Just came back from 3 weeks in Japan this summer (Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka). I’ve been wanting to leave my home country in Europe for a while over various grounds (mainly insecurity, people being quite rude, drug epidemic, everything being dirty…), and Japan seems like a good option. I’m going to be in my first year of Econ bachelor starting from October. I’m mainly considering Tokyo because the unis there look better than in Osaka + people were friendlier than in Kyoto (which I found to be the least pleasant town of the three). I’ve heard quite a lot of bad thinks about the Japanese higher education system on this sub and I’d like to know if it also applies to top unis such at Todai, Keio, Waseda etc. Before I’m told the degrees there are better, I’ve also considered the US/UK but the tuition fees are extremely high + the quality of life is getting worse just like at home. My country (France) does not offer much double bachelor degrees in Japan neither, at least none that I know of. I’d also like to know how to move to study as soon as possible, even though ASAP might only be Autumn 2024 ?
Thanks in advance and sorry for bad English, it’s not my native language
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**Moving to study at uni ?**
Just came back from 3 weeks in Japan this summer (Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka). I’ve been wanting to leave my home country in Europe for a while over various grounds (mainly insecurity, people being quite rude, drug epidemic, everything being dirty…), and Japan seems like a good option. I’m going to be in my first year of Econ bachelor starting from October. I’m mainly considering Tokyo because the unis there look better than in Osaka + people were friendlier than in Kyoto (which I found to be the least pleasant town of the three). I’ve heard quite a lot of bad thinks about the Japanese higher education system on this sub and I’d like to know if it also applies to top unis such at Todai, Keio, Waseda etc. Before I’m told the degrees there are better, I’ve also considered the US/UK but the tuition fees are extremely high + the quality of life is getting worse just like at home. My country (France) does not offer much double bachelor degrees in Japan neither, at least none that I know of. I’d also like to know how to move to study as soon as possible, even though ASAP might only be Autumn 2024 ?
Thanks in advance and sorry for bad English, it’s not my native language
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In what language would you want to study, Japanese or English? That changes the quality of education a lot. But in general, quality of education in France/the EU is a lot better than in Japan, especially if studying in English. But I quite like my university education here, so it’s not all that bad. Note that you likely wouldn’t be able to transfer your credits from France to Japan, so you would have to start over. I’d recommend you to look into specific programs you’re interested in, and see if you can contact current/pasts students and ask for their experiences.
I would say wait until you acquire a Bachelor’s (license) then apply to MEXT or a graduate program.
~~Unless it is an exchange program, foreign undergraduate students rarely make it to Japanese universities — unless you’re able to financially afford it.~~
~~However, if you were a research student your chances to study in Japan are significantly higher.~~
EDIT: I would also recommend looking for exchange programs. I have a friend who studied in Paris but went on an exchange program to Japan for a year but it wasn’t in Tokyo.
Please make sure that your degree will be recognized if you ever feel like working in France, a lot of time your degree won’t mean much in another country.