ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: Another Asian spot where its transformation has been more than just economic. It's a piece of England built in the cultural and physical fabric of a section of Japan. Channel J takes us to a village in northern Honshu, allowing visitors to experience England on Japanese soil.</s>SIAN REES, CHANNEL J CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cottages, red telephone box, four poster-beds and old fashioned bathtubs would not be out of place in a traditional English village, but this is British Hills in northern Honshu, Japan, just an hour and a halfs train ride from Tokyo. The Santo (ph) Family Foundation spent around $60 million constructing a little piece of England in central Japan. Visitors stay in one of eight large guest houses, each modeled in a different period of British architecture, from the 12th to be 17th centuries. In Japanese schools, language study focuses on grammar, rather than speech. The idea behind British Hills was to let visitors go abroad while practicing their English, at a lower cost, without having to pack their passports.</s>HARRY TAYLOR, TEACHER: I do believe that British Hills works as a language experience. I spoke to two students for maybe one hour. Where in Japan, in which high school, would they speak to a stranger, to a foreigner for one hour?</s>REES: High school students are the most frequent visitors to British Hills, but businessmen about to be posted abroad come here too. Classes cover everything from scone making to calligraphy, all in English. In outside lessons, visitors practice language skills from the pool to the
British Hills; a Piece of England in Northern Honshu