Hello all! I will be moving to Kyoto from Tokyo to attend Doshisha’s MBA program within the next year and was wondering if anyone has had experience as an undergraduate or graduate student at Doshisha. If so, what was your experience like? Also, even if you didn’t go to university there, for people who have lived in Kyoto, can you comment on your name experience? Did you enjoy it? Was it expensive? Finally, does anyone have experience with living in “Live-Ins” with Japanese families and/or shared houses? I’m looking to save some money! Thank you!!
11 comments
You may also want to try asking in /r/Kyoto.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/japanlife) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Kyoto’s nice. The subway and other rail systems aren’t nearly as expansive as Tokyo or even Osaka, so you may want to get a bike for getting around. It has all the amenities of a big city without feeling overwhelmed. And if you do want a bigger feel Osaka is not far away.
I’m currently a 4th student at Doshisha and what I can tell you is that depending on the campus the University can be real trash.
If you’re in Imadegawa you should be fine (even tho some rules are really weird) but as I’m in the undergraduate program I can’t say how will be the mba program. What I can say however is that after 4 years my experience with this university is mostly negative.
Yet, our experience won’t be the same so hopefully you will enjoy it !
They’re quite close to a lot of good green river spaces, also other universities like kyoto university. Personally I love the area, and have met a few English speaking students there who play the same sport(lacrosse) I play. The campus seems quite nice too! I don’t have any experience with classes or graduate programs there. Goodluck!
Kyoto is wonderful. You could live somewhere in between in like Hirakata and be midway between Osaka (nice city bustle) and Kyoto (older / historical). It’s been *ages* since I was at the Doshisha campus – I dated a girl that was going there many many moonds ago (ahh memories…) but it was nice.
I’m a graduate student at Doshisha, and since you should be at Imadegawa as an MBA student, you will be fine. Doshisha’s Imadegawa Campus is probably the best located university in Kyoto, close to the river, Imperial Palace, and reasonably close to downtown. Compared to Tokyo, you will spend way less time in trains – grabbing a bike is a must though. I’d recommend trying to find a place midway between the campus and downtown (Kawaramachi area).
My Infos a little outdated now but I studied there about 20 years ago. As others have said, the campus will impact your experience a lot. Imadegawa is nice and very well located in Kyoto. Kyotanabe (mostly undergraduate) is quite fair and remote.
Most of my time was also at imadegawa, but club activities drove me to go to kyotanabe quite often. If you join clubs or social events, be aware there may be multiple groups for different campuses.
> looking to save some money
This is indirect, but I’ve read that since there are sooo many uni students around, part time jobs are scarce, and if you do find one there may not be too many hours.
Maybe someone else here can comment on this?
I like that area. I have a lot of friends at Doshisha. I myself live and study out in Shiga but I’m often in the area. Get a bike, and you can go a bit further away to find cheaper rent (that area has very little trains and buses stop early. Although Doshisha’s Imadegawa campus has a train station right underneath it.)
Kyoto is a city close to my heart. I like the lifestyle there. Definitely a huge change up from Tokyo.
I was an undergrad student for a year there; absolutely loved it. It was probably the best year of my life, honestly. I would say, if you’re looking to live cheaply the gendered dorms are pretty inexpensive and your electric bill and shared water/gas are bundled into the rent. Iirc the mens’ dorm is called Dorm Kamogawa and the women’s is Kizuna House. I believe they’ll let you live there for a year before making you move out, but I knew a few people renting local 1K/1DKs for not much more at the time. That said, they were and I assume still are fairly strict on guests of the opposite gender, not that that did anything at all to stop it from happening anyway. There are probably cheaper living arrangements, though.
I know nothing of the other campus, but as long as you’re on Imadegawa Campus you should have pretty easy access to everything. There’s even a subway stop on campus. Lot’s of good restaurants around (or at least there were a few years ago), very convenient, gorgeous place to live.
I studied at Doshisha for one year. I didn’t have any experience with “live-ins” but, if it is not possible, I suggest NOT living at the Maison Iwakuni dorm, it is an absolute dump full of cockroaches and rats.
Doshisha university Imadegawa Campus is awesome, the classes I had were easy, abd the campus life is great, especially if you speak Japanese. I can’t speak for Kyotanabe Campus, never went there.
Kyoto overall is probably my favorite city in Japan, especially the banks of the Kamogawa for meetups with friends. It is also very cycleable. You’re not too far from Osaka, which is good in its own way. Overall I much prefered life in Kyoto than right now in Tokyo. It’s also less expensive than Tokyo.