ICI FRANCE

What ICI FRANCE does

Ici France is a private language school and cultural salon operating under the legal entity Infinity Co., Ltd., with its classroom located in Naha, Okinawa, and parent headquarters in Tokyo. The school delivers French, English, and Japanese language instruction through personalized formats — individual, pair, and small-group lessons — offered both in-person at a café-style physical space near Asahibashi Station and remotely via online video lessons. Founder and director Vincent Giry anchors the offering with 25+ years of private teaching experience, JLPT Level 1 certification, and a personalized methodology with a strong emphasis on French pronunciation; the teaching team is multinational, drawn from France, Japan, and the United States.

The business model is direct-to-consumer and unit-priced: students register (¥4,400 adult, free with student ID; annual renewal ¥2,200) and purchase single lesson tickets or 5- and 10-lesson booklets that include loyalty rewards (quarter-coupons redeemable for free lessons, and a complimentary lesson ticket with the 10-lesson booklet). Distribution is direct via reception, email, LINE, and phone, with top-of-funnel acquisition driven by cultural events — book clubs, film screenings, wine tastings, 交流会 (exchange events), and French tarot workshops — and organic social channels (Instagram, X, Facebook, LINE). Online delivery extends reach to students across Japan and overseas beyond the local Okinawan catchment. There is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML components, no disclosed funding, and no enterprise or institutional customers; the operation is a single-site micro-language business supplemented by community programming.

Name

ICI FRANCE

Legal name

Infinity Co., Ltd.

Website

https://ici-france.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Ici France is a Naha, Okinawa-based language school and cultural salon offering French, English, and Japanese lessons in individual, pair, and small-group formats, both in-person and online, to local residents, expatriates, and travelers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Language Education Services

NAICS

Language Schools (611630)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Online-to-Offline Hybrid Language Immersion Programs (EDAIAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Language Immersion Programs & Camps (Local/Seasonal) (EDAMAFAL)

Keywords

• Language school
• French lessons
• English lessons
• Japanese lessons
• Cultural salon events

Headquarters

HQ city

Naha

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Ticket-based Language Lessons: Students purchase individual tickets or ticket booklets (5 or 10 lessons) to attend courses. Single tickets and booklets provide access to French, English, and Japanese lessons. Booklets include loyalty rewards (quarter coupons for 5-booklet purchases; free lesson tickets for 10-booklet purchases).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Ici France is a language school and cultural salon in Naha, Okinawa offering personalized French, English, and Japanese lessons through individual, pair, and small-group formats, delivered both in-person at its Naha location and online via video. The offering is paired with regular cultural programming such as book clubs, film screenings, wine tastings, exchange events, and French tarot workshops designed to combine language practice with cultural immersion.

Product overview

Ici France is a language school and cultural salon (Culture Salon & 語学教室) located in Naha, Okinawa, Japan. It operates as a single unified offering centered on language education and cultural exchange. The core product combines practical language lessons (French, English, and Japanese) with cultural events and community activities. Language instruction is delivered through personalized teaching styles—individual, pair, and small-group formats—both in-person at its Naha location and online. Cultural programming includes book clubs, film screenings, wine tastings, communication workshops, and French tarot sessions. The school is co-founded and directed by Vincent Giry, who brings over 25 years of private language teaching experience and a personalized teaching methodology. The company also plans to launch an international student team for face-to-face conversation sessions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ici France Language & Culture Salon

Quantifiable outcome

• Students receive 50% discount on first lesson after registration
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Inlingua: International language-training franchise offering in-person and online group and private lessons. Comparable as a multi-language school operator, though its center-based model is more standardized than Ici France's boutique salon approach.
• Alliance Française: Global non-profit network dedicated to French language and culture, with hundreds of chapters worldwide. Directly comparable to Ici France's French-language and French-cultural-salon positioning, but at vastly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Berlitz: Established global language-school chain offering in-person and online private and group lessons across many languages including French, English and Japanese. Comparable as a multi-language private/group lesson provider, but corporate-focused and far larger.
• EF Education First: World's largest private language-education company with physical schools and online programs across many languages. Comparable as a multi-language lesson provider, though Ici France operates at the opposite end of the scale spectrum.

Direct peers

• Go! Go! Nihon: Japan-focused provider of Japanese-language courses for international students, combining in-person school placements with online options. Highly comparable to Ici France's Japanese-for-foreigners offering, though scaled nationally rather than locally.
• Genki Japanese Language School (GenkiJACS): Boutique Japanese-language school in Tokyo and Fukuoka with small classes and cultural immersion activities. Comparable as a small-format, culture-integrated language school serving international learners in Japan.
• Coto Japanese Academy: Tokyo-based Japanese language school offering small-group and private lessons plus cultural activities for expatriates. Comparable target learner (foreigners learning Japanese), intimate-class format, and culture-event programming mirror Ici France's model.

Emerging players

• Duolingo: Mass-market gamified language-learning app covering French, English, Japanese and many more, with a growing conversational feature. Competes indirectly for the entry-level learner that Ici France also targets, especially among younger and price-sensitive students.
• italki: Global online marketplace connecting language learners with community tutors and professional teachers across 150+ languages including French, English and Japanese. Comparable as a channel for paid one-on-one language instruction, but fully online and marketplace-based rather than school-based.
• Preply: Online language-tutoring marketplace offering individual lessons across many languages with tutor matching. Comparable in offering paid private language lessons globally, but operates purely online and competes on tutor breadth rather than cultural community.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IciFrance_Oki
• Facebookfacebook.com/61576187635755
• Instagraminstagram.com/icifrance_oki

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ICI FRANCE