Applying for university in Japan

Hi I'm begining my A levels soon with the intention of getting good grades then hopefully applying to a university in Japan, where I intend to live if all goes well. I would like to know if anyone knows the specifics of how I would go about applying to a university in Japan, any complications, visas etc and if they follow a similar educational system to us, or one which I would at least be eligible to inegrate into. I intend on studying medecine, but I am still unsure as to whether I can use an English qualification such as this in Japan. And just in case people are wondering about language complications I understand that Japanese is a difficult language for me (being english) to learn but I am prepared to learn it. Any tips from anyone who has gone to a country outside of the EU to study would also be appreciated, especially if that country is in Asia.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 1

Jennifer Kwok

I've also been wondering about applying into Japanese universities. I would really like to work as a vet there and I'll be sending an email to a professor at the University of Tokyo soon. I can let you know how that goes later on.

Here are some links that you may find useful:
http://www.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/grad/address.html (Tokyo U's faculty of life sciences webpage; it's in Japanese, but it has the names of all the people prospective students should contact)
http://www.osakafu-u.ac.jp/english/admission/undergraduate/index.html (Osaka Perfecture University's vet med webpage; it's in english, and you can click around and find the medicine page)

Just curious, have you taken the JLPT yet?

Reply 2

Nano666

Original post by Jennifer Kwok

Thank you for those, and no I have not, mainly because I actually don't know what it is. Is it like a UKCAT equivalent?

Reply 3

Jennifer Kwok

Nope! JLPT stands for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It's just a test that anyone who wants to work in Japan should really consider taking.

I'm Chinese and I'd say I have conversational japanese (enough to be able to write a simple letter) and I sent emails (both english and japanese ones) to various universities. Unfortunately, none of them have replied and my school counselor doesn't seem to like me considering Japanese universities as a possibility for the future.

However I've found out that the RCVS is recognised internationally, so you can still work in Japan if you graduate from a British school. What may be difficult is getting employed at a practice in that country...

Reply 4

stuart_aitken

Main thing will be the language. Start learning now. If you can approach universities or employers with epic Japanese skills, your chances will be tenfold. Consider a foreign student wanting to study in the uk. Their language is a huge deciding factor. Sure, English is the global language now, but if you can 'speak local' it'll massively raise your profile.

Plus, if you intend to live there, you need to start learning someday!

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Reply 5

Ronove

Original post by Nano666

Thank you for those, and no I have not, mainly because I actually don't know what it is. Is it like a UKCAT equivalent?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Language_Proficiency_Test

Apparently to study a degree taught in Japanese you'll have to be level N1, which according to the table there is C1-C2 in the European language level framework. This is completely expected, as you must be C1 in the taught language to study a degree in Europe. To study Medicine in Denmark, for example, you have to get a grade ~C in all four skills at C1 level (ie not just pass but do relatively well in everything too). It will take you a very long time to reach this level in Japanese.

Reply 6

Klix88

Original post by Nano666

hopefully applying to a university in Japan, where I intend to live if all goes well.

I can't comment on how to get into university, but I know that it can be difficult to live there as a foreigner as an English friend was based there for fifteen years. For the first ten years, his visa was temporary and based on his employment. If he lost his job, or a contract ended without him being able to go straight into a new one, then his visa would have been revoked and he would have had to leave the country. Once he'd worked in Japan for ten years continuously, he was granted a residency visa which was no longer reliant on him having a job. Unfortunately at that point his contract ended and he was unable to find a new one due to the economic situation. Without a social support or benefits system available to him, he couldn't afford to remain in Japan even though he was then entitled to.

Many universities make little or no allowance for non-Japanese speakers, so you would be well advised to become fluent in both written and spoken Japanese before you move there if you want to experience the Japanese educational system. My friend was a university lecturer there and he told me that even though he was in a language department mainly staffed by non-Japanese people, he wouldn't have been able to function without speaking Japanese.

Obtaining a visa can be quite convoluted. As a prospective university student, you will first need to be accepted onto a Japanese university course. The university then has to apply to their local immigration office in Japan on your behalf, and obtain a Certificate of Eligibility for you:
http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/visa/CoE.html

This Certificate is a pre-requisite to applying for a student visa:
http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/visa/others.html
It expires three months after the date of issue, so once you have it, you'll need to act fast.

Reply 7

Nano666

Thank you all for helping, @Jenifer Kwok yes I had heard of that just didn't recognise the initialls :smile:

And yeah I completely agree, it will be very difficult to actually get the job after, I've also been warned that there is a strong sense of nationalism in Japan in that they will always give the jobs to Japanese people where possible. @Stuart_aitken yes I'm intending to get a tutor and am currently still trying to learn the basics of Kana, I'm still learning katakana but have hiragana learnt. Just out of interest what do you think of learning romaji early? I learnt a lot of romaji when translating Japanese manga and films but have been advised to stop and begin again after having mastered Kana completely. As for Kanji I don't think I'll struggle too badly as I'm learning Hangul(korean) too and both have chinese origins (in Kanji and Hanji). @Ronove yes I'm going to struggle to get to that level, do you think it's achieveable in two years? I'm unfamiliar with the requiems for being at those levels. @Klix88 I was unaware that it would be that difficult, I'll definitely need to sort out a more secure set of plans when I come to applying, and thanks for all the information on the complications of living there, I'll have look into them in more detail.