From The Field | 2008-15

For me, one of the best aspects of the MEXT scholarship is the top level Japanese language education that you will receive when you first arrive. Generally, you will be offered a 6-month intensive language course before you enter your university of choice as a full time student. I found the course to be well structured, with beginners, intermediate, and advanced classes all on offer. The classes not only help you get your essential Japanese skills in order, they also focus on cultural aspects of life in Japan with presentations and activities all done in Japanese. I thoroughly enjoyed the classes; not only were the students from diverse backgrounds in terms of nationalities, but also academic disciplines, and it really was a very rich environment for intercultural exchange. I am still in touch with many friends I made in those short 6 months.

At some Japanese universities, there are international offices staffed by English speakers who are there to assist you. Furthermore, due to the high numbers of international students coming through the university, they may well have accommodation on offer or, at the least, be able to give assistance in finding private apartments. My best advice for finding somewhere to live is to seek out whatever help you can from the office at your university, hopefully they can point you in the right direction in terms of finding English speaking estate agents. 

Finding an apartment and moving in Japan can actually be quite a painless procedure once you get used to the system, but if it is your first time doing so you may be frustrated by the various charges incurred. It can seem like you are being taken advantage of when you are pressed to pay two months’ rent in advance, a hefty deposit, “key money” (essentially a gift to the owner in the form of at least one month’s rent), and various additional insurance fees and commissions. However, it is good to remember that moving apartment can be a pain in any country and ultimately renting in Japan will probably work out slightly cheaper than in the UK.

Depending on how well your studies go, and your relationship with your supervisor, you may be encouraged to extend your time at the university. This will require another formal application for an extension of the MEXT scholarship, and a departmental exam and interview for the course itself. While this certainly depends on how the university and your own department are run, if your supervisor is keen for you to apply for the extension and if you have proven to the department that you are a suitable candidate to continue researching there. There was a big change between academic life as a Masters student and a doctoral student. The weekly group seminars, critiques, and elective classes that I had enjoyed in the previous two years suddenly vanished, and I was very much left to my own devices to carry out my research. At the same time, the studio and research room that I was offered were much bigger and better equipped than what I was used to and I was even able to teach a weekly class for the Masters students. All the effort was definitely worth it and I now look back on my time as a student in Japan not only with a sense of achievement, but also remembering the great times I had and the fantastic people I met along the way.