Great experience in Japan! January 30, 2026
By A student (Japanese Language, Literature, Wellesley College) - abroad from 08/20/2025 to 11/30/2025 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Tokyo
I practiced my Japanese and gained solo travel experience. I also made Japanese friends and engaged with the local community.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I enjoyed this study abroad experience more than my experiences abroad in the past. As a part of the Middlebury program, we studied at International Christian University and also had the chance to take 2 group trips to rural towns and interact with the local community. We could take pretty much whatever class(es) in Japanese we wanted at ICU; I took Japanese history and Language Typology. Both professors were accommodating and friendly, but I had a better experience in Language Typology because it was a small class (~9 people) and that's how I made friends with Japanese students. I felt like the Middlebury staff had my back if things got hard or went wrong. I didn't use it, but ICU also has counseling and mental health support available. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Very friendly and supportive, they worked very hard to make it a good experience for us! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Super clean and well set up, I felt very safe. Communal kitchen available and usable. Had to sign in if out past a certain hour. Staff were for the most part friendly and helpful. One thing is that students there for only one semester were paired with non-Japanese speaking roommates, which had pros and cons (speaking a lot of English). |
| * Food: |
Cafeteria was only open for lunch 6 days a week but food was generally very good and affordable. Kitchens on each floor of the dorm were clean and people mostly relied on those. Convenience store on campus had good options. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Couldn't really have higher expectations; it was good but still hard. On our program trips we did a lot of community integration, and in Mitaka we did community engagement/volunteering. I chose playing with kids in an afterschool program and that was awesome. I made Japanese-speaking friends who were linguistics majors (same major as me). This was because my linguistics class (Language Typology) was small (~9 people) and linguistics people kind of find each other. The professor (Shinagawa Daisuke) also encouraged community in the class. We went out to class dinners multiple times. I did not join any clubs but I know people who did with mixed results. Most of the people I hung out with on a regular basis were English speaking and also studying abroad. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
No experience with health care but we had good insurance. |
| * Safety: |
Always felt super safe. Campus was gated and dorms required swipe-in, as did rooms. Super safe community too. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I liked it. I liked being within easy reach of the center of Tokyo but also having a very green peaceful campus, and having the chance to visit more rural areas as well. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
Saved a ton of money on food and housing compared to Wellesley and ate and lived well. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $60-70 on food. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Cook for yourself. Keep track of expenses using a spreadsheet. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Language pledge failed in a dorm setting where most people lived with exclusive English speakers, which made us way to comfortable slipping into English. Otherwise really good. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 3rd year Japanese (JPN 232) |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Course registration is a lot less stressful than at Wellesley, there's more space in each course so it's not a race. If you join a club join it early. Try to take classes with a small number of students in them. It's okay if you don't understand much in your harder classes. Try to plan and get out and do things on the weekends. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
