Students
Course guidance, visa paperwork, scholarship leads and senior students who remember their own first month at APU.
नेपाल · おおいた · Est. 2019
Bridging Nepali Hearts
in Oita, Japan
Uniting the Nepali community in Oita through support, culture and togetherness.
Who we support
Everyone who calls Oita home
Arriving in a new country is hard in ways nobody warns you about. Whatever brought you here, there is already someone in this community who has been exactly where you are.
Workers
Job openings, workplace translation, help reading a contract, and a network of people in the same trades across the prefecture.
Families
School enrolment support, childcare swaps, family gatherings, and a way for our children to grow up knowing both languages.
Neighbours
Our Japanese friends and local organisations — every festival we hold is an open invitation, not a closed door.
What we do
Done properly, or not at all
We would rather do a few things properly than list twenty we cannot deliver.
Cultural festivals
Dashain, Tihar, Holi and Nepali New Year — celebrated properly, and always open to the wider Oita community.
- Traditional food and live music
- Dance and cultural performances
- Family-friendly, all welcome
Practical support
The unglamorous work: forms, phone calls, translations and knowing which office to walk into.
- Visa and residency paperwork
- Job placement and interviews
- Housing and guarantor guidance
A network that answers
Five hundred people across the prefecture, and a group chat that is awake at 2am when something goes wrong.
- Facebook groups for your area
- Monthly newsletter
- Emergency support chain
Language and heritage
Nepali for children growing up in Japan, and a hand with Japanese for the adults who need it for work.
- Nepali reading and writing for children
- Conversation practice before interviews
- Help reading official letters
Sport and weekends
Football and volleyball through the warm months — the easiest way into the community if you do not know anybody yet.
- Open teams, no trials, all levels
- Matches in Oita City and Beppu
- Families welcome to come and watch
Landing in Oita
The first month is the hardest. Someone who has already done it will walk you through it.
- Meeting new arrivals at the station
- Ward office, bank and phone set-up
- Where to buy Nepali groceries
Two homes
Six thousand kilometres apart
The mountains most of us grew up under, and the hot-spring valley that took us in. Both are home now.
नेपाल Nepal
おおいた Oita
Events
Come to the next one
You do not need to know anyone. Turn up, and you will by the end of the day.
Mar15
Holi Festival Celebration
A day of colour, music and food in the park — our biggest open event of the year.
FestivalDetails
Mar22
New Student Orientation
Practical briefing and mentor pairing for students arriving for the spring term.
StudentsDetails
Apr05
Nepali Food Festival
Home cooking at scale, with demonstrations, tastings and recipes to take away.
FoodDetails
May17
Nepali Language Class Open Day
Saturday-morning classes opened up so parents could see the work.
CulturalDetails
Jun21
Riverside Clean-up
A morning on the riverbank with our neighbourhood association.
CommunityDetails
Jul19
Summer Volleyball Afternoon
The indoor season closer, played until the gymnasium threw us out.
SportsDetails
Sept13
Monthly Community Meetup
The regular Sunday gathering — tea, news, and whatever anyone needs a hand with.
CommunityDetails
Sept27
Autumn Football Tournament
Six teams, one trophy, and a great deal of shouting from the touchline.
SportsDetails
Oct18
Dashain Celebration
Tika, jamara and the longest lunch of the year, open to the whole prefecture.
FestivalDetails
Nov08
Tihar and Deepawali
Diyo lamps, rangoli and Bhai Tika, with singing that goes on late.
FestivalDetails
Gallery
Seven years of Sundays
Every one of these was somebody far from home, having a very good day.
In their words
Community stories
I landed in Beppu with two suitcases and no idea how anything worked. Someone from this community met me at the station. Within a week I had a room, a phone plan and people to eat dinner with.
Student, APU
The first Dashain I spent here, I cried on the phone to my mother. The next one I spent in a hall in Oita with three hundred people and it felt like home. That is what this group does.
Working professional, Oita City
My Japanese was not good enough to argue with my employer. Two people came with me to translate, and it was sorted the same week. I have a better job now because of them.
Factory worker, Nakatsu
My daughter was born here and I was afraid she would grow up with no Nepali at all. She reads to me now on Saturday mornings. That is entirely down to the classes.
Parent, Oita City
I came for the football and stayed for everything else. Turning up to a match on my second weekend in Beppu is how I met almost everyone I know in this prefecture.
Student, Beppu
We are Japanese and we live next door to the hall. We were invited to our first Tihar four years ago and we have not missed one since. The food alone is worth it.
Neighbour, Oita City
Our people
Six hundred neighbours
Spread across Oita City and Beppu City.
Leadership team
Suresh SurkhetiTechnical SupporterIT EngineerGeneral members
What membership gets you
Free entry to most events
Which events are free is decided by a vote of the working members
The emergency chain
Someone reachable at any hour, in Nepali
Jobs and housing first
Openings circulate to members before anywhere else
The group chats
Facebook groups for your area
A say in what we do
Vote at the general meeting, held every two years
Becoming a member
Fill in the form
Online below, or on paper at any event
Pay the annual fee
¥3,000 per year
Get your card
Member ID, and you are added to the groups
Everybody on the register is listed. Phone numbers are shown to verified members only, and each member edits their own card and nobody else’s.
Get involved
Join us today
Follow along, drop into a group, or come to an event and say hello.
Facebook QR code goes here
Scan to follow us
Or use the links beside this card
Contact
Get in touch
Questions, membership, or something urgent — write to us and a real person will answer.
Where we are
Oita City and Beppu City, Oita Prefecture
Phone