CLASSES & CAMPS

Join the Best Living Japan Team! Teaching Artists Needed – We are hiring for Autumn 2021! Are you a Kanto-based teaching artist looking to impart your creative knowledge to a captivating audience? If so, we’d love to chat! Teaching positions from Autumn 2021 are now closed, however, if you are …

Show Your Art in Tokyo — The Tokyo Art Studio had such a marvelous time showcasing talented artists this spring that we’re ready to do it again this Autumn – opening September 24, 2021.  The open submissions from the Autumn 2021 Exhibit is now closed, but please do feel free …

The Best Living Japan Tokyo Jump-Start Orientation is perfect for new arrivals to Tokyo. Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything new and need info? Do you want to meet some new friends? If you answered yes to any of the questions, then the Tokyo Jump-Start Orientation is the right …

Join us to make and take some beautiful washi eggs that you will cherish for years. All classes are at the Best Living Japan Studio in Minami Azabu, Minato-ku. COVID precautions are taken: temperature taken at entry, masks mandatory, and students socially distanced. Kids over age 7 with parents are …

The Tokyo Art Studio’s – Spring Healing Exibiton’s participating artist Sonja Kanno will teach an Innenwald Workshop: Sakura Senses.  Join us for an intuitive painting workshop inspired by the Japanese concept of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing). Artist Sonja Kanno will guide participants through an indoor creative exercise using soft pink and …

Join our Textile Embellishment Workshop that fuses together Japanese and Western visual mending techniques that bring new life to old textiles! Do you have a pair of denim or your favorite blouse that needs fixing? Then, this is the class for you. In addition to learning the 5 universal embroidery …

Have you ever wondered how to make plastic food samples? You can enjoy making food samples the old fashion way with wax at Ganso Sample in Kappabashi, Tokyo (aka Kitchen Town located near Asakusa). Kappabashi is the main restaurant and kitchen supplies neighbourhood in Tokyo with over 150 stores supply …

Always one of our most popular course offerings – Japanese cooking classes. Join a Best Living  Japanese cooking lesson to learn traditional Japanese home-style cooking.  You will also learn what is sold at a local supermarket, and how to select and buy the best ingredients for family cooking. After attending a …

Join us for a Tokyo Japanese Indigo Dyeing Classes this 2021 Spring.  Itajime Shibori with Aizome is a traditional handicraft using a shape-resist technique to produce patterns on the fabric.  In this session, each student will make a 1.2m x .5m linen piece which can be used as a table …

Join us for a Tokyo Japanese Decorative Fisherman Baskets Class this 2021 Spring. Learn a new art & craft that you can enjoy as a new skill. Ikkanbari is a traditional handicraft in the Kagawa Prefecture where taking old and worn-out items (especially damaged baskets) and making them new and …

Best Living Japan offers Kintsugi Classes in central Tokyo (Minami Azabu). Join one of our Kintsugi classes to learn how to make broken into reborn masterpieces. In each class, you will learn the basics of kintsugi and how to make simple repairs. You will cherish the piece you complete. If …

Join our DIY Japan Stamp Book workshop to capture your memories when traveling around Japan! Cute stamps are all over Japan; in train stations, temples, shrines, and more! Make your own stamp book for yourself or children to capture your Japan memories. Temple worshippers enjoy carrying their goshuincho (御朱印帳) or …

The Best Living Japan Studio rental is perfect for cooking, crafting or seminars.  We spent a lot of time designing the studio space of our dreams and are delighted to share it. The studio is a fully equipped professional kitchen which can be used as a crafting and seminar space …

Are you a beginner Japanese learner or know someone who is? Well, here is a list of 5 great apps for beginner Japanese learners curated by BestLivingJapan. When I started learning Japanese over 25 years ago, it was paper and pen, and my Sony Walkman with cassette. Now we all …

Best Living Japan is offering a safe and motivational space for remote study support for elementary students in Tokyo for the fall of 2020 (now  – Dec 11, 2020). Best Living Japan is located in Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo. If your child is in grades 2nd – 5th and attending …

Join us for a Tokyo Japanese Art & Crafts Class this 2020 Fall/Winter. Learn a new art & craft that you can enjoy as a new skill. All classes are held at the Best Living Japan Studio located at  @ 3-17-12 Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Best Living Japan offers cooking, …

Summer has arrived, and if you are staying in Japan with the kids, you will be happy to know some 2020 Japan summer programs are running to keep your kids engaged and provide you with a break! Step by step, we are getting back to life post COVID. From ocean …

Join the TELL Lifeline phone counselor training program to challenge yourself and help others. TELL Phone Counselor Training Program with both an online version and new flexible in-classroom schedule held twice a year in the Fall and Spring in both Tokyo & Kansai. Details on how to apply for the …

Here are our Top Recommended 2020 Ski / Snowboard Day Trips from Tokyo. Great for families, offers lessons for kids and easily accessible. We will be adding more in the coming weeks. Do you have one to add? Please let us know in the comments section below. * Please check …

If you love to ski, and you want your kids to be great skiers, then Junior Ski Camp is the best kids weekend ski camp I can recommend. Junior Ski Camp is located in the wonderful ski area of Shiga Kogen in Nagano. My three boys  attended the kids weekend ski …

TELL (Tokyo English Life Line) provides TELL  Exceptional Parenting Program (EPP) workshop series each school year which support global parents on a wide-range of topics. Here is the line-up of parenting seminars for the 2019 – 2020 Tokyo School Year. I highly recommend to attend if you are raising kids …

We have gathered some of the top Tokyo International Schools’ Calendars for Winter 2020 (January to July 2020) in an attempt to help simplify planning. We often hear from other parents and organizers of community events that all the international schools’ schedules being different causes may headaches. Hoping readers find …

GALA Yuzawa Snow Resort is one of the most convenient snow resorts to visit with little ones outside Tokyo. It`s a 75-min shinkansen ride (Max-Tanigawa or the Tanigawa) from Tokyo station and the train drops you off right inside the base of the GALA Yuzawa Resort making it ultra convenient if traveling with small …

Guide to Navigating the Japanese Hoikuen System If you are planning to return to work after taking some time off to bond with your little one, you are more than likely weighting the daycare (保育/ほいく/hoiku) options available in Japan. You’re perhaps also well aware of the daycare shortage the nation …

Best Living Japan is excited to tie-up with Japanese cooking teacher, Ms. Yuki Suzuki, to offer Survival Japanese Home Cooking Classes this autumn.  Classes will begin on Thursday, September 21st and run through December 7th, but don’t worry you don’t need to commit to 10 weeks of classes. We know you are busy so …