Going to Japan for university?? Help!

8 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Going to Japan for university?? Help!**

   I am going to keep this simple cause why not. I am a White American guy. I can speak and read Japanese. Writing physically is a struggle tho.
   I don’t want to be in America for college really. For many reasons. But the main one is adventure. I want to adventure. I hate being static. High school is hell for me. And from what I hear College is hell too. I want to do video, film, and photography. From what I hear tho, University in Japan is great for fine arts. I am going to japan at some point anyway after high school (as a trip if I cant go for university). So I might as well go to university there and study what I want.
   Also some info so I don’t get hate: No. I am not one of those “anime- Japan is the best” type person. I just like the history, culture and stuff. I love how clean it is, how polite, the nature and more. But I also want to enjoy college. And I hear it’s good in Japan. And no, I prob wont live in Japan. If I get the chance I might for a few years.
   What I want to know
   -What Universities are the best for fine arts?
   -What are some that are not like a “5% acceptance rate” type school
   -Is this a good idea from your experience? (I think it is, i have thought for a bit on it.)
   -Would I have to go straight after high school or could I take a year off before i go?
   -How do I even apply???? (biggest thing)
   -Do the people like Americans ? Will they be nice to me? (I hear they are nice to Americans)
   -What would living be like? (I think I know but I want advice)
   -Are there good gyms in Japan? (I lift like crazy)
   -What kinda studying should I do to get in? (I am a decent student, A’s and B’s mostly)
   I already know a ton of the do and don’ts in japan and that kinda stuff. But I want yalls advice. Thanks.

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2. To enter a japanese university, you need to pass the EJU or pass the university entrance exam. For the EJU, ur next chance is next year in June. I already passed eju 1 time and will re-do it again next month. For the top universities, I don’t really know. If you have more questions contact me on chat.

3. Are you a native Japanese speaker born in the US?

   If not, you’re going to want to find a school with an all English program if you don’t plan to actually live in Japan after university. That or one with an intensive Japanese program to help you catch up so you can take courses in Japanese. Academic Japanese is difficult.

4. (Aspiring) bodybuilder here! Gyms are good but expensive. I live in Tokyo and have two memberships; one is Anytime Fitness and both cost like 8000 yen a month. But the facilities are clean and everyone actually puts the equipment back so it’s a good experience ☺️Bigger universities usually have their own (more affordable) gym facilities used mostly by sports teams, but my university gym was open to all students.

5. If you want to lower the financial burden, you may try for the MEXT undergraduate scholarship given by the JP government. I applied for the research (postgrad) scholarship this year and so far it’s going well. But let me warn you since you put the “%5 acceptance rate” thing, it is highly competitive.

6. I’m not american, but I also planned to study in Japan although I became ill. Your questions can be basically answered through searching which school you consider, going to the university website because all of the information you need is there. Many Americans discourage it and recommend it to be just an exchange student for 1 year. If you plan to stay in Japan for the long term, it might be beneficial. The other guy said EJU, some universities don’t require it if you study in English but if you study in Japanese you need if I remember about N3 and EJU otherwise you’re american you don’t need to prove anything like TOEFL or IELTS since you’re a native speaker. Just make sure to be good in essays and interviews. They actually favor Americans more than other countries. In my case I will apply for transfer after I get my undergrad or just apply for masters.

   Edit: to add you can take the language school route before going to university some language schools can help you with recommendations.

7. Before you go too far down the road of figuring out how to apply, I’d suggest you clarify your future goals and decide if going to Japan for university truly supports those goals.

   For example, you say you want to do video, film, and photography. If you went to university in the US, you would not only be getting a US education (an education focused on the market you want to enter), but also you would have opportunities for networking, internships, etc with your future target market. If you go to university abroad, you would miss out on that and have to “start from scratch” when you return to the US as you job hunt. You would be competing with graduates who had those advantages.

   Also, if you are not at least N2 level you’ll likely need an English-language program, which reduces your options, as well as brings up issues of questionable quality (discussed frequently on this sub). This is also why it is often suggested that you enter college in your home country and then do a year or so of study abroad, which has the advantage of allowing you to do study in Japan, but still receive your degree from the home institution.

   I get it, you’re sick of high school and the US. You want something different. But college in the US isn’t necessarily hell — there are so many colleges in the US. And college isn’t necessarily “heaven” in Japan either. Many college student problems are the same everywhere. So think carefully if such a move really helps your future.

8. (Apologies for the long comment)

   Hello! I’m an American currently attending a Japanese university so I’ll happily answer some of your questions the best I can! I can’t recommend universities because I’m not knowledgeable about art universities, but I can answer the following ones.

   -Is this a good idea from your experience?

   It’s not a bad idea as long as you have the means and opportunity to do it. There’s plenty of international students in Japan and normally the tuition and cost of living is lower than in the US which is why I came to Japan. If you have any interest in continuing life in Japan down the road, university in Japan is incredibly useful. But the downsides is if you plan on being an artist back in America, it might be more difficult to make connections during university if you go to Japan, but you just have to weigh the costs versus benefits in this regard.

   -Would you go straight after high school or could I take a year off before I go?

   So I would recommend taking a year off. The reason is normally you have to take an entrance exam for university which means you have to physically come to campus the year before you plan to enroll to take the exam. Also most universities still require physical mailing in your application documents which is expensive to do internationally. It’s normally easier to come to Japan for a year and do the application process while studying Japanese at a language school first because then you’d physically be in Japan.

   -How do I even apply?

   This depends partially on the university, but normally you have to mail an empty envelope with return postage to get the application documents. Then you provide all the required documents and mail it back in to apply. If your application is accepted, then you’ll be asked to come to campus to take the entrance exam. At least that’s how my uni did it, but some unis also might have an additional process for international students. Mine had us digitally upload our stuff through an online system alongside the mailed in application because we were international students, so it might be good to email the admissions office at your desired university to get a better idea. You can also normally find application processes and requirements for your desired university online on their website.

   -Do the people like Americans? Will they be nice to me?

   Of course it depends on the individual, but generally Japan has a very favorable relationship with America. Most Japanese people are at worst indifferent and at best favorable to Americans. I’ve never had direct issues for being American, but there are prejudices and issues around foreigners in general (like every country really). Now with that said, I find a lot of Europeans don’t like Americans so you might hear a lot of anti-American jokes in international groups, but most of the time they still treat you fine outside of just the offhand joke.

   -What would living be like?

   So at my first uni as an undergrad I lived in the international dorms. Now as a graduate student I live in my own apartment. Most Japanese college students live in an apartment, but unis typically have dorms for international students or you can live in a share house geared for college students. I do recommend trying the dorms or share houses because first moving to Japan and being a foreigner can be really hard but this shared accommodation really helps you make a community of people in the similar situation. And it helps that it’s rare to share the same bedroom in these places like you do in American universities so even in shared accommodations, you have privacies.

   Unis tend to be very packed with class schedules for undergrad, so you might have classes almost every day. Typically class schedules are in periods and most unis outside of Kansai region have set programs for undergrads so every year you’d be given classes rather than choosing your desired classes the way you do in America (this is different from a lot of Kansai unis like Kyoto University or Osaka University where you have an elective course system more like America).

   Then a lot of university social life occurs in clubs/circles. Normally in the first week there’s a huge gathering of all the clubs/circles on campus and you can try out several in the first month before you find the best one for you. Then often a lot of friends are going to be made through this club/circle, so it’s really good to at least try out some clubs/circles in your first year (don’t be the kind of person who is too cool for school because joiners are the popular kids in Japan lol).

   -What kinda studying should I do to get in?

   You should probably look into your interested uni’s entrance exams. Sometimes you can access their past exams for example and there are some books that are geared to prepping for the entrance exam to a specific uni. Normally you have subjects like English, Science, Japanese history, and mathematics on entrance exams, but you might have more specific subjects in some programs depending on the university and department. I think you can also take an exam like the EJU (Examination for Japanese Universities) which is geared more to foreigners which might be a good option, but I don’t personally know much about it myself. I took the actual uni’s entrance exam which is quite difficult as a foreigner without proper Japanese high school education. You can probably find more info about which is better and study guides to help you prepare online.

   -Additional comments:

   I will note there are university programs in English, but there’s a good chance most universities will not have a lot if any English programs. And even in the ones with English options, a lot of classes you may have to or want to take may not have any English version. In my own program, almost all of my classes have been in Japanese with only a few classes (that were mostly elective classes not contributing to my degree) being in English. If you have the motivation of working hard to overcome language barrier and becoming fluent in Japanese, then while it’s difficult it’s possible. But if you plan to try doing your whole degree in English, you may result in a lower quality education and a lot of frustration.

   This is also why I recommend attending a language school first so you have a year to really adapt to the country, increase your Japanese skills, and see if you like it before committing to a four year program. If you don’t like it or decide that intensive Japanese isn’t for you, it’s always possible to go to a different uni in either Europe (which has more English programs) or America and studying abroad in Japan (you can study abroad even if you are an international student). It’s also just as a fulfilling experience and opts out of the downside of lacking access to gaining connections you’d get in a western uni.