Alpha Japanese Language Institute, the memorial institute of Ohki Hayashi, an authority on Japanese language and a member of the Ministry of Education’s National Language Council, was established in 1987 as a Japanese School for foreign professionals in Japan. Alpha has an excellent reputation as a school that provides lessons given by teachers from many fields with broad international backgrounds. It is held in high regard by diplomats, educators, and business people from various fields, such as finance, IT, trading and tourism. Our London school was established in 1999 and has been successfully attracting students from all over the world. In 2001 Alpha started offering accredited Japanese courses at beginner and intermediate levels in co-operation with the Department of linguistics, Language and Culture at Birkbeck College, the University of London.