Specializing in Foreign Residents Who Want to Work in Japan
- Find a job that utilizes your strengths
- Resume / CV advice
- Thoroughly practice for interviews
- In-house career advancement consulting
Simultaneously Study Japanese and Consult About Your Career
- Support for the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and Business Japanese Proficiency Test (BJT)
- Practical Lessons that will help make working in Japan enjoyable (business Japanese, honorific language, e-mail, presentations etc.)
- Our teachers speak English, too!
Emphasis on Counseling. Full Support Until You Achieve Results
- Safe and secure individual counseling
- Support for your goals until you get results
- Our extensive consulting service provides the best support according to your circumstances.
Online Lessons
You Can Join from Home
- Interviews can be done online
- Early morning lessons available (from 8am)
- Face-to-Face interviews available as needed.
For foreigners in Japan
- Want to Find a Job That Utilizes Their Knowledge and Experience.
- Want to Study Japanese and Work in Japan.
- Are Already Working but Want to Communicate Better in Japanese.
- Want to Advance Their Career at Their Current Company.
We can help you!
For those who employ foreign nationals
- Want to Hire Talented People
- Plan to Hire a Foreigner for the First Time and Have Some Concerns
- Are Experiencing Trouble Communicating with Their Employees
- Want to Accurately Convey Company Policy to Their Employees
The Goal of Language Plus One
Be yourself, wherever you are in the world
(Live authentically—even abroad. And supporters, too, live authentically.)
At Language Plus One, our mission is to support international residents in Japan so they can live authentically by leveraging their unique
strengths. At the same time, we aim to build a society where those who support them can also value their own way of living and continue to grow together. As career consultants, we
focus on helping individuals achieve the careers they truly want. From there, we provide holistic support—Japanese language learning, skill development, certification, and community
engagement—while also connecting them with relevant organizations.
Many foreign professionals already have the ability to move forward on their own.
Yet, in reality, three invisible barriers often stand in the way:
- Limited access to accurate information
- Isolation that becomes a psychological barrier
- Most importantly, a lack of opportunities to reflect on experiences and organize thoughts, making it difficult to envision the future
Our role is not to teach or instruct.
Instead, we create spaces where each individual can rediscover their own strengths, make sense of their experiences, and regain the ability to move forward on their own.
Our name, Language Plus One, reflects our belief in helping people add value beyond language (Japanese)
so they can fully express who they are. We, as supporters, also expand our own perspectives on career and life through working with people from diverse backgrounds. However, stepping into
cross-cultural support can feel uncertain at times. That’s why we value creating a space where supporters can learn together, support one another, and
grow with confidence. There are many job-hunting services for international residents, but what matters most to us is supporting each
individual while respecting their personality and strengths.
We will continue striving to be a place where both international residents and supporters feel safe, understood, and empowered to take their next step.
Click to Learn More About Language Plus One's Services
Director
Kumi TANAKA
Representative / Japanese Instructor / Consultant
【Background】
Born in Tokyo in 1975, Kumi Tanaka became interested in language teaching while she was in high school. At university, she completed a teacher training program and obtained a teaching license in English. She later earned a master’s degree in Linguistics from Newcastle University in the UK, where she studied second language acquisition theory. Source
While working as an English teacher, she also trained to become a Japanese language teacher and obtained the necessary qualifications. After three years of volunteer work teaching Japanese, she began her professional career as a Japanese language teacher in 2005. She taught in South Korea for one and a half years, and then worked for six years as a full-time instructor at a Japanese language school for international students in Japan. Source
At the same Japanese language school, she also spent one year handling overseas promotion and recruitment in seven Asian countries, including Vietnam and Nepal. She gave study abroad information sessions at local Japanese language institutions and was also involved in residence status and visa application procedures for international students. Source
In 2013, she started working as a freelancer. She mainly taught business Japanese, JLPT preparation, and interview skills at schools for business professionals and everyday learners. Through this work, she came to realize that many foreign nationals studying Japanese were aiming to find employment in Japan or advance their careers. This led her to strongly feel the need for Japanese language teachers with specialized knowledge of career counseling. Source
In 2018, she obtained Japan’s national qualification as a Career Consultant. In 2019, she became independent and founded Language Plus One, a service supporting employment and Japanese language learning for foreign residents in Japan. In addition to providing Japanese language learning support in Japan and overseas, in-house corporate Japanese training, and job-seeker support, she also collaborates with professionals from other fields to offer employment support seminars for foreign nationals. Source
In 2025, the business was incorporated, and she is now working to build new relationships with companies, educational institutions in Japan and abroad, and local governments. Source
【Activities and Achievements】
See here
https://www.language-plus-one.com/活動-実績/
【Media Features】
・My Eyes Tokyo — Interview
https://www.myeyestokyo.jp/60879
・ALC Inc. — Interview
https://nj.alc-nihongo.jp/entry/20241031-profile
【Blog】
Supporting Those Who Support the Careers of Foreign Nationals (Note)
https://note.com/kumi_language
【SNS】
・Facebook Language Plus One（Link）
https://www.facebook.com/language.plus.one/
・Facebook English Role-Play Meetup（Link）
https://www.facebook.com/languageandcareer/
・X（formerly Twitter）（Link）
https://x.com/kumimuk/
・LinkedIn（Link）
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumitanakalanguageplus1/
・Meetup - get a job in Japan -（Link）
https://www.meetup.com/job-hunting-and-changing-careers/?eventOrigin=home_groups_you_organize
・Meetup - Vietnamese Study Group -（Link）
https://www.meetup.com/vietnamese-language-and-communication/?eventOrigin=home_groups_you_organize
Click to Learn More About Language Plus One's Services