Hey everyone!

Nice to meet you all.

After reading about the review on Temple University in Tokyo, I decided to join this community because I am looking for some guidance/help from experienced people who have been in Japan, or currently living there. What I would like help with is the discussion about whatever to take a language school or go to an international university.

A little information about me as that I am currently 19 years old from Sweden, I have been in Tokyo once in my life for about three weeks and that was for a school project, in order to collect material for a blog about Japan. After graduating from three years of IT-Media in Sweden, I decided I wanted to continue my journey towards Japan again.

My goals for the future would be to get a job in IT/computers as I have about 10 years of experience working with computers and I have gone to a school about Media and IT. My second option would be teaching English, as I have grown up using English more than Swedish. After doing some research I would also be interested in studying Asian studies.

Last week I was close to finishing my application to Temple University after talking with some people here in Sweden, an organization that recommended me to go there as they offered the chance for a job after graduation and various things, but after reading some more, I decided to put that on hold as I would like to know more about what chances/and things I can do and of course it’s a lot of money to spend there so I would like my experience to be as delightful as possible.

Finally to my question – what is in your guys opinion the best “international” school to study in Japan? - What I am looking for is an opportunity to able to work in Japan, a school with a network that can be helpful rather than going to a school that can’t help me out at all. Because I feel that having a school that can assist you with some tips/working boards and various things can be of great help to finding a decent job in Japan. As long as there is chance to get a job, there is something I can strive for even if the chances can be very slim.

I know that it’s hard to get a job in Japan depending on your knowledge in Japan and various reasons but as long as I can try and I have my motivation up I will strive forward towards that goal. The most important thing for you to be able to help me is to tell you my Japanese knowledge. My current Japanese knowledge is about very basic/daily conversation. That’s why I feel I can’t apply for a real Japanese University as I wouldn’t even pass the knowledge test and after talking to an organization in Sweden they recommended me to study 2 years abroad in Japan to study Japanese and then apply for a Japanese University and that would take about 6 years in total after education. I feel that I would not like to wait that long time because I first I would be unemployed and then when I am finally finished I would have no working experience in Japan. However feel free to correct me if I am having the wrong view about this, I haven’t heard anyone else opinion about it so I am very open minded of hearing what you have to say.

I am currently looking for schools in Tokyo because that’s the area I am familiar with, and I am very interested in learning and exploring more about Japans various locations. So starting in the capital would be the ideal view for me as a foreigner to begin. Correct me once again if I’m wrong. If you have any better suggestions of an area to study in your free to leave that as well.

I have also looked into Language schools to improve my Japanese, as Ive read and know that I must require a good amount of Japanese to be able to even work there, even the most basic job. However my view is that I would like to study towards an occupation/a field of work so I have something to strive and work with once I am done with my studying. In Sweden once we are done with our school after college/upper-secondary school we are free to work but even here the work market is starting to require more people into professions/university. I feel that having Japanese as a minor/studying it at the same time as having a major is better because for me I am a person who work very hard for something once I’ve put my mind to it, I think the word I am looking for is “perfectionist”. I want to have something to master and learn more about so I can get a job/occupation in the future.

I guess that the animation business would be imposable for me to work in as there as many people more qualified for the job, and if you want to work there you have to be really into your job and know fluid Japanese, but that’s just something I could figure myself working with as well since I have gone media and working with computers and I like many people love/like anime and manga.

Thank you for reading all this and I hope you are able to leave some suggestions. You can also add me on Skype if you want to discuss or talk with me in chat - that would be nice too. My nickname there is Blizzwiz.

Both Waseda and University of Tokyo have degree programs in English and fairly intensive Japanese programs you can join.

Thank you for your suggestion, and I have looked them both up, which would you consider being the better alternative out of the two considering experience of meeting Japanese and getting the best education possiable.

Tokyo is by far the better school but Waseda offers more undergraduate programs in English.

I think it depends on what you want to study over here.

IT/Computers - Media and IT, Teaching English, or Asian studies. What is your opinion on ICU as I got that as a suggestion too.

Quote:My goals for the future would be to get a job in IT/computers as I have about 10 years of experience working with computers and I have gone to a school about Media and IT. My second option would be teaching English, as I have grown up using English more than Swedish. After doing some research I would also be interested in studying Asian studies.
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Animation

Going to tackle this first. The range of options in Japan for English teaching is very small. You will probably never be able to teach English in compulsory school system as a full blown teacher. There is ALT/Eikaiwa, which is what you have read about, but I want to stress that these are not careers. The max you are likely to ever get for pay is about 18618 SEK/month, and that is likely to never really increase. You might see 2-5% increase in salary every year, if that, and you'll never be able to move from one job to another to increase your pay because its the same kind of job everywhere. The only "real" teaching jobs are at Universities/International schools/private schools. A uni job will need a masters/ph.d and the international schools will most likely require a teaching cert. in your home country. Private schools are rare and the requirements vary.

IT is a good option and one with many oppurtunities.

As far as animation industry in Japan goes. Be sure you research it very well. I do not know a lot about this industry, but its kind of common knowledge that many that work in it are paid very little and work very long hours. There may also be an issue with being a foreigner too, but that's just guessing on my part.

Quote:School

As kitakitsune mentioned, many good universities in Japan have full English programs which are pretty good if you can get accepted. There may be better options for direct employment straight from the school into the industry if you are willing to take the same kind of routes that most Japanese students do (100s of interviews). I've heard that college in the EU tends to be almost free, so I can't understand why you would pass on this. Not to mention that some place more value on students schooled outside Japan than at colleges in Japan. College for many Japanese students is a time when they relax and play around, so its not taken very serious (this depends on major and the school in question though).

Other point I'd consider is how you'll finance the schooling. Tuition is about 31031 SEK/Year (first year is a little more). Then you need to figure in living costs. This is at Japanese universities. Temple University is WAY more expensive. Make sure you can meet these requirements before really worrying about whether its a great idea or not.

Quote:Waseda vs Todai vs ICU

Both schools are superb, but Todai (Uni of Tokyo) is kind of #1 in the public's mind. Both schools will have equal opportunity to meet people. Socializing will fall on you, not the particular school you go to.
As for ICU. If their high school is anything to go on, its very international. The high school is sort of an international school, with some classes in complete English that aren't simply language classes. The university isn't highly ranked like Waseda or Todai though.

Bumping this thread. I'm thinking of taking an intensive summer language course in Japanese in between seasonal jobs. One recommendation I've gotten is the "KCP International" language school. Their "summer program" (from july 6 to september 18) is pretty well timed with my jobs.

http://www.kcpinternational.com/schedule/#2015

Does anyone have any experience with this school and could recommend it, or perhaps another school that they think is better?