Our virtual concert series Music Mondays in September will present more amazing musicians! Bringing some cheer to your lives through music, we will be presenting LIVE performances via Facebook every Monday at 12:30pm (Starting on September 14).

This month, we will feature Hiroe Sekine & Rumi Inoue (9/14), Gary Matsumoto (9/21), and Kai Kurosawa (9/28).

To participate, please visit JFLA's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/JFLALC).

Let’s study Japanese this upcoming fall! This online courses uses Japan Foundation's textbook, "Marugoto" as well as original online resources instructed provided by our experienced language teachers. The classes are very It's interactive, informative, and fun! For this special course, the tuition price is discounted 20% off of our regular tuition, which takes place in a in classroom setting.

There will be one session starting at 12:30pm. Just go to JFLA's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/JFLALC). Refresh and recharge yourself with us at home!

There will be one session starting at 12:30pm. Just go to JFLA's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/JFLALC). Stretch and refresh yourself with us at home!

Application for Performing Arts Japan (PAJ) touring and collaboratrion grants for the 2021 – 2022 fiscal year is now open.

Since COVID-19 has struck the U.S., many all events have been canceled. Many organizations and institutions are shifting from live events to virtual events held online. JFLA’s mini grant will also change to support such events. Examples of eligible online events include lectures, workshops, performing art concerts, exhibitions, and screenings, related to Japanese arts & culture. Expenses such as video recording & editing fees, AV equipment rentals, and studio rentals are covered by this grant. Successful candidates may be granted up to $5,000. Application and guidelines are available to download HERE.

If you have question regarding this grant, please contact [email protected].

1. Advocacy Support Letter 

Please contact [email protected] for details.

2. Japanese Teaching Material Purchase Grant

(September 15th Deadline)

Grant Amount: up to $1,000

We understand that many schools will be continuing distance learning (or blended learning) for the 2020-21 academic year. If you need to purchase new teaching materials (digital learning software, etc.) for the new teaching environment, your school will be eligible to apply. Please contact [email protected] for details.

3. COVID19 Relief Grant - Salary Assistance for Japanese Language Courses

Application Period: Now through September 30, 2020, or until funding is exhausted (whichever comes first)

In response to the financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak, we have launched a COVID-19 Relief Grant (up to $10,000) for non-profit Japanese language programs in the U.S. which are facing temporary financial difficulty during the 2020-21 academic year. To be eligible, applying institutions need to submit a commitment letter, besides Application Form, regarding the continuation of their Japanese language program on a long-term basis after the grant support ends and BEYOND. The stronger the commitment is, the better chance of your receiving the grant.(Our one-year grant support should be beneficial to Japanese programs not only while they are receiving our grant support but also BEYOND the grant period.) Please contact [email protected] for details.

4. Japanese Language Education Project Grant

Deadline:  Two months prior to the project start date

The school year has started virtually and at some regions, offline as well. I hope everyone continues to have a safe and healthy school year. Although this summer is not the usual summer where we can go out and relax, I hope you were able to energize during your break. At the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, we have continued helping Japanese language teachers and students over the summer and continued to provide resources to help as much as we can. We hope to continue doing that for this school year as well so please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] any time for any questions or concerns in regards to Japanese language education. In terms of webinars, American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) finished up their summer webinar and is intending to resume in October for the fall. As the summer webinars were very informative and did not only focus on Japanese teaching skills. It also focused on developing understanding towards students’ diverse needs and perceptions within the classroom. With the world having difficulty in connecting physically, expressing and verbalizing these concepts and feelings are going to be important more than ever. With the new school year, students may not be familiar with each other and do not know how to connect. It’ll be important to have a space where students can interact with each other and also, for students to easily connect with teachers as well. I wish the best for students and teachers during this tough time.

If you are looking to learn Japanese on your own free time and are seeking free structured lessons, we want to remind you of our Minato website that currently has 62 self study lessons in various levels and languages as well as six tutor supported lessons (no English at the moment) for you to choose from. All you need to do is create an account and then register for the level that is right for you. For instructions on how to use the site, please watch this video.