teaching materials for Japanese learners along the multicultural policies of the City government.