Japan Universities

[tsuki no miko]

Ah~another semester is starting!
As a sophomore I'm getting more and more concerned with my future career.
Since I'm willing to work in the field of PR or international relations I want to perfect my Japanese a bit more.
So I'm slowing beginning to concern going to a Japan university as an exchange student.
My school (Seoul National University) offers ties with good schools like
Kyoto Univ, Hitotsubashi Univ, Hokkaido Univ, Tohoku Univ, University of Tokyo, Waseda University, Keio University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Shonan Institute of Technology, Nagoya University, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

But I'm wondering which of these schools is actually good for studying Japanese a bit further. Also, it's so hard to look for how the exchange process is made :crybaby:. All I can find is actual entrance exams for international students, not the short-term exchange student program. I'm setting Keio Univ as my priority but I'm not sure yet.(I'm not even sure if I'll be picked anyways!! :P) Could somebody give me some actual info(evaluations, living conditions, exchange programs) on these schools' exchange student programs?

[cris]

You want to know the truth? Japanese Universities are not good, in most part it will only give you status within Japan.

In overall, you are much better off going to some where else in the states such as U.C.L.A. or even the more minor ones such as State College, even some J.C.s are more reputable than big universities like Todai.

Japan does not have a good college system for most part, compared to America
Sounds like you're from Korea, so I don't know how it is compared to there.

*By status, I mean: Bragging rights.

Another thing about Japanese Colleges/University is that, well like all collage campuses pretty much around the world(except maybe the really religious ones)it's a gathering place to meet friends to party with, and really nothing much more.

Another compare:
In the states, it isn't really that hard to get into College if you do your studies, but it's not as easy to stay in school. In order to keep attending that school, you need to keep your grades up and keep it up.

In Japan, it's really hard to get into the college, but once you get in it's really hard to be kicked out from it, thus = many people party til their dead and do very little studies, yet they graduate.

[KuroiKenshi]

cris is right as far as ive experienced. however, if you are looking simply to learn japanese, i would suggest waseda (which has a separate department solely for teaching japanese to foreigners). i dont really know much about the other schools except kyoto daigaku, so i cant say much about them, sorry.

[Richi]

waseda or nagoya, IMO

I am planing to go to waseda in 2008, change of plans forced me to change my japanese exchange trip to 2008. Anywho, I've heard a lot of good things about Nagoya.

just make sure that your stuff is transfeable to your home college/Uni.

[daike]

FYI, I picked up some official information about short-term exchange student.

http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/etop_b/ea-top.htm
http://www.ic.keio.ac.jp/index.html
http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/aikom/index.html
http://www.waseda.jp/cie/welcome/timeline.html
http://www.tufs.ac.jp/common/is/ryugakusei/isep/e/index.html
http://www.ecis.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/nupace/

Obviously, the best way to polish language skill is stay at the native speaker's country. To study deeply your major is another story though.

[tsuki no miko]

FYI, I picked up some official information about short-term exchange student.

http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/etop_b/ea-top.htm
http://www.ic.keio.ac.jp/index.html
http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/aikom/index.html
http://www.waseda.jp/cie/welcome/timeline.html
http://www.tufs.ac.jp/common/is/ryugakusei/isep/e/index.html
http://www.ecis.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/nupace/

Obviously, the best way to polish language skill is stay at the native speaker's country. To study deeply your major is another story though.
Thank you so much~! :)
Yes, I also think one must set their goals clearly when applying for an exchange student program. It could be language study or further study on your major. I first thought about going to an American univ b/c most Korean students go there to learn more English. But I feel the need to go beyond my level of Japanese more than English. I think my primary goal will be getting a good grip on the Japanese language not studying my major. ^_^

Another compare:
In the states, it isn't really that hard to get into College if you do your studies, but it's not as easy to stay in school. In order to keep attending that school, you need to keep your grades up and keep it up.

In Japan, it's really hard to get into the college, but once you get in it's really hard to be kicked out from it, thus = many people party til their dead and do very little studies, yet they graduate.
Yes, I hear that comparsion a lot cuz Korea is like that, too -_-;. Still these days people who party slack off like always but now there are more and more
students who also strain to do well in University, too.
When I look back at my 3 years in high school it was a pure struggle to get into a good university. Of course life is much easier in university but it still is a struggle because the job society has become more competitive.

waseda or nagoya, IMO

I am planing to go to waseda in 2008, change of plans forced me to change my japanese exchange trip to 2008. Anywho, I've heard a lot of good things about Nagoya.

just make sure that your stuff is transfeable to your home college/Uni.
Waseda or Nagoya you say? :) Thanks for your opinion~

[sailornyanko]

I thought american universities are party too. Undergrads anyone?

Mexican universities are pretty much the opposite of Japanese universities. Relatively easy to get in a private university if you know junior high math and can actually spell spanish correctly (if you are decent at algebra, you don't need to study at all for the entrance exam); heck, you don't even need to do a TOEFL test! SAT exams don't exist in this country. However, once you're in, you're forced to get you rear kicked constantly and work like a mule.

Unless you're studying a freebee career like Communications or the most idiotic career I've ever heard: "Administration of free time" (Basically you tell your clients what kind of hobbies they should try out. Yes, I'm dead serious here), you actually have to work while you're at campus.

Obviously I'm forced to have extra workload because I'm in Medicine so we're expected to be kicked around like mules (in fact, I feel like mules are treated better than us.. after what I lived though this week.. *shudders*). We really don't have much time or energy left to party though a lot of my classmates still manage to get drunk after classes in bars.
I love to laugh at people from easy careers that whine to teachers that leaving at 1 pm once a week is torture. Heh, and these students only come to classes 3 days of the week from 7 to 11 am, big deal. I had semesters where I left school at 10:30 pm just to enter the next day at 7 am!

But even in easier careers it's mostly about work work work. Fraternities don't exist in private universities (not that I know of), though I do know one from the UNAM public universities called "Mount Olympus". I've heard they do all sorts of crazy orgies.

UNAM public universities are slightly different. The entrance exam is extremly difficult. To get into Medicine, you have to master Integrals just to even bother trying out for the exam. I knew a very smart girl with a 9.7 average who still didn't get allowed. The competition is that brutal. It's like 12,000 people fighting over 2,000 slots. Dunno what it's like once you're in cuse I haven't kept in touch with highschool friends that applied, though it's probably quite slim and easy in the sense that you know that you can parasite the place for decades even without ever having to pay the government back a penny. Yes, there are people (though mostly in careers like Law) that fail courses for 13 years and still they eventually graduate. With the competition applying, you'd think some of these people would at least have the humility to drop out and give their slot to someone who really deserves it.

I've heard bad things about Japanese universities, you can slack off and still you pass courses. Plus I saw photos (courtesy of Gaijin Smash) of what Japanese public universities look like. Real bad. Even the lesser well maintained UNAM universities are in generally good shape.

[gyizpe]

AAA+ Tokyo Uuiversity Department of Law
AAA Tokyo University other departments
AAa Kyoto University
AA Waseda or Keio University
A Other univercities

B Shonan Institute of Technology

[tsuki no miko]

Unless you're studying a freebee career like Communications or the most idiotic career I've ever heard: "Administration of free time" (Basically you tell your clients what kind of hobbies they should try out. Yes, I'm dead serious here), you actually have to work while you're at campus.

Hmm..Communications is a freebee career?
Maybe the major Communications is different from country to country?
Cuz I'm a Communications major-studies on mostly mass media(tv, movies,newpapers)/ personal relationships/ political communications/persuasion that kinda stuff -_-;. But I never thought my major was a freebee cuz it's less professional than other majors like Law or Economics. That's why I run around the school trying to do a variety of things that will help me gain experience and stack up a resume. ^_^

I'm the head of our school's Art club, I've been working as our school's student ambassador(we basically aid guests from foreign universities and carry out international events). I'm trying to get a good grade on the JLPT and TOEFL. I'm looking for a summer internship with a good company blah blah blah and so on.

I think goal-oriented people do work hard regardless of what major they are.

*okay..this post is way off topic..sorry!! -_-; *

[cris]

People in the states do party too, yes, in fact I'm sure all campuses around the globe (that'snot a 3rd world country) probably is the same as well. But, the difference is that, you can party all you want in Japan, study very little and still graduate, but in the states, you need grades to keep attending + being able to graduate.

Basically, college in Japan is more of a place to meet friends and party out than a place to study

[ablo]

In the States, it depends on the university. A lot of state universities are "party" schools, but schools like Harvard and MIT are definitely places where you must study very hard. Finally there are the Catholic Schools like Boston College where it is a requirement to take classes in Christian religion and tend to be a bit more strict (but not much).

[m_fugue]

In the States, it depends on the university. A lot of state universities are "party" schools, but schools like Harvard and MIT are definitely places where you must study very hard.
It depends on the schools in Japan as well. You could receive quality education at any of the top universities in Japan, and entering a top American university isn't any easier than entering a top Japanese university. Japanese universities have produced their good share of excellent scientists and scholars also, and if you want to pursue career in law or medicine (two fields that attract the most number of top students) in Japan, going to J uni is a must. In Japan those who go to American universities are mostly dropouts who failed to make it into top Japanese universities, and the American universities that they go to are mostly 3rd-tire or even lower. Between 3rd-tire American uni and 3rd-tire J uni, American uni may be better, but that's not much of a choice to begin with (i.e. どんぐりのせいくらべ).

Anyway, Seoul National University is one of the best uni in South Korea and so being a student of such a prestigious uni you can't go wrong wherever you chose to do exchange program.

One thing to note may be that students at schools in areas other than Tokyo (e.g. Kyoto, Osaka) speak their local dialect and not the standard Japanese in everyday conversation. When you do business negotiation, give speech, write reports, etc. you use the standard Japanese, so practically you have to learn two versions of Japanese if you decide to attend such schools.

[anoir]

I'm not sure whether the original poster is still around, but, as a graduate student at the university of Tokyo, I try to answer as clearly as possible.

>I'm wondering which of these schools is actually good for studying Japanese a bit further.

Since the quality of each program is largely unknown to me, I cannot choose.

The only exchange program I know well is the one provided by my university, which is called AIKOM program (http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/aikom/index.html; already cited above). I talked with some exchange students of AIKOM program, including Korean students from Seoul National University, before. The program has its own Japanese lesson several times a week (I forgot the exact number of classes), divided into three groups according to Japanese skill. In addition, students can enroll in any class, some of which are conducted solely in English, while not all of them can be transferred. There are a lot of excursions as well. If you are interested in this particular program, I'm willing to offer you more detailed information.

Unless you have a special interest in some areas, I recommend you to choose one from Tokyo area for dialect concern as correctly pointed out by m_fugue.

>it's so hard to look for how the exchange process is made

In exchange programs, your university first chooses its candidates and then the other side just accepts them (it is very unlikely not to accept proposed candidates). So consult the appropriate department of your university to obtain the step-by-step instruction for application.

>Could somebody give me some actual info(evaluations, living conditions, exchange programs)

The overall experience crucially depends on your attitude and people around you, especially when you are not pursuing your specialized field of study, but trying to understand the language and/or culture (I admit the situation will be much different when you study for degree).

Personally, the program at the university of Tokyo seemed totally fine for your purpose. And your university has a lot in common with it.

[tsuki no miko]

Wow~! Thanks a bunch~!
You're actually a Tokyo Univ graduate? Sweet~I'll PM you if I need more info.:)
I'm actually leaning towards the AIKOM program cuz my Univ has more ties with Tokyo Univ.(A branch from Tokyo Univ-I think it was 情報学環 is coming here this October to hold seminar sessions with our Communications professors ^_^)
Still I'm a little anxious b/c it's a one year program so I'll have to talk more with my parents. I believe it'll cost a lot :crybaby:.
But anyways thank you so much~!!

[ablo]

Tsuki no Miko, so you go to the best school in South Korea, and you want to transfer? Sounds strange.

[tsuki no miko]

Tsuki no Miko, so you go to the best school in South Korea, and you want to transfer? Sounds strange.
No no no~:P
Of course I don't want to transfer-_-;
I just want an opportunity to study in a different culture!
Not that I want to stay forever in a foreign country.
I'm thinking of a career in Korea of course.^_^

[ablo]

Really? My plan is to leave the United States permanently. I want move to another English speaking country, probably Canada which is like the United States but less violent. How is the crime rate in Korea?

[tsuki no miko]

So you wanna leave America cuz you don't feel it's safe?
Hmm..Well I do think the sanction of firearms does cause danger in the American society but I have no idea of how much of a threat it is.
(I was pretty shocked when I watched Michael Moore's 'Bowling for Columbine' though)

I read a Korean tour guide book just for fun(I think it was lonely planet) and it said that Korea is one of the safest countries in the world cuz guns and drugs are strictly prohibited. And I myself haven't really been threated for my life -_-;.

[ablo]

Well, my town is not particularly safe, but that's no the main reason I want to leave (I mean, I've never feared for my life either). The education here in America is terrible outside the university. I mean piss poor. America as the "empire of the world" is over, and we're only going down hill from now on out. If history repeats itself as it always does, it won't be pretty. Did you know that some military officials here have suggested testing nonlethal weaponry on its own citizens?

I'm surprised that the Japanese universities are not that difficult. It must be quite depressing to go to high school there and South Korea for that matter. At my school, we have a lot of Korean exchange students who say that high school in Korea lasts until 9:00 p.m. On top of that, over 200 days of school in a year? No thanks. So I guess college for the Japanese student must be kind of a break then, huh?

[ablo]

Sorry for the double post, but are there uniforms for Japanese universities?

[Suiko Eiji]

Some private universities may have them, but I think the dress code for most Japanese universities is fairly similar to most Universities in the US or Western Europe.

[KuroiKenshi]

Some private universities may have them, but I think the dress code for most Japanese universities is fairly similar to most Universities in the US or Western Europe.

i hope theres no one going to class in their PJ's like there were at my school.

[ablo]

What's wrong with that?

[Suiko Eiji]

i hope theres no one going to class in their PJ's like there were at my school.

Yeah, I conveniently forgot about that happening here... thanks for reminding me.

As far as what's wrong with it is that I think if one wants to be taken seriously, one must look and act the part. Not that I mean everyone should be going to school in business casual minimum but that at the age of 18+ you know when to get dressed.

[Haro!]

How is the crime rate in Korea?
I don't know about the crime rate but Korean women are fine! I'm looking into sudying abroad in S. Korea myself but my grades suck.

[ablo]

I don't know about the crime rate but Korean women are fine! I'm looking into sudying abroad in S. Korea myself but my grades suck.

I must agree (except my grades don't suck, and I don't really want to study in Korea).

[Matsu'o Tsurayaba]

This is something that actually came across my mind when the topic of schools came up.What`s the most prestigious/honorable school in Japan that you can attend?College i mean.

[Suiko Eiji]

I want to say Waseda, Meiji, Tokyo, and I believe I heard Osaka is up there...

[tsuki no miko]

I don't know about the crime rate but Korean women are fine! I'm looking into sudying abroad in S. Korea myself but my grades suck.
Don't come here to study unless you're actually seriously thinking about a career that involves the Korean language or the culture/history/politics/economics of East Asia <_<

I just don't know what it is with your fetish for Asian (or Korean) women.
Are you interested in their culture? personality? or is it just looks?
Believe me every girl here is as normal as it gets. We're just people!

This is something that actually came across my mind when the topic of schools came up.What`s the most prestigious/honorable school in Japan that you can attend?College i mean.
I'm not sure of this but I heard that all National schools are considered as prestigious schools. Like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and stuff. I hear Waseda and Keio are also famous schools.

[ablo]

I just don't know what it is with your fetish for Asian (or Korean) women.
Are you interested in their culture? personality? or is it just looks?
Believe me every girl here is as normal as it gets. We're just people!


Heh, relax Tsuki no Miko. I think he was just kidding, so there's no reason to get mad :P .

[HimuraKenji]

Hmm...Well, out of that list, I spent a year at Hokkaido University, and I wouldn't say that I recommend it for furthering your Japanese. It's not bad, but it's not that great either. I would say it's more suited for students at a lower lever of proficiency than higher level, simply because at the higher level, they seem to lag.
The one thing i do recommend is to find a university that offers homestays. A homestay is an invaluable experience for improving your Japanese. On the other hand, it requires getting used to the expectations of your host family; plus, not all host families will be especially attentive to your needs. I, personally, am not a fan of Nagoya; but Kyoto is absolutely fantastic. I think a lot of what will affect your experience abroad is not simply the quality of the Japanese classes offered, but also how comfortable you feel in the lacation you're in. For example, I have little doubt in my mind that had I studied abroad in Kyoto, I would've worked harder on my own little goal of reaching functional fluency. It's not that I didn't in Hokkaido, but I feel that I lack a lot of the social mannerisms that go with living in Japan, and it makes the difference between people dismissing you as just some gaijin and people taking you more seriously.
Out of that list, I would initially tend toward Kyoto University, both for the location and for the fact that it's a great university(number 2), but of course you have to take into consideration your own needs an wants. The best choice will always be the one that you want to go to, not necessarily the one you need. The better your experience outside of the classroom usually equals a better experience within.

On another note, someone mentioned that Japanese universities suck. Well, I can't disagree really at the undergrad level, but I would have to disagree at the grad level. If they are horrible at the grad, then I would not find it plausible that Todai, Hokudai, etc., would be able to make breakthroughs in various fields. What I would concede is that the number of universities in Japan that have a high quality research (graduate) faculty are few in number, but then again, Japan is smaller and less populous, therefore I wouldn't expect them to have the same amount of high end universities; but this leads into another topic, and I don't want to be the one that goes off -topic.

[tsuki no miko]

Hmm~Hokkaido University~
I once escorted a team of professors from Hokkaido Univ last year.

Anyways, thanks for the factual info. It really does help~:)

[tsuki no miko]

Say, does anyone know if there's a Kyoto dialect?
The notification for the exchange schools came out and I just thought I'd go to one of the schools in Tokyo. But since Kyoto is also a good school I thought I might also apply for it unless the dialect is too strong.

[daike]

Basically, Kyoto dialect is a kind of Kansai dialect. But it's not so strong as in Osaka. Kyoto has some distinctive words like Oideyasu (Welcome) or -dosu (-desu in standard Japanese), but I think such traditional words are not used in daily life now.

Kyoto dialect sample:
http://portal.podcastjuice.jp/dirretrieval/feed_detail.cgi?categoryid=1&blog_id=10758&slisttart=2

And, I think some characters in Rurouni Kenshin speak Osaka/Kyoto dialect. Er, this is your own ground. :P