In a dance hall in Abiko, Chiba Prefecture, on a recent Wednesday, Patrick and Yoshie Sherriff, the owners of Tower English School, prepared for a playgroup drop-in. The concept is simple: Mothers pay ¥500 each week to play a series of English games with their toddlers.
As the lesson started, it became clear that the mothers were enjoying themselves as much, if not more, than their children. They were certainly noisier.
"Our children really enjoy the class. It's the highlight of their week. My older child is 4 years old and has continued on to kindergarten classes with Tower," said Miho Nishihiro, a mother of two.
"It's a good chance for mothers to communicate with each other too; we have little chance to socialize on normal days," added Manami Kikuchi, who has two children attending Tower. "A lot of English schools demand you reserve lessons in advance, but this is a drop-in, which is really convenient for us. If we miss lessons, we don't have to pay." The two mothers also attend lessons at the school.
Tower English is a school that looks to remain relatively small, and to give back as much as it takes.
"We are a community school. The T-shirts we are wearing are from a student that runs a printing company. This place is run by another student," says Englishman Patrick, 39. "The big eikaiwa schools simply cannot build up these relationships."
"We also have a primary school near our house. Eighty percent of the kids we teach come from there," adds his wife, Yoshie.
For marketing, Tower relies on word of mouth.
"The key to our success is basically that we know a lot of people. We have some leaflets and some business cards, a website and a blog, but if you want to talk about marketing, look at this playgroup: It's ¥500 and happens twice a week, it also gives back to the community, and the aim is to get as many people through the door as possible," Patrick says.