Yutatto ♪ Family in FUKUOKA (Homestay/Home Visit Program)

If you feel lonely, or wish to ask someone about Japanese customs and culture, why not visit your host family in FUKUOKA?

For host families

Program outline and host family registration

Program outline and procedure for becoming a host family

Yutatto ♪ Family in Fukuoka is a volunteer-supported, homestay/home visit program for international students enrolled at universities/colleges in Fukuoka Prefecture. “Yutatto” is a local dialect term (Hakata-ben) for “comfortable” and “relaxing.” To help international students who are struggling to adjust to the Japanese way of life, the Fukuoka International Student Support Center (FISSC) has established this Program. The FISSC invites the registration of families that will invite international students for overnight stays or day visits. By assisting international students in resolving their concerns, such families are expected to make students’ daily lives in Fukuoka more comfortable and relaxing. If you are interested in this Program, please register with the FISSC, which will later introduce to you an international student who has applied for the Program.

International Students to Be Introduced

The FISSC will introduce an international student who is enrolled at a university, junior college or technical college in Fukuoka Prefecture, and who holds a student visa.

Program Period

Host families are requested to keep in contact with the international students concerned for at least one month, and if possible, until their graduation from university/college.
(You can of course continue friendly exchanges with students even after their graduation.)

Eligibility for Registration and Registration Procedure

In principle, any adult resident (20 years of age or older) in Fukuoka Prefecture who understands the purport of this Program can register, provided that all their family members agree to invite international students to their homes. To register, please download, fill out and submit the registration form designated by the Fukuoka International Student Support Center (FISSC). Your registration will remain valid until the end of the academic year concerned. The FISSC, however, will annually renew your registration unless you ask to terminate it.

Inviting an International Student

After an international student has been introduced by the FISSC, please contact the student directly and invite him or her to your home for either a day visit or an overnight stay. Although FISSC contacts both international students and host families until the introduction, subsequent contacts should be made by the parties concerned to determine a meeting place and time, as well as practical program menus.

Program Options

Host families can decide practical program menus: overnight stay, day visit, dinner, going out together, etc. To help international students lead comfortable lives in Fukuoka without feeling lonely or concerned about daily living, you are requested to listen to their problems and offer advice.
Even though you can decide the type of response to give, please refrain from using international students as your workers or forcing them to do anything against their will, particularly against their religious or other creeds. Also, in speech or conduct, please be careful not to discriminate against international students on the basis of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, religion or creed.

Examples

• 　・Inviting students to your home to share your daily lives and treat the students to local dishes
• 　・Offering advice to help resolve students’ daily problems, so as to relieve them from worry
• 　・Participating in local cultural/sports events or college festivals together with students
• 　・Inviting students to birthday parties, Bon festival (August) and New Year’s events, and treating them as members of your own family

Who Bears Costs

In principle, host families should pay basic costs (food and energy costs) necessary for the homestay/home visit program.
Personal expenses (transportation, telephone, cleaning and other fees) will be borne by the international students concerned.

Other

• The purpose of introducing Japanese families to international students is to provide the students with spiritual, rather than economic support.
• The Fukuoka International Student Support Center (FISSC) will not bear any responsibility for any accident that might occur during this Program.

For international students

Program outline and application procedure

Program Outline

For many international students, it is not easy to accustom themselves to Japanese customs and culture. Naturally, many students sometimes feel lonely, uneasy and anxious.
As a student, you may have a small problem that can in time grow into a serious problem, due to your lack of knowledge about the proper means of resolving it. Or you may have some trouble with your friends or neighbors because of mutual misunderstanding. On such occasions, it would be helpful to have someone to consult with, preferably local residents who could offer appropriate advice toward resolving your problem.

Yutatto ♪ Family in Fukuoka is a program designed to support international students by introducing them to Japanese families in Fukuoka. To ensure that as a student you can lead a comfortable daily life in Fukuoka without concern, local residents will invite you to their homes either for overnight stays or for day visits. “Yutatto” is a local dialect term (Hakata-ben) for “comfortable” and “relaxing.” Why not join the Program and have a family here in Fukuoka, so you can enjoy friendly talks and relaxing times together?

 

Eligibility

To apply for the Program, you must be an international student enrolled at a university, junior college or technical college located in Fukuoka Prefecture, and must have a student visa.

Application Procedures

Before applying, download and fill out the application form designated by the Fukuoka International Student Support Center (FISSC); ask your university/college office to stamp its seal on the form. Along with the stamped application form, bring your student ID card and alien registration card to FISSC to file your application.

Program Period

The program period ranges from one month to a few years, until your graduation (or even after your graduation, if so desired by you and your host family).

Program Options

It is your host family that decides the practical menu: overnight stay, day visit, dinner, going out together etc.

Notice

[1] The purpose of this Program is to foster international friendship. Please remember that you cannot use this Program simply to gain free meals and accommodation.
[2] Since all host families are volunteers, they will pay the costs of meals and other expenses in inviting you to their home. Yet, you must pay transportation fare, telephone fees, costs of your meals outside the home and other personal expenses. If you are not sure whether or not you should pay the cost, do not hesitate to ask your host family.
[3] Should an accident occur during the Program, neither the Fukuoka International Student Support Center nor your host family will bear responsibility.