Nihon University Japanese Language and Studies Program Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The Japanese language classes were generally enjoyable. The teachers graded fairly. I did not enjoy the material from the intermediate classes as much as I did in the Advanced class. I think mostly it had to do with the level of materials. I do agree that when learning a language you must go through the struggle of gaining enough ability to present your ideas which make the beginning and intermediate levels necessary. Having said that, I found the advanced level to be a lot of fun and much more rewarding that any of the levels before. The teaching method is largely the same as it is at UH. The grading was very fair and very favorable for the students. If your grade does not transfer then the grade itself doesn't matter much. The main different is workload. At UH, the fourth-year classes had an almost unbearable workload. If fact I have often felt that the program was not designed to go from first-year Japanese to fourth-year. At Nihon University the workload was fairly small for the intermediate levels but the Advanced level was extremely high. I felt there was little chance to absorb every a majority of the information given.

On-site administration of your program

The personnel in the administration officer were always willing to help. Perhaps, the best point is they always made a point of using Japanese with you even though they could understand English.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The apartment was in excellent shape and very affordable. It was so great that I am actually not looking forward to going back to dorm life in Hawaii. I also really enjoyed the part of Tokyo I was in. In fact, has become one of my favorite parts of Tokyo. There were a lot of places within walking distance and was not overly crowded. I very much enjoy local small restaurants and bars. This is because if you become a regular customer you can often have longer conversation in Japanese with the owners and they come to know you. If I every lived in Japan I would very much like to live in the same area where my apartment was.

I did not rate the food satisfaction for two main reasons. The first is that we did not have a cafeteria like a tradition campus. Since we didn't have a specific facility for getting food, getting and eating the food we wanted was entirely our own responsibility. The good thing is that was had a kitchen in our apartment so the only limitation there was our own ability to cook. If you didn't want to cook you could get almost anything you could want. In a major metropolitan city like Tokyo, there are restaurants from all around the world. I lived in Shimo-Takaido and if anyway else was living there I would go to Chabudai. The address is below: Tokyo-to, setagaya-ku, akatsutsumi 4-25-1 東京都世田谷区赤堤4-25-1 It was nice local restaurant and the owner was very nice. The menu is limited to pasta, curry, and hamburg.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The most enjoyable events were a trip to Hakone where we got to visit a very beautiful lake and one of the former gates that existed along the Tokaido during the Edo period used by the Tokugawa's to control travel between Tokyo and Kyoto. We also traveled up a mountain next to the lake by a cable car. The mountain side has many pools of boiling hot water. There is a lot of sulfur that comes up through the boiling water. The water is used at one location to boil eggs. The eggs are boiled directed in the vent and the sulfur caused the shell of the egg to turn black but the inside is still safe to eat and doesn't change color. According to myth if you eat one of the eggs you will live seven years longer. It is a myth I am unable to confirm at the moment.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

If you are staying in Japan with a student visa you can apply for National Healthcare. It is very cheap for students; about $120 a year. This covers the majority of your expenses if you need it. I used to have a root canal done and the total cost of six separate visits to the dentist was less than $100. You only have to go to the local city hall and apply. It takes about half-an-hour and you can use the policy immediately. Japan is an extremely safe place. I actually feel safer in Tokyo than I do anywhere I have every been including the United States. I never felt in danger even if I was out late out night.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

During class I only ever used Japanese which is excellent. Outside of class you have to make a concerted effort to meet people that do not speak English because there is a lot of English speakers in Japan and they often want to meet you to practice English. It would depend on where you do the study abroad but in Tokyo the previous statement is true based on my own experience. If you work at it a little you can spend all of your time using nothing but Japanese. If you play sports I highly recommend joining a basketball club outside of a university system. You should go outside the university system because you are likely to have to rely more on your Japanese than you would in a university setting where many students are studying English.

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