Hello, I’m Kaylee! I’m a Business Entrepreneurship student and I just completed 10 months studying abroad in Tokyo. It’s been an incredible experience and I hope this post is informative to anyone who is considering doing the same.

Practical advice for Japan

My first piece of advice would be to start sorting all the required documents for the application and the visa early. I started working through the checklist from day one, and I still almost missed the deadline due to unexpected complications with the NHS. Secondly, study abroad can be expensive. I worked part time during my first and second years of uni with Japan in mind so I could make the most of the year.

The language

Japanese is one of the hardest languages for an English speaker to learn so it can be tricky getting around at first. Unfortunately, even if you learn the two alphabets, there’s still the kanji characters, which make it hard to read anything at all! So what I would recommend is to learn basic phrases. My host university, Rikkyo university, offers Japanese classes, and their beginner classes focus a lot on helping you get by with useful phrases you’ll need so you can successfully interact with store workers at checkout or order food, and other essentials!

Life in Japan

I actually wanted to study in Japan for almost a decade now, but I didn’t know if living here would be the same as I imagined it to be. Luckily it somehow exceeded my expectations. There’s many things I could say but I’ll share three of my top favourite things.

  1. The best thing about Japan in my opinion is that it’s safe. I think I appreciated that more than anything. I was able to go to the local park at night, (Shakuji-Koen, it’s beautiful!) and walk around in the natural spaces with no one else around, and I’m going to miss that freedom the most when I return home.
  2. Another thing is the natural beauty. It doesn’t take long from Tokyo to get to some beautiful places. Its mountainous landscapes always make for stunning views. And it felt like there was a new flower blooming for every month of the year. The city is beautiful too, i think its big neon signs, cleanliness and the trains were all incredibly beautiful, I don’t think I ever got bored of my commute, as the views out the train window always caught my attention.
  3. Living in such a huge city was great too. I feel I took every opportunity I could to explore and see as much as possible, yet even then there are so many things I didn’t get the chance to do! There is just so much Tokyo and the rest of Japan has to offer. There really is something for everyone.

Term Times

In Japan the academic year starts in April. So from early February to late April I had an honestly ridiculous amount of time to see the country outside of classes, which quickly became the highlight of my year here. I decided to cycle the country, so over 6 weeks I cycled from Fukuoka (a city in the southern island Kyuushuu) to Tokyo. I got to see the country outside of the tourist spaces, some of which were incredibly rural, and Japan’s rural houses are so traditional and beautiful to look at.

Uni Life

At my host university there was noticeably a lot more group work than at Southampton. I think it was great, as it was an opportunity to meet Japanese students instead of spending all your time in the ā€œforeigner bubbleā€.

The uni also hosted events that offered groups of students free tickets or a tour to visit a certain place. They offered tickets to events like Sumo, orchestra, and baseball tournaments.

At Rikkyo University you are expected to choose courses relevant to your degree. But there was room to pick additional modules. I took that opportunity to study Japanese and Media studies. And in addition, the method of applying for modules also allowed you to see the day and period of each class. Because of this I was able to create a 3-day weekend during my second semester which allowed me to take trips further out from Tokyo.

I hope to return to Japan again one day, and I’m incredibly grateful I ever got this opportunity. I hope this article was helpful!

A year in Tokyo

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