Last updated: 26 August 2026
Nihongo Hongo is run by Tyson Maeda, based in Osaka, Japan. These terms cover this website, the free material, the self-paced courses, the group classes, the 1-on-1 lessons, and the coaching program. When you buy something here, you are agreeing to these terms.
1. What you are buying
- Self-paced courses. Video and text lessons you work through on your own. You get access as soon as you pay.
- Group classes. A live class with a small group, run over a fixed number of weeks at a fixed time, online over Google Meet. You buy a seat for the whole course, not lesson by lesson. See section 6.
- 1-on-1 lessons. Private lessons with me, 50 minutes each, online over Google Meet. If you use Microsoft Teams, we can move your lessons there instead. You buy lesson credits, then book a time.
- Coaching. A month of 1-on-1 coaching with a plan, weekly targets, and sessions.
2. Lesson credits
When you buy a trial lesson, a single lesson, or a monthly plan, your account gets lesson credits. One credit is one 50-minute lesson. You book with your credits on your student page.
- Credits from a trial or a single lesson do not expire while your account is open.
- Credits that came from a monthly plan have an end date once your plan stops. See section 4.
- Credits are for you only. You cannot sell them or give them to someone else.
- Lesson payments are not refunded, and credits cannot be turned back into cash.
- The trial lesson is one per student and only for your first lesson.
3. Booking, changing, and missing a lesson
- You can move a lesson to another time up to 24 hours before it starts. The same credit moves with it.
- You can cancel a lesson up to 24 hours before it starts, and your credit goes back to your account.
- Inside 24 hours you cannot move a lesson, and if you cancel it the credit is used. This is because the time was held for you and I cannot fill it.
- If you do not show up, the credit is used.
- If I have to cancel, you get your credit back, and I will offer you another time.
4. Monthly lesson plans
- Monthly plans renew automatically every month until you cancel. Your credits for the month are added when the payment is taken.
- You can cancel any time from Manage subscription on your student page. To avoid the next payment, cancel before the next billing date shown there. Your plan then runs to the end of the period you have already paid for, and it does not renew.
- Part periods are not refunded. You keep every credit you have already been given.
- Once you have no monthly plan running, the credits that came from your monthly plans can still be used for 3 months, and then they end. Credits from a trial or a single lesson are not affected.
- If a payment fails, new credits stop until the payment is taken. Credits you already have stay usable. You can update your card from Manage subscription, and if it still does not work, email me.
- If I change the price of a plan, I will tell you by email before it applies to you.
5. Self-paced courses
You get access to the course as soon as you pay, and you keep that access while the course is running here. If the course is not right for you, email me within 30 days of buying it and I will refund the full amount. When I refund a course, your access to it ends. If I ever have to close a course down, I will tell you by email first.
This 30 day refund is for self-paced courses only. It does not apply to group classes, which are covered by section 6.
6. Group classes
A group class is a live class that runs on a fixed schedule with a small group. You are buying a seat in that group for the whole course, not individual lessons. The class size, the number of lessons, the length of each lesson, the times, and the price are all shown on the sign-up page before you pay.
- Payment is not refundable. If you change your mind, miss lessons, or stop coming, the payment stays. Please read the sign-up page carefully and make sure the class is right for you before you pay.
- If the class does not run, you get your money back. Each group needs a minimum number of students, shown on the sign-up page along with the date I decide by. If your group does not reach that number, I will normally move the start date back, and your seat moves to the new dates. If the new dates do not suit you, you can move to the other group if there is one, or take a full refund. You choose, and if I do not get an answer from you within one week, I refund you. If you were paying in two, I stop the second payment, and everything you have already paid comes back to you if you take the refund.
- Missing a lesson. Tell me and I will send you the recording of that lesson, and the handout and audio are on your class page. If there is another group running the same lesson that week, you are welcome to join that one instead. Missed lessons are not refunded and the course does not get extended.
- If I have to cancel a lesson because I am sick or I have a problem, I will run it at another time or add a lesson at the end. You still get every lesson you paid for.
- If you pay in two. Some classes let you split the price into two payments instead of paying once. The first payment is taken when you sign up, and the second is taken about a month later on the same day of the month. The second payment is still charged if you stop coming, because both payments are for the same seat. Paying in two costs a little more than paying once, and both the total and the two amounts are shown before you pay. There are only two payments, so you do not need to cancel anything afterwards. If a payment fails, I will email you before I do anything about your seat.
- Your seat is for you. You cannot sell your seat or give it to another person.
- Class materials stay available to you after the course ends, on the same terms as section 10.
7. Coaching
Coaching is paid one month at a time, and you can choose not to continue into another month. The month you are in is not refunded, because it covers your plan, your materials, and the coaching itself. Prices, how many sessions you get, and how sessions are moved are agreed with you on a call before you start.
8. Payments
Payments are handled by Stripe. I never see or store your card number. Prices are in US dollars. Your bank may add a currency or foreign payment fee, and that fee is not something I control.
9. Your account
Your account is for one person. Keep your login to yourself. Tell me if you think someone else is using it. I can close an account that is being shared, resold, or used to abuse the site or other students. If I do have to close your account, I will tell you why by email, and we will decide together what happens to anything you have already paid for.
10. Recordings and materials
Course videos, PDFs, phrase lists, and lesson materials are mine, and they are for your own study. Please do not share them or sell them, and please do not post them online.
1-on-1 lessons. If we record a lesson, that recording is for you and me only. We both have to ask the other person before we post it anywhere.
Group classes. I record each lesson for students who cannot come that week. If your camera is on, your face is in the recording. If you speak, your voice is in it. I do not post it publicly and I do not share it with the whole class. I send it only to the students in your group who tell me they cannot come to that lesson, and I delete every class recording 30 days after the last lesson. Please do not download, forward, or post it anywhere.
If you would rather not be in the recording, tell me before your first lesson. You can keep your camera off, and I stop the recording while you are speaking. You can change your mind at any time during the course, and your place in the class does not change. If another student has already saved a copy, I cannot delete that copy from their computer, and that is why I ask everyone not to save anything.
Anything you post yourself. If you post in the class channel, the other students in your group and I can see it. Nobody outside the group can see that channel. You can ask me to delete anything you have posted at any time.
11. What I do not promise
I will do my best work with you, and I have seen students get real results. Even so, I cannot promise a JLPT level, a test score, or a date by which you will be fluent. How far you get depends on how much you practice.
12. Emails
There are two kinds of email from me. The first kind is about your account: booking confirmations, reminders, login links, and payment messages. Those are part of the service, so they keep coming while your account is open. The second kind is my newsletter and anything about new courses or offers. Every one of those has an unsubscribe link, and you can use it at any time without losing your account.
13. Changes to these terms
I may update these terms. The date at the top always shows the last change. If a change affects something you have already paid for, I will email you about it.
14. Law
These terms are governed by the law of Japan.
15. Contact
Email me at hello@nihongohongo.com and I will get back to you myself.