{"url":"/gardena/gardena-valley-japanese-cultural-institute","provider":{"id":"gardena-valley-japanese-cultural-institute","name":"Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute","kind":"organization","about":"A Japanese American community center in Gardena (GVJCI) that runs a Saturday Japanese Language School for children, alongside cultural classes, martial arts clubs and youth sports.","website":"https://www.jci-gardena.org","phone":"(310) 324-6611","email":null,"instagram":null,"founded":null,"credentials":[],"languages":["Japanese"],"image":{"src":"/photos/gardena-valley-japanese-cultural-institute.jpg","alt":"An old black-and-white class photo of language school students sitting with their teacher","credit":"Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute"}},"location":{"id":"main","name":null,"street":"1964 W 162nd St","unit":null,"city":"gardena","zip":"90247","neighborhood":null,"coords":[-118.312909,33.883714],"precision":"exact"},"serviceArea":[],"programs":[{"id":"japanese-language-school","type":"afterschool","name":"Japanese Language School","summary":"Saturday-morning Japanese classes for ages 5-17, from first greetings and hiragana to kanji, grammar and conversation, plus school-year cultural events.","description":"Levels run from Nyumon (first year) through Primary, Intermediate, Advanced and a graduation-prep class taught mostly in Japanese. New beginners are taken at ages 5-10; students 11 and up join Intermediate with some prior Japanese or after a placement test. As of August the Nyumon class was full with a waitlist.","categories":["languages"],"ages":{"min":5,"max":17},"format":"in-person","price":{"amount":100,"unit":"month","note":"$900 for 10 months paid at once, or $460 for 5 months. Two or more students $190 a month. One-time $100 activity fee."},"afterschool":{"care":false,"term":{"name":"2026-27 school year","start":"2026-09-12","end":"2027-06-19"},"meetings":[{"location":"main","days":["sat"],"start":"09:00","end":"12:35"}]},"traits":{"intensity":"balanced","structure":"structured","competition":"none","groupSize":["class"],"skillLevels":["beginner","intermediate","advanced"],"goals":["skills","social"],"goodFor":["new-to-it"],"setting":"indoor","parents":"drop-off","commitment":"ongoing","gender":"all","assessment":true,"feel":"Saturday-morning classes by level, from first greetings and hiragana to kanji and conversation, with school-year cultural events such as mochitsuki, sports day and a matsuri.","topics":["japanese","hiragana","katakana","kanji","conversation","saturday-school","heritage-language"]}}],"source":{"url":"https://www.jci-gardena.org/japanese-language-school.html","fetched":"2026-10-07"},"updated":"2026-10-09","checked":null,"closed":null,"sample":false}