About this site

The word ひろば (hiroba) is written in kanji as 広場, meaning 広い場所 (hiroi basho; “a spacious place”). In Japanese, it is often used in combination with other words, such as 駅前ひろば (ekimae hiroba; “station plaza”), 噴水ひろば (funsui hiroba; “fountain square”), お祭りひろば (omatsuri hiroba; “festival grounds”), and ふれあいひろば (fureai hiroba; “community square”).

At some of these spaces, we enjoy hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in spring. At others, we dance the bon-odori on summer nights. To get to work, many people hurry through such spaces every morning. On days when the weather is good, people will sit on benches in such spaces and talk to their friends. In some of these spaces, children will run around energetically. The Japanese word for these spaces—ひろば—calls to mind a place where all kinds of people gather for all manner of purposes.

JITCO Japanese Teaching Materials ひろば aims to be a place where people who teach Japanese to technical intern trainees (and candidates) from various countries gather to look for teaching materials, exchange information, and pursue a variety of other objectives. If there is a particular type of teaching material you would like to see, please let us know.