Simply put, Sakashita-san was a wonderful sensei. I was based in Sapporo for a couple months, and even though I’m a complete beginner when it comes to Japanese, Sakashita proved to be an invaluable resource. Our bi-weekly lessons were a great platform to learn, going from simple phrases before, to now being able to construct complete sentences and even grasping some basic grammar. The best thing, however, was Sakashita’s enthusiastic responses to any queries or challenging questions you may have. He was patient and informative. Kind (and at times funny). Always helpful, and most of all, incredibly underpriced in my eyes. If I’m ever based in Sapporo again, I know who to call.

Very easy to set up tutoring sessions for once a week, and the rates are very good for what Sakashita-san can help with. Not only for studying the Japanese language, but also for staying in Sapporo/Hokkaido or Japan in general. As someone that was staying in Sapporo for 3-months as part of a Japanese language school, i went to Sakashita-san's study for once or twice a week given availability and my schedule, not only to help keep up with my course, but for advice as a foreigner in Sapporo. After my experiences, I enjoyed my stay even more having a reliable source of information for the area and learning the language. If you are in a similar situation or only want a tutor for learning Japanese this is an ideal and a practical avenue to learn from. 

Sakashita is an incredible tutor. He is a knowledgeable, supportive, patient and empathetic professional. In his classes, time flies during our conversations. He offers easy to follow grammar explanations and has well-guided directions for your learning. You can feel his deep learning experience and professionalism. I recommend him to anyone who is interested in making visible progress in a short time. By taking Sakashita's lessons, you are on the right track to achieve your Japanese language goals!

I really enjoyed working with Sakashita-san. I was looking for someone to practice my Japanese with while I was in Sapporo for a couple of weeks and he was very flexible and easy to work even on a short term basis. I really appreciated Sakashita-san's professionalism and positive attitude. He was always polite but didn't shy away from letting me know when I said something incorrect or could say something in a more natural way. I would definitely recommend Sakashita-san to anyone who is looking to improve their Japanese. Even though my time working with him was relatively short it was a great experience.

This guys really knows his stuff, and his rates are incredibly affordable. The number one best option for anyone looking to learn Japanese whilst living in Hokkaido. Despite my constant stupidity he always remained patient and encouraging. If your living in Hokkaido and wanna learn the linguo, LEARN WITH SAKASHITA!!!!! This dude is ace!

Sakashita san is an incredibly professional teacher. He is a very good teacher who understands how to cater to students of all skill levels. His prices are also a bargain. If you want his quality of teaching, you would have to pay 20-30X at other 1-1 Japanese tutors.

和坂下さん学习半年，收获良多，特此感谢。

坂下さん的上课特点：

1 上课会使用共享屏幕及翻译，方便沟通、理解。

2 上课后，坂下さん会将上课内容的笔记发送给我。

3 每次上课30分钟，每周3次左右，轻松不累。

4 和坂下さん商量来选择上课的内容，非常自由。

5 需要练习专业的医疗对话，坂下さん也会积极配合和准备。

6 关于演讲等发言，坂下さん也帮忙修改和配合练习。

7 坂下さん本身是社科系的教师，所以擅长教学，博学多闻。

8 在日本人中，坂下さん的发音和音色也很出色。

9 课程中随时纠正发音和教授正确的日语用法，非常实用。

亦师亦友，十分满意。

I have been having 1-2 lessons a week with Mr Sakashita for the last 2 years. He has always worked very hard to support me with whatever aspect I wanted to work on. Typically, we focus on new vocab and grammar using the Genki books, but we also practice conversations. He is very skilled at helping you realise your own mistakes so you can correct them.

On several occasions, he has gone above and beyond by assisting with unusual tasks like helping to navigate Japanese websites to buy season passes for the subway, or translating a speech to Japanese and practicing the proper pronunciation.

His rates are also incredibly low, especially considering the quality of service, and he is kind, flexible and understanding.

I would highly recommend Mr Sakashita for learning Japanese, no matter your level.

Early June to mid August 2020 (approximately 10 weeks, 2 hour classes, 3 days a week)

A few weeks after my Japanese Language School in Sapporo suspended classes due to the bug that's going around, I searched on line for a private teacher who I could actually go and have classes with. I did not fancy on line classes.

The first meeting was a free trial lesson in which we settled on using the same book that I had been using at the school. Sakashita-san appeared to have all the best-known and commonly used series of textbooks in his bookcase,  so he would have been able to adapt to whichever course I chose.  

Second time around and with one-to-one tutoring,  I quickly grasped many of the points that had been something of a blur in my small group classes.  

Sakashita-san knew how to negotiate his way through my Minna-no-nihongo textbook, as he took me through vocab, grammar structures and exercises in a logical and effective order that I wouldn't have been able to do on my own. I got plenty of speaking and listening practice during the lessons, as well as reading and writing practice from my homework. 

The accompanying Translation & Grammar Notes book, which was referred to but whose existence was barely pointed out to me in my group classes, proved to be essential for me to understand the material presented. The moment I acquired this book, on Sakashita-san's advice, from a local bookshop, I began to understand a lot more. 

Sakashita-san was always very kind and accommodating and his goal was always to get me, the student, to understand the material at hand, which he generally did. 

I would recommend Sakashita-san to anyone wanting to learn or improve their Japanese, whatever their level. 

He holds his classes, at extremely favourable rates, in his small study in his apartment, no more than 5 mins walk from the North Exit of Sapporo Train Station. 

He wanted me to include any negative points, but for me there are none. 

Observations:

His small study will not realistically accommodate more than 2 students at a time. I found it perfect for one-to-one. He does not do lots of preparation for classes (in my view, he does not need to as he knows the various coursebook methodologies very well, and is good at coming up with examples and explanations spontaneously). He didn't actively give me lots of homework .. I asked him for it and he obliged.

These are of course not negative points, but he wanted me to try and include some. The fact that this is the closest I can come up with is a testament to how satisfied I was with the quality of his classes. 

Thank you, Sakashita-san.

I would highly recommend Mr. Sakashita. I spent roughly a year and a half with him, coming once or twice a week, and in that time I passed both the N5 and N4 of the JLPT. He is warm, friendly and patient, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to pass without him. You can either have lessons by Skype, or at his office, which is very close to Sapporo station and a comfortable and quiet place to have lessons. He is also great value for money, charging only 500 yen, for 50 minutes at his office, which could easily cost 1000 – 2000 yen or more for one-on-one lessons. I am back in England now, but I am very glad I had the opportunity to have lessons with him.

I am a teacher from a family of teachers. Also, between my husband and I, we have clocked over 300 hours of learning with Mr Sakashita. So, I can say with confidence that he is the best teacher that you'll ever have. There are many reasons for this but here are my main two.

1. Within a few lessons, my confidence in communication skyrocketed, which has resulted in a great relationship with my Japanese colleagues. 

2. He has helped me, and countless others, pass the dreaded JLPT.

北海道大学修士毕业生。在这里特别感谢坂下老师对我的修改帮助。认识坂下老师是经过我教授的介绍，因为我的教授是美国人，所以在日语母语修改上从读预科班开始就一直拜托了坂下老师。因为他本身也是修士毕业，有写论文的经验所以对论文的修改特别专业。还提出了许多非常有用的专业性建议。我从修士考试的研究计划书到最后的博士论文，全程帮助我修改。每一次都非常耐心，也经常在我时间紧迫的时候连夜帮我修改。并且也帮助我们研究室的几位同学做了专业的论文修改，得到了教授们的认可，也谢谢老师当时来参加我的毕业论文发表和一路的陪伴支持。非常推荐用非母语写论文的小伙伴找坂下老师老师校阅！

I studied with Sakashita-san over a period of 10 months while I stayed in Sapporo and I cannot recommend him enough. His tutoring was immensely helpful for improving my basic Japanese skills and I found myself much more confident in using it in everyday life. He is a very patient teacher, but will quickly point out and help you with mistakes, and let you know if a sentence sounds awkward or outdated in modern Japanese. No matter what level of Japanese you are studying at, I'm sure Sakashita-san will be a great tutor for you!

I took Japanese lessons from Sakashita-sensei for the last few months of my stay in Japan. Together, we worked on practicing for the JLPT N1 level through various learning activities such as recorded listening, grammar and vocabulary textbooks, and through conversation. I can say for certain that these lessons helped me during my test. I can think of several examples of the things that we discussed during our lessons that came up during the test. Through these lessons and Sakashita-sensei's explanations, I was able to see the language in a new light, and therefore I absorbed Japanese in a new way. I would recommend Sakashita-sensei to anyone, of any level, learning Japanese.

2019年2月在网上找到Sakashita san，和老公一起试了一节日语课。当时刚到北海道两天，主要目标就是学一个月日语 天天上课的那种。之前有用GENKI这本书，但是这个书的缺点就是只有英语版本。后来改用了minnano nihongo。才感觉日语有学很快了，因为用了中文的解释。

专业性一。Sakashita先生之前就有教授语言的经验，然后之前在学校教授地理，对学语言的我来说我很喜欢通过学日语学习日本文化。这个非常加分！

专业性二。作为老师，会因为学生在不同阶段的需要，给你想学的。我是主要想提高口语和听力，所以每天的课就是上一篇课文的语法，然后练习口语。他会很用心得”辅佐“（支持）我的学习。

通过跟Sakashita先生学习，我更能理解日本文化里面的一些点，比如带人亲切，他让你会感觉到礼貌在日本文化中的重要性。做事情有规划和徐徐渐进。

我非常推荐这位老师，让我在北海道的学习经历丰富和有意义！ 

我来自成都。

Hi I'm from Melbourne, Australia.

My wife and I had the pleasure of studying with Sakashita San for roughly 1 month from Feb to Mar of 2019.

We studied almost every day for 1.5 hours and towards the end because we wanted to finish our textbook we increased that to 2x1.5hrs a day.

He's an exceptional teacher who understands the learning process of learning Japanese as a 2nd Language.

I've experienced studying in a class before as well as with other private tutors. Usually in a class the speed is either too slow or too fast. With a private tutor they may lack the experience to teach you in an effective manner. I didn't find there were any of these issues when studying with Sakashita san. On top of all this, he's exceptionally cheap, even by Sapporo standards.. I've told him privately he needs to raise his rates, as it's not fair on himself...

The other students I've met who have studied with him have also all had positive experiences.

He replies promptly via email, so get in touch with him and get started!

Nachdem ich mit einem Kurs an meiner Hochschule, den Einstieg in die Japanische Sprache bekam, konnte ich mein Japanisch dank dem Unterricht von Sakashita-san deutlich verbessern.

Da es Einzelunterricht war, konnte das Thema und die Geschwindigkeit auf die eigenen Wünsche angepasst werden.

Hierbei möchte ich Sakashita-san als sehr guten, mit anschaulichen Beispielen und Erklärungen arbeitenden, Lehrer loben!

Dank seiner Offenheit für Fragen, konnten viele Unklarheit beim Wechsel vom Deutschen ins Japanische geklärt werden (was durch Bücher alleine oftmals nicht gegeben ist).

Insgesamt bin ich sehr froh, sein Schüler gewesen zu sein und bedanke mich für die vielen lehrreichen Unterrichtsstunden und netten persönlichen Gespräche zwischendurch!

Sollte ich wieder für längere Zeit nach Sapporo kommen, so werde ich wieder bei ihm in den Unterricht einsteigen.

Sakashita-Sensei’s classes are amazing! He is a gifted teacher and has a remarkably strong ability to make the Japanese language come alive for students. Moreover, he personally tailors his lessons to each student in a one to one format. In each class I learned a lot and those lessons were reinforced and built upon in successive classes. Sakashita-sensei is also a humane and kind person. He was able to tailor classes to my specific needs since I speak Japanese, but needed significant help with my grammar and vocabulary. His immersion style of teaching is the best way to learn Japanese, or any language. Whether a beginner, intermediate, or advanced Japanese student you will learn a lot from Sakashita-sensei and enjoy the learning process as well!

Thank you for teaching us Japanese. We really enjoyed it. Thanks to you we have learnt a lot of Japanese. We had the best time writing Hiragana and Katakana. We hope that we can meet again. We hope you like origami we made for you.

I started studying with Sakashita-san on May 24, 2018 via Skype, so it’s been a little over 3 months since our first lesson. Initially, I was a bit skeptical due to his illogically low rates, but the skepticism quickly dissipated during our first lesson, as I took notice of his sincere desire to assist learners of Japanese. 

Unlike many Japanese teachers that I’ve met in the past, he doesn’t cut you off mid-sentence if you get stuck, which is a real annoyance. He waits patiently for you, either until you call for help, or until you complete your sentence/train of thought. Further, besides his rich knowledge/understanding of the Japanese language, he is a history buff, which makes for an interesting conversationalist. 

I’m especially grateful to him for this past summer, during which we studied for over 20 hours/week for 3 weeks in Sapporo. Although he had many students, he accommodated my intensive schedule to the best of his ability. 

I am back in South Korea now, where I’m currently based, reviewing what I studied in Sapporo. I’m starting to realize the tremendous amount of Japanese vocabulary/grammar I studied with him over the course of 3 weeks, and it’s just staggering. 

Sakashita-san, thank you very much for your help, and let’s continue to study towards my next goal. 

Sakashita San was my teacher for several months and my Japanese improved considerably.

He has a very structured/objective based, yet highly adaptable approach to teaching, which has been extremely effective. We work together through a great course, which I have found very useful with respect to building a good vocabulary and understanding of Japanese grammar. In my case, this is generally spoken/conversational Japanese. 

He is really patient and his manner of delivery which I have found to be very re-assuring but also challenging when required. I'm not the most confident language learner, he takes this into account and pushes just enough without being overbearing.

I'd say he is capable of teaching Japanese to any level/objective. Whether your aim is basic travel communication or fluency.

Highly recommended!

Sakashita sensei est à l'écoute de ses élèves. Lors du cours d'essai il m'a aidé à définir les objectifs que je voulais me fixer. Je ne parlais pas un mot de Japonais et je souhaitais pouvoir m'exprimer de manière basique dans un premier temps.

Comme je n'étais qu'à peine 3 semaines à Sapporo et Sakashita sensei étant flexible sur les horaires, j'ai voulu qu'on ait un cours intensif à raison d'une heure tous les jours, dimanche compris.

Cela m'a permis, au bout de 2 semaines, d'avoir une compréhension basique du Japonais et de tenir une conversation minimale. 

Sakashita sensei m'a aidé à trouver mon rythme d'apprentissage et les progrès ont été visibles jour après jour. Cela m'a permis de rester motivé et d'avoir envie de continuer à apprendre.

Je suis extrêmement ravi de la manière dont se passent les cours. Sakashita sensei a une réelle passion pour l'enseignement du Japonais et de la culture nipponne et la transmet avec beaucoup de patience à ses élèves.

Je suis tellement ravi du cours et des progrès faits que nous nous sommes mis d'accord pour continuer les cours via Skype une fois rentré en France.

Arigatou Gozaimasu Sakashita sensei

Une agréable surprise

J’étais à la simple recherche d'un logement sur Sapporo, puis il s'avère que le propriétaire était un professeur de japonais.

Un grand appartement bien situé, meublé avec un vélo et avec la possibilité d'avoir des cours de japonais.

Rien qu'avec cette idée, Mr Sakashita est quelqu'un de très généreux.

Grâce à l’expérience et à la politesse de Mr Sakashita, les cours peuvent s'organiser de manière très flexible. Il peut laisser le choix sur les différentes méthodes d'apprentissage selon l'opinion de l'élève en s'adaptant au niveau de celui-ci.

  这次有幸委托坂下先生校阅我的论文，非常满意。

  在此之前，就曾委托坂下先生帮忙校阅读做调查所用的日语材料。虽然时间很紧，但是坂下先生非常认真且快速地完成了校阅，甚至牺牲了晚上的休息时间，帮了大忙。所以论文校阅时，毫不犹豫的就选择继续委托坂下先生。邮件联络时，坂下先生手头还有别的同学的论文校阅任务，但是还是非常热心的答应帮忙校阅。

  这次也是认真地帮忙完成了校阅。坂下先生校阅后的标注方式简明易懂，为后续的修改节省了很多时间。此外，不仅是文法和词汇上的错误，甚至会主动帮忙查阅论文的相关内容。深受感动。

  坂下先生在金额方面也会照顾学生的经济情况，是一位非常热心的人。如果你也有想要进行校阅的材料，推荐你联系坂下先生，一定不会失望。