In this page, we will tell you how to participate in the Ohanasi Kagawa language exchange events from the Ohanasi Kagawa website. For detailed instructions on each step, please refer to the pages dedicated to each step. It may seem difficult at first, but it is actually very simple, so please read carefully until the end. Event Participation Flow 1 - Go to the Ohanasi Kagawa website and jump to the login page 2 - Sign up or log in and jump to the event reservation page 3 - Select the event you would like to attend from the event booking page 4 - From the event details page, click the Join button to book an event 5 - The Join button will appear only if you are able to attend the event at least 24 hours before the event starts 6 - Go to the event venue via the Join Event button that is displayed on your screen 7 - Wait for the opening presentation to begin 8 - Your seat number will be announced during the opening presentation 9 - Move to your seat after the opening presentation 10 - Start talking with your partner as soon as you are seated 1 - Go to the login page from Ohanasi Kagawa's website First of all, please click the Login or Sign Up button on the Ohanasi Kagawa website, or the banner or button on the event page to jump to the login page. 2 - Sign up or log in to jump to the event booking page If you are a new user, please register an account from the "Click here for account registration" section. Once you have registered for an account, you can log in by entering your e-mail address and password. 3 - Choose the event you would like to attend from the event booking page You can view event information from the event booking page. Click "View Event", "Event Title", "Event Banner", etc. to jump to the event details page. For more details on how to use the web application, click here. 4 - Book an event by clicking the Book an Event button from the event details page Click the " Book this event now" button on the event details page. If you do not need to use Tomodachi Kagawa, click the "Confirm" button to complete the event reservation. What is Tomodachi Kagawa? 5 - The participation button will be displayed only to those who can participate at least 24 hours before the start of the event When you book an event, buttons like the one in the image below will appear on the "Event Page" and "My Page". You will only be able to view participation status until 24 hours before the event starts. 24 hours before the event, the application will balance the number of participants and only those who can participate on a first-come, first-served basis will be shown the button to enter the event. What is the participant status? Not sure if you can participate? About cancellations 6 - Go to the event site from the event join button displayed Clicking the "Enter Event Venue" button will take you to the event venue (Remo). You will not be able to enter the event venue until the event start time. When it is time for the event to start, please follow the procedure in Remo to enter the event venue. If you cannot enter the event venue, please let our staff know via chat. Contact us 7 - Wait for the opening presentation to begin When you enter the venue, please turn on your camera and microphone first. Until the opening presentation begins, you can either chat with other attendees, wait in the break area, or listen to explanations from the staff at the beginner's table. To move around, double-click on the seat you wish to occupy. The timer above will display the time until the opening presentation begins. What to do if you have a problem at the event venue? How to deal with mechanical troubles Regarding basic operation of Remo 8 - Seat numbers announced during an opening presentation When the opening presentation begins, staff will welcome you and play a video describing the event. After that, please check the general chat as your name and seat number will be announced in the general chat. (You can check your name and seat number from the general chat on your chat button even after the presentation is over.) Click here for basic Remo operation. 9 - Move to your seat after the opening presentation Double-click on your seat to go to your seat after the opening presentation. If you want to check your seat, please click the "Chat" button next to the camera and microphone, and press the "General Chat" button. If you are unable to move or are unsure of your seat, please come to the central staff room or chat with the "Event manager" in the chat room. What if I need help at the event? 10 - Start a conversation with your partner as soon as you are seated When you arrive at your seat, please start a conversation with your partner for 15 minutes in Japanese and 15 minutes in English. Our staff will be patrolling the room, so if you have any trouble, please call us anytime. Also, if you have any trouble while talking with your partner, please let our staff know via chat or come directly to the staff room. What if I have a problem at the event venue? Conclusion How was it? We hope that by understanding the general procedure of Ohanasi Kagawa events, it has made it easier for you to participate in our events. I am sure you will be very nervous at the beginning. However, please feel free to come to the event as there are many staff members who will be patrolling and supporting you for this purpose. We are sincerely looking forward to your participation. Join Ohanasi Kagawa events →.

In September 2018, Ohanasi Kagawa was born with the fundamental vitality of Aki’s frustration, despair, and discouragement as the representative of Ohanasi Kagawa, but a major turning point came in June 2020. It was June 2020 when COVID-19 began to spread in the United States, where I was living at the time, and many people were forced to be under house arrest. I wondered, “What can I do now that everyone is stuck in their homes and the mood is so gloomy?” As I was thinking about it, an idea came to my mind: “Yes, let’s start Ohanasi Kagawa online!” And so, with five Japanese friends and English speakers, we held our first Ohanasi Kagawa online event via Zoom. After that, when we announced the event in the U.S., many American learners of Japanese said, “I want to participate, too!” I realized that so many people in the U.S. were eager to talk with Japanese people. And one question remained in my mind. While many people in Japan, like myself, strongly desire to speak English with people from all over the world, many people in the world also desire to speak Japanese with people from Japan. “Why is there no place where people from Japan and the rest of the world, who are seeking each other out, can connect with each other in a safe and easy environment?” People who have been seeking each other but have been unable to meet can now meet online, transcending national borders! With this conviction, we have continued to hold events, and in less than a year, more than 2,000 participants from over 50 countries have joined Ohanasi Kagawa’s events. I saw great potential in Ohanasi Kagawa as a platform to connect people who love Japan and Japan-loving people around the world.

“I want to actually speak English with English speakers!” I googled “where to talk to English speakers” on the Internet and spent 30 minutes. I never dreamed that I would feel so much “frustration,” “despair,” and “discouragement. Why, you ask? Because I realized that no matter how much I looked on the Internet, there was no place nearby where I could casually talk and interact with English speakers. I went around to various places to gather information, but I could not find the kind of place I was looking where I could interact with English speakers in a casual and safe environment. * It is true that there are places in Japan where you can interact with English speakers, such as foreigner bars and international exchange parties, but these places were far away from my desire to “practice speaking”. What I want to do is not drink and have a good time with people from overseas. (To begin with, there are not many such places in my rural Kagawa Prefecture.) I was about to give up on the idea that it would be impossible for me to have an environment where I could speak English practically as long as I stayed in Japan. I was about to give up. At that time, I received an e-mail from a woman who was also studying English. She said, “Aki, I am also looking for a place to speak English, but I can’t find it. Could you please tell me where I can find a good place?” I was at a loss for words. I couldn’t find a place where I could speak English even though I had looked for a place where I could speak English by myself so much. “Let’s give up. As long as you stay in Japan, it is impossible to find a place where you can speak English.” I was so frustrated that I was about to tell her so. I wondered if I should leave the current situation in Japan as it was, that as long as I stayed in Japan, I would never have a chance to speak English. “No, I will not give up! If it’s not there, then I’ll make it myself!” So I gathered local English speakers and Japanese who were learning English in Kagawa Prefecture and started an event in the same way as Ohanasi Kagawa, which is now online, and that’s how it all started. And Ohanasi Kagawa took a big turn with COVID-19. To be continued in my blog.

Have you ever wondered why Japanese people don’t speak English well compared to other countries in the world? The story I am going to tell you today is about Ohanasi Kagawa, an international exchange platform that was created to change such an environment. “What is Ohanasi Kagawa?” I am sure that many of you are not familiar with Ohanasi Kagawa, so let me introduce ourselves again. Ohanasi Kagawa in a nutshell is “an international language exchange platform!” It is a place where Japanese people who are learning English and people from all over the world who are learning Japanese can gather in one place, speak English and Japanese alternately, and interact with each other to share their cultures, values, and ideas. Let me tell you “why” we decided to create Ohanasi Kagawa in the first place. Ohanasi Kagawa was born from the negative feelings of frustration, despair, and discouragement of Aki, the representative of Ohanasi Kagawa. Ohanasi Kagawa actually started not online at first, but in September 2018 in Kagawa, the smallest prefecture in Japan, where I, Aki, am from. I was 23 years old at the time and had quit the company I had been working for since I graduated from high school to study English in order to study psychology in the United States. I hated studying English when I was a student and only took naps during class, but I entered an American university and continued to study English with the sole intention of starting my life over again. It was about a year after I started studying English that I felt a great sense of despair. I had studied grammar and vocabulary on my own and had come to understand English to a certain extent, so I decided that I wanted to actually speak English with English speakers. I immediately went online and googled “where to speak English with English speakers”. I never dreamed that 30 minutes later, I would feel a great “despair”. To be continued in my next blog. Join Ohanasi Kagawa Event →