Welp, looks like I'm applying for the Monbusho scholarship this year. My school wants to recommend me :x. I'm a bit nervous and the paperwork needed is already giving me a headache, but if I get this I would be overjoyed. One year of studying in Japan all paid by the government? Hell yes.[...]
Wanted to add another option or at least something to consider:
when I had the chance to study in Japan for a year, I also applied for the usual Universities (Waseda, Keio, Tufs, Temple...), but midway through the application process I had a long talk with one of my professors who gave me some good advice: If you are just interested in learning the language and want the "real" japanese university live experience, pick a smaller unknown university. And well... that's exactly what I did and went to Yokohama instead. After talking to many classmates from my home university who happened to study in Japan during the same year at different universities (TUFS, TCU, Osaka Dai and a few others - basically bigger and more prestigious universities), I was sure I made the right decision.
Even though all my friends went to different Universities in different parts of the country, their experiences there seemed to be surprisingly similar... In a nutshell:
- Small and/or shitty (and usually expensive) room
- living and learning in a bubble (I like to call it exchange student ghetto)
- therefore limited contact to regular students
sufficed to say my experiences were completely different...
My University (YCU) was quite small (like 5k students tops), with one main campus near Zushi/Yokosuka (there were a few smaller ones, but those are mainly research related).
Living:
The University arranged for 2 apartments (I had to leave the first one in April due to construction). Both apartments were amazingly big (and cheap) for japanese standards. The first one was close to 35m² and located in a quiet neighbourhood, about 12 minutes by bike from the University. The 2nd one was way smaller but at least it was cheaper and the facilities were great, clean and modern. Additionally my room was located on the 13th floor and featured a great view over Tokyo Bay, the Yokohama Skyline and if the weather was good even Mount Fuji (Tokyo and Kawasaki were also visible, kinda).
Education:
because the University was this small, the total number of exchange students was 7 (I was told that this was a particularly strong year, the year before there were only 2). Because of this low number, there is no dedicated exchange student program - but there were mandatory classes. The obligatory japanese language classes (2x3 hours a week) and a more scientific paper writing class. The former is only for exchange students - therefore if you're lucky (few exchange students), you'll have private lessons, basically. The 2nd one was for exchange students AND students who either went abroad or had an "international background" (like hafus). You are also supposed to take a seminar class about a topic the suits you, but the japanese level here is incredible high. So if you felt that you skills weren't up to standards, you could skip it. Besides those 2(3) classes, you could choose whatever you like. There are a few English classes, but those are the minority (there were like 5? per semester).
The lecturers were quite interesting I thought. It's a small university without a big budget so I didn't expect much, but was quite surprised about the quality I got. Most professors weren't party of the University but on some sort of Rotation - they are originally from another University but give one or 2 classes here. For example, one of the japanese language class teachers was from Todai, the other one from Yokohama Kokuritsu. The history teacher was an American from Temple university and a sociology professor was from Waseda. There was also an Ambassador giving a lecture on foreign affairs.
there is so much more stuff I could talk about... but I guess that should suffice for now.
(btw: I'm not necessarily promoting the YCU here, but would rather give you the same advice my professor gave me: don't go for the most prestigious one, try something more interesting once in a while)
For disclaimer: I didn't receive the Monbusho but went through the normal student exchange program from my University. I did however receive a JASSO.
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