Live online classes in Japan
Indian culture classesfor families in Japan.
Sanskrit, shlokas, chanting, the Ramayana and the Gita, storytelling, public speaking, Bharatanatyam and yoga, taught live from India, in small batches, at hours that work in Japan.
Japan has an older connection to Sanskrit than most families living there realise. The order of the Japanese kana, a-i-u-e-o and then ka, sa, ta, na, follows the way Indian grammarians arranged the sounds of Sanskrit, a principle carried to Japan by Buddhist monks who studied it, and the Siddham script, a relative of Devanagari, still appears on wooden grave tablets at Buddhist temples. A child in Japan who knows the gojūon chart has already met the logic of the Sanskrit alphabet. The timetable is kind too: Japan is three and a half hours ahead of India with no daylight saving, so the Indian morning batches land at 11:30 on Saturday and 12:30 on Sunday, all year.
Our batches, in Japan time
Asia/Tokyo
- Saturday morning8am ISTSat 11:30amin Japan
- Saturday evening7pm ISTSat 10:30pmin Japan
- Sunday morning9am ISTSun 12:30pmin Japan
- Sunday evening8pm ISTSun 11:30pmin Japan
Times are shown for a term-time weekend and follow Japan's own daylight-saving calendar, so they may shift by an hour in summer. If none of these suit, tell us the hours that do: batches are built around the families who join them.
What families in Japan can learn
Every class below is open to every age, and every one is taught live in a small batch.
Samskara Seeding
through Culture & ScripturesThe texts, the stories and the customs, taught so a child grows up inside the tradition rather than visiting it once a year. This is the track most families begin with.
Confidence Building
Voice, argument and presenceSpeaking, debating and standing in front of a room. The skills that decide whether what a child knows ever reaches anybody else.
Art & Craft
Dance, drawing and making, in the Indian traditionClassical dance, drawing, painting and making, taught through the forms and festival crafts this culture produced, including live online Bharatanatyam for beginners. Batches are opening now; timings are arranged with the families who join.
Yoga & Wellness
For kids, adults and seniors, and for the back and neck that acheLive online yoga in small batches, taught by qualified teachers in the tradition it comes from. Separate batches for children, adults and older learners, and focused batches for what people actually come to yoga with: back pain, a stiff neck and shoulders, weight, sleep and stress.
- Yoga for Kids
- Yoga for Adults
- Yoga for Seniors
- Yoga for Back Pain
- Yoga for Neck & Shoulder Pain
- Yoga for Stress, Anxiety & Sleep
- Yoga for Weight Loss
- Yoga for Women's Health
- Yoga at Your Desk
- Pranayama & Meditation
For Adults
Gita, sutras, chanting and songAdult batches, taught at adult pace and without any assumption of prior knowledge. Most of these learners are beginners who never had the chance earlier, and evening batches are set with the group.
Where in Japan?
Japan spans more than one clock in places, so each city page shows the batch times for that city rather than for the country as a whole.
Taught from India, live
Teachers in Bengaluru, in small batches, with the camera on. Nothing recorded, nothing outsourced to an app.
Built around Japan hours
Two 45-minute classes a week at a time that works on a school night where you are, not where we are.
English throughout
Instruction is in English. No prior Sanskrit, Hindi or reading of Devanagari is assumed of anybody.
Batches by age
4 to 6years
Learning by ear, through story and repetition
6 to 10years
Sound and meaning together, with reading begun
10 to 15years
Text, grammar and discussion in full
Questions from families in Japan
Does the kana order really come from Sanskrit?
Its principle does. Sanskrit arranges its letters vowels first, then consonants grouped by where in the mouth they are made, and the gojūon chart follows the same plan, worked out by monks who learnt Sanskrit phonetics through the Siddham script. It is a real help to a child here: the first thing we teach will feel less foreign than it looks.
Do the class times ever change in Japan?
No. Neither Japan nor India observes daylight saving, so the three-and-a-half-hour gap holds all year and the times on this page are right every week.
What about the Indian evening batches?
They land at 10:30pm on Saturday and 11:30pm on Sunday in Japan, too late for a child. Families here take the late-morning slots; adult learners sometimes take the evening ones.
What time are the classes in Japan?
Our batches run Saturday morning IST (Sat 11:30am in Japan), Saturday evening IST (Sat 10:30pm in Japan), Sunday morning IST (Sun 12:30pm in Japan), Sunday evening IST (Sun 11:30pm in Japan). If none of those suit, tell us the hours that do and we will build a batch around them. We schedule around the learner, not around Indian hours.
Do you have a centre in Japan?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. Every class is taught live over video by teachers in India, and our office is in HSR Layout, Sector 2, Bengaluru. That is what lets a family in Japan learn from a teacher who grew up inside this tradition rather than one who is the nearest available.
How do we pay from Japan?
Fees depend on the batch and how often it meets, and we take international payments. Message us on WhatsApp for the current fee list in your currency. The 30-minute trial class is free, with no payment details taken.
Book a free class from Japan
Tell us the learner's age, the class that interests you and your city. We will come back with a batch that lands at a sensible hour in Japan.
Free 30-minute trial class
Teaching families in Japan.
One free class, a real teacher, and no obligation afterwards.
Or call +91 91803 77502 · Mon to Sat, 9am to 8pm IST
Questions before you book?
Message us with your city and the learner's age. WhatsApp is free from Japan and is how most of our families reach us.