Teaching, tutoring and classes
Lessons that repeat weekly, run in terms, and are usually paid for in advance. Below is how 24 of them actually set up online booking — the session length, the gap between clients, whether to take payment up front, and the one thing that trips each trade up in Japan.
English teachers and private tutors#
The same student in the same slot every week, booked around a Japanese school or work day, which means everything happens after 16:00 and at weekends.
| Duration | 50 minutes for adults, 30 for children |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 12 hours |
| Buffer | 10 minutes after, to write up and reset |
| Max bookings per day | Six lessons a day before your voice gives out |
| Location | Video, or in person at a café or the student’s home |
| Payment | Paid online — it ends the awkward conversation about cash in an envelope |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before, none inside — the slot was held for them |
Worth asking on the booking form: Current level · What do you want to use English for? · Adult or child, and age
Private lessons compete with the big eikaiwa chains on exactly one thing: it is you every week, not whoever is rostered. A booking page with your own name on it is part of that argument, and a free 20-minute trial lesson is the standard way in.
Eikaiwa and language schools#
Several teachers, a timetable, and trial lessons that have to land with whoever is actually free.
| Duration | 40 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 12 hours |
| Location | In person or video |
| Payment | Trial free, courses invoiced outside the booking system |
| Cancellation policy | Not applicable to a free trial |
Business Box is one diary per account, so a school with several teachers runs an account per teacher today. It suits a small school and does not suit a large one — worth knowing before you build a timetable on it.
Japanese language teachers#
Students are foreign residents and overseas learners, so lessons are booked across time zones and almost always online.
| Duration | 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 12 hours |
| Max bookings per day | Six a day |
| Location | Video |
| Payment | Paid online in yen |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: Current level, roughly — JLPT or self-assessed · What are you studying for? · Your time zone
An overseas student sees your times in their own time zone automatically, so you never have to do the arithmetic. Keep your availability in Asia/Tokyo and let the booking page convert it.
Academic tutors#
Weekly slots booked by a parent for a child, concentrated in the hours between school and dinner, and rising sharply before exams.
| Duration | 60 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Bookable up to | 120 days |
| Max bookings per day | Four or five after school |
| Location | Video, or in person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: Student’s year and school · Subject and curriculum · What are we working towards?
International-school families work to a different calendar from Japanese schools — IB and A-level deadlines, not 受験. Say which curriculum you tutor in the event name; it is what parents search for.
Juku and cram schools#
The commercial booking is the parent consultation and the placement test, not the classes themselves.
| Duration | 45 minutes for a consultation, 90 for a placement test |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 48 hours |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Free consultation, courses invoiced separately |
| Cancellation policy | Not applicable |
IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC preparation#
Demand is driven by a test date, so students book intensively for six weeks and then disappear.
| Duration | 60 minutes, plus a 30-minute speaking practice event type |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 12 hours |
| Bookable up to | 120 days |
| Location | Video |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: Which test and which date? · Current or target score · Which section needs the work?
Eiken preparation#
Tied to three fixed national test dates a year, with the interview stage needing its own short mock-exam booking.
| Duration | 50 minutes, 20 for an interview mock |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 12 hours |
| Location | Video or in person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Demand spikes hard in the weeks before each 英検 sitting. Raise your daily cap for those weeks rather than turning students away, and use date overrides to open weekends.
University entrance and admissions prep#
Long sessions on essays and interviews, booked to a hard external deadline that nobody can move.
| Duration | 60 or 90 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Bookable up to | 180 days |
| Location | Video |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before |
Business English coaching#
Booked in the gaps of a working day — 08:00, lunchtime, 19:00 — and often paid for by the company rather than the student.
| Duration | 45 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 12 hours |
| Location | Video |
| Payment | Paid online, or invoiced to the employer |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: What do you need English for at work? · Is your employer paying? · Any upcoming presentation or meeting?
Corporate language training#
Sold to a company, delivered to its staff, with the invoice and the attendee being different people entirely.
| Duration | 60 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 48 hours |
| Location | Video or on site |
| Payment | Invoiced to the company — use pay in person and bill separately |
| Cancellation policy | Agreed in the contract rather than on the page |
Give each corporate client an invite-only event type so their staff book from a link that is not on your public page, and their rate is not visible to anyone else.
Maths and science tutors#
Weekly sessions that double in frequency for a month before exams, and drop to nothing over the summer.
| Duration | 60 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Location | Video |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Coding tutors and bootcamps#
A free discovery call, then long paid sessions, with students in several countries at once.
| Duration | 30 minutes discovery, 90 for a session |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 12 hours |
| Location | Video |
| Payment | Discovery free, sessions paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: What do you want to build? · Any programming experience? · Your time zone
Music teachers#
Thirty and sixty minute lessons on a fixed weekly slot, mostly after school and at weekends, with a recital season that upends the timetable twice a year.
| Duration | 30 minutes for children, 60 for adults |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Buffer | 5 minutes between lessons |
| Max bookings per day | Eight short lessons in an afternoon |
| Location | In person at your studio, at the student’s home, or video |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before, none inside — the slot cannot be resold |
Worth asking on the booking form: Instrument and level · Age of the student · Do you have an instrument at home?
Teaching at home in an apartment brings noise limits that decide your hours more than demand does. Set the availability schedule to the hours you can actually play, and it will never offer 21:00 by accident.
Music schools#
Rooms and teachers are both finite, and the booking that matters is the trial lesson.
| Duration | 30 minutes for a trial |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Trial free or low-cost |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 24 hours before |
Art classes and workshops#
Materials are bought per head, so a no-show costs more than an empty seat.
| Duration | 120 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 48 hours, so materials can be prepared |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before, none inside — materials are already bought |
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Pottery and ceramics classes#
A wheel per person, and the piece has to be collected weeks later after firing — which is a second appointment.
| Duration | 120 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 48 hours |
| Bookable up to | 90 days |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before |
Tourists booking a one-off class need to know before they pay whether the piece can be shipped or has to be collected. Put it in the description and repeat it in the confirmation message.
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Calligraphy (書道) classes#
A visitor experience and a long-term study class share a studio but have nothing else in common.
| Duration | 60 minutes for an experience, 90 for a study class |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid online for experiences, in person for regular students |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before |
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Cooking classes#
Ingredients are bought for the people who booked, so a late cancellation is a real cost, and most bookings come from visitors who pay before they arrive in the country.
| Duration | 150 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 48 hours, so shopping can be done |
| Bookable up to | 180 days |
| Location | In person, with the nearest station and a map link in the description |
| Payment | Paid online in yen — the customer is overseas and will not pay on the day |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 72 hours before, 50% inside that, none inside 24 hours |
Worth asking on the booking form: How many people? · Any allergies or dietary requirements? · Which country are you visiting from?
Overseas guests book weeks ahead in their own time zone and read the page in English. Dietary restrictions are the question that saves the class: halal, vegetarian and shellfish allergies all need a different shop.
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Sushi-making classes#
Fish is bought that morning for the exact number of seats booked, so the cut-off has to be real.
| Duration | 120 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 48 hours |
| Bookable up to | 180 days |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | No refund inside 48 hours — the fish is bought |
Worth asking on the booking form: How many people? · Any seafood allergies? · Do you eat raw fish?
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Sake tasting and sommelier sessions#
Small group sessions at fixed evening times, sold almost entirely to visitors.
| Duration | 90 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Bookable up to | 180 days |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: How many people? · Any alcohol restrictions? · Everyone over 20?
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Tea ceremony experiences#
Fixed session times through the day, each needing the room reset completely before the next.
| Duration | 60 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Buffer | 30 minutes after, to reset the room |
| Bookable up to | 180 days |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: How many people? · Can everyone sit on the floor? · Any dietary restrictions?
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Ikebana and flower arrangement#
Flowers are ordered per student and do not keep, so the booking cut-off is set by the florist rather than by you.
| Duration | 90 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 72 hours |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid online |
| Cancellation policy | No refund inside 72 hours — the flowers are ordered |
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Driving instructors#
Lessons run in one and two hour blocks with pick-up and drop-off at the student’s address, so travel between lessons is part of the working day.
| Duration | 60 or 120 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Buffer | 30 minutes after, for travel |
| Max bookings per day | Four to five lessons a day with travel |
| Location | In person, pick-up address from the booking form |
| Payment | Paid online, or in person against a prepaid block |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before, none inside 24 — the hour cannot be refilled |
Worth asking on the booking form: Do you hold a licence already, and from where? · Automatic or manual? · Pick-up address
Converting a foreign licence (外免切替) and practising for the Japanese test are different products with different students, and English-speaking instruction is the reason foreign residents choose you. Make them two event types and say so in each.
School admissions and study-abroad consultants#
A free first conversation with a parent, then paid sessions to a deadline set by a university on the other side of the world.
| Duration | 30 minutes free, 60 paid |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 24 hours |
| Bookable up to | 180 days |
| Location | Video |
| Payment | First call free, sessions paid online |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 48 hours before |
Worth asking on the booking form: Student’s year and current school · Which countries are you considering? · Application deadlines you are working to
Set this up in about ten minutes
Business Box is free for as long as you like, with no card required — booking pages, Google and Outlook calendar sync, availability, Japanese public holidays and the website widget. Taking card payment for bookings is ¥1,200 a month, tax included, with no commission on what you sell.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026.