Japan lang. schools- is Yamasa the best?

I'm looking into Japanese language schools in Japan for what will likely be a year long venture to bring my Japanese ability from intermediate-advanced up to a fluent level. Financial resources are limited, so I've been trying to find a school that can provide or assist with housing, that has reasonable tuition or can provide financial aid. I was initially looking at the Inter-University Center since it seems they have a pretty decent reputation, but even though it would be nice to live in Yokohama, they don't provide any assistance with finding housing, so that could get quite expensive. So now I'm looking into Yamasa and they seem to really be the best of everything- does anyone think there's somewhere potentially better given these criteria? Or anyone who's had a better experience somewhere else? Some of the other schools with sites I found don't even list costs anywhere that I could find, which makes some comparisons difficult without trying to contact all of them to get more information.

It occurred to me that you could be the same Adam who is asking about "Visa for fiance while at language school."

Assuming that is the case, I might just note that Yamasa's tuition might be less costly because they are non-profit institution, in that they are special, and they are located away from city center. I've read some people (I don't recall the specific threads but) that it was good to be there because they were away from distractions that you might have in Tokyo or Osaka, in addition to saying that the teachers were good.

At the same time, because of the location, if you try to find any part-time jobs there may be limited opportunities (English language tutoring, for
example), both for you and your fiance (if she too comes on a student visa), and that unless your fiance is commited to learning the language as much as you are, the location can be a bit boring...

Also, please look into class levels carefully - this is not just to Yamasa but in general when you look around for language courses - often advanced students need private lessons because differences among the individual students' strengths and weaknesses might make it difficult to arrange classes, and those might command different tuition.

OK, search this forum with "Yamasa" (skip the soy sauce related ones) then you will see a few threads like those:
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+35130

(I'm speaking from the perspective of a former Japanese language teacher, with teaching experiences only outside Japan - so no firsthand knowledge about teachers in schools in Japan myself - and with knowledge about how my non-Japanese spouse and some of my acquaintances learned the language.)

if i may share something with you, i know someone who has studied at this yamasa place before, and their japanese program is indeed a pretty good one she say, meaning that you do learn quite a lot of japanese while studying there, especially for a year.

however, that person found the teachers' mentality very insulting. to be blunt, my friend had mentioned that the staff are quite stuck-up, non-flexible, unable to see two sides of the coin, and do not try to do any good for their paying customers (yes, customers) even though the customers are the ones paying their salary. in the end my friend was very dissappointed in them, especially because they make so much publicity to make people think they are so great. but her conclusion was that their mentality was just dreadful

so my advice would be, if you want to pump up your japan skills, it would be a good school, but be warned, if you even try to ask them anything else, then be prepared to be deceived. they are not customer friendly. once you pay tuition fees, they will give you the finger

I went to Yamasa, and to me it was the best! I've only taken Japanese classes one other place in Japan, so I can't compare it too much. But I had such a great time there doing one of their short term programs for 8 weeks that I went back again a second time. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I found their teaching methods worked great with me. I think it helps a lot if you try to make friends with other students who don't know English. And on the weekends you can have a lot of fun in Nagoya, which I actually like more than Tokyo.

I didn't find anything insulting about the teachers. I suppose maybe a bad seed has gotten in there since I left? But from my experience they were always friendly and always helped you as much they could. The people who worked in the office were also great. They helped me a lot when my bike got stolen, and would help give you any information about Japan you needed. I never felt like a customer while I was there. I always felt like part of the Yamasa family!