Terms & Conditions

Definitions in this contract

“You” or “Your” refers to the applicant. “We”, “Us”, “Our”, “School” or “Campus” refers to Meiji Academy or in short “Meiji”. ”Student” means an applicant accepted to enroll in any of our courses, for both Japanese Online Lessons or In-Person Studies at our schools. ”Study Courses” means any intensive Japanese language study of at least 10 hours or more per week, e.g., Standard Course, Seasonal Course, Student Visa Course, or any other Long-Term Japanese studies. It does not mean, nor include Japanese Private Lessons and Japanese Online Lessons. ”Modules” refer to separate Add-Ons that can be combined with Study Courses, e.g., Japanese Business Manners, Traditional Culture, Pop Culture, Conversational Japanese, and Private Lessons. ”Lesson” or ”Class” refers to any type of teaching in-person or online. All in-person lessons are 45 minutes long, except for Private Lessons, Japanese Online Lessons, Japanese Business Manners, and Conversational Japanese which are 50 minutes long. ”Term” or ”Study Term” means 12 weeks and applies for Long-Term Study Courses only. ”Accommodation Arrangement Fee” means all expenses related to our service to arrange, book, and communicate with accommodation providers on your behalf. We will speak on your behalf if trouble arises between you and the accommodation provider. Yet, we won’t be responsible for any damages nor can we act as a guarantor.

Formation and completion of contract

To enable the formation of a contract between the applicant and the school, a request needs to be placed by the prospective student in written form first, which is performed by filling out the study estimate.

1. Applications are completed by the applicant sending an estimate request form to the school.
2. For 1-year, 18-month, and 2-year courses, applicants must apply and pay the application fee by the application deadline.
3. The school assumes that all applicants complete their applications after having read and understood the terms and conditions.
4. The contract is concluded when the school sends the invoice to the applicant.

Application conditions

All application conditions below need to be met so that the applicant is eligible to enroll in the courses offered by Meiji Academy.

1. The minimum age for the study courses is 14 years for individual students. Minors (below 18 years by Japanese Law) require permission for their studies by a parent or legal guardian.
2. The requested course has to still be available and not fully booked at the respective date.
3. The remaining time before the start of the course has to be sufficient to ensure the course can take place. A minimum time of one month before the course starts is required.
4. The school judges the applicant’s medical, physical, and mental condition. In case the school feels that the applicant may not be prepared for the pressures of studying and living in Japan, an application can be refused.

Please note that the school has the exclusive right to refuse any application without reason at the sole discretion of the school at any time.

Fees

The fees listed below are not included in the invoice and will be charged separately depending on request and/or requirement.

Termination Policy

You may withdraw from any of our programs and services offered at any given time, yet it has to be done via a written request. An alteration fee and cancellation fee will be imposed depending on which program you are enrolled in and at what date the cancellation takes place. Any fees related to wire transfers and foreign exchange rates have to be covered by the student and can vary based on the transaction method.

Changes after application and National Holidays

1. Students can request to change the course of study after an application has been completed. The school reserves the right to refuse this change, yet will try to accommodate all requests where it is possible.
2. Requests to change the study courses and Japanese levels must be made in writing at least one week in advance of the requested date of the change. Changes are only accepted to take effect from Monday of each week. Therefore, a change request made on a Tuesday, for example, will take effect on the following Monday.
3. There is an additional ¥5,000 administrative fee to change the accommodation type after accommodation has been arranged. Accommodation changes are subject to availability for the requested period as they are organized by external housing providers. As stated in 5. TERMINATION POLICY, no refunds can be issued. Further, you cannot use the previously paid accommodation fees to offset or pay any newly arranged accommodation booking.
4. The school operates in the same way as a university; on a “floating schedule” system. Classes will take place either in the morning or afternoon depending on several factors, e.g. your Japanese level, certain teachers’ availability, classroom availability, and periodic student numbers per class. Class schedules can change weekly and will be announced to the student in the prior week before.
5. In the unlikely event that a class only has one or two students, the student will receive an adjusted timetable of 15 private or semi-private lessons per week (3 classes per day).
6. The school is closed for students on national holidays and other specified days as listed on our Holidays page. A free event will be held in exchange for the missed classes. Event participation is optional, however, the student cannot be refunded if they choose not to attend the scheduled event. (In the very unlikely case that no event will take place, students will be refunded 2,000 JPY per day for group lessons, or 1000 JPY per private lesson.). This does not apply to any type of Force Majeure or "unforeseen circumstances" as stated in 8. DISCLAIMER.

Website & Promotional Material

The content displayed on our website and other promotional material is believed to be valid and correct. However, we cannot be held liable nor responsible for any misinformation or ambiguities stated in the content. Prices are subject to change without any further notice and the applicant will be liable for any purchase of these courses unless his initial deposit and/or courses have been already paid. Meiji Academy reserves the right to use your photography and video footage of your person for reproduction in our promotional material, such as posters, advertisements, printed publications, our website, and other social media. We do not make any payments to individuals in respect of these media usages and the copyright of the photographs and video material will belong to Meiji Academy. By agreeing to these terms and conditions, you consent for your photography and video data to be used for our promotional purposes.

Disclaimer

Meiji Academy will do its best to accommodate its prospective students, yet we cannot take any responsibility for the following matters.

• You cannot obtain a passport and/or visa or be refused entry into Japan by the Japanese Immigration Bureau.
• You cannot obtain your visa in time or extend it after arrival.
• Classes will be canceled and no replacement classes will be scheduled in case of a natural disaster (e.g. Typhoon, Tsunami, Earthquake, Volcano, etc.), a war, a strike, terrorist activity, a pandemic, or any other equally grave unforeseen circumstance.
• The school accepts no responsibility for accidents or trouble during a student’s stay in Japan.
• The student fails to enroll in overseas travel insurance and refuses to use our travel insurance service as an alternative.
• The school cannot accept responsibility for any physical, mental, or economic damages suffered by the student from causes beyond the school’s control.
• If a student causes any damage to his or her place of accommodation, the student is responsible for the cost of the damage.
• If the school’s reputation or facilities are damaged because of the student’s actions, we will claim damages against the student.
• During your time in Japan, you are responsible for your actions and personally liable for any damages arising from a breach of law, regulations, customs, or the rules of the school. In any of these cases, the school cannot accept responsibility.
• The student is responsible for any accidents occurring during activities such as sports and is responsible for purchasing additional insurance for any sports requiring coverage.
• Under no circumstances listed above will the school return any tuition fees and might consider legal actions if the matter cannot be resolved peacefully for all parties involved.

Governing Law

This agreement shall be governed by and construed under Japanese law.

Jurisdiction

Any litigation and legal dispute is exclusively dealt with under the jurisdiction of the Fukuoka Prefectural Court.

Amendment of this agreement

This agreement may be amended at any time without notice to the applicant. It is the responsibility of the student to follow up on any changes that might apply to his or her application.