6 steps to planning your Study Abroad in Japan

• Step 1: Determine your goals

  Why study in Japan? Is it because you love Japanese culture and history? Because you love the language and want to communicate with the people? Because you would like to work in Japan or with Japanese people? It is important to think about why you would like to come to Japan to study, and to define your goals as specifically as you can as your goals play an important role in your next steps for studying abroad. The clearer your goal, the easier it will be to narrow down your options for where to live, which school and program is best for you, what kind of accommodations you want to live in, and what kinds of opportunities you wish to seek during your time in Japan.

• Step 2: Do some basic research about the options available to you

  For example, if you wish to study Japanese, what is your current level of Japanese? Do you want to study full-time intensively or part-time with other objectives? Do you qualify for any sponsorships or grants? Depending on the program, do you need to take a Japanese language test?

  If you wish to work in Japan, do you meet the visa requirements? What industry or industries would you like to work in? Do you need to take a Japanese language test in order to apply for the position?

  Depending on your answers to these questions, how much financial savings is typically required based on the length of your stay and nature of your activities in Japan?

• Step 3: Choosing the area you wish to live

  Before determining the appropriate school, it is better to choose which area you wish to live, depending on your needs, preferences, and goals:

  • Being in a densely populated urban center, which is convenient but busy, with somewhat higher costs for rent and food?: Tokyo, Osaka
  • Living in a moderately-sized city that is less crowded and with some savings on living expenses: Nagoya, Fukuoka
  • What to live in a historic city surrounded by tradition and deeper Japanese culture: Kyoto
  • Being close to a city center but with a significantly quieter and slow-paced lifestyle with much lower costs for rent and food?: Saitama, Chiba, Yokohama
  • Being in a small city with conveniences but few foreigners for a unique experience with lower expenses: Sendai
  • In addition to the conveniences and lifestyle characteristics of each location, your specific needs will also help in determining the best choice: do you wish to focus on studies in a quiet pocket and close community or life a busy lifestyle with overwhelming choices and work opportunities?

  Click here for details on the cities of Japan to study, work, and live.

• Step 4: Selecting the school and program

  Based on the area you have determined to live in, you can now begin to narrow down some schools that are known for offering great Japanese language programs to study.

  Of course we have compiled a list of Japanese Language schools, Universities, Colleges and Vocational schools for you in the Schools section on our website. The schools we have listed here offer a variety of programs for different types of students the key cities of Japan. That being said there may be some schools which offer suitable programs to international students but which don’t appear on our website.

  When researching schools take a look at the specific courses they offer, the kinds of international students studying there, the environment and facilities, the extracurricular activities offered, in addition to if the school offers accommodations or not.

  If you are able to narrow down the schools you are interested in to a few and assemble any questions or concerns you have, this is likely enough as we can go into more depth with you and speak with the Japanese staff at the school to ensure you have a good picture of the experience you will have.

• Step 5: Get in touch with us.

  Contact us through our Contact Form or call us directly at our Tokyo office to speak with our consultants and let us know where you are at in your thought process about studying or working in Japan.

• Step 6: Determination and final preparations

  DEOW will help you confirm the details of your Japan Study Abroad experience and walk you through the steps. At DEOW, we believe that if you prepare accordingly, you can avoid many stresses, make the best use of your precious time, and ultimately achieve your goals. In addition to all of the unforgettable experiences and one-time opportunities that await you, there will also be challenges to overcome. We will do our best to prepare you mentally for them in advance through consultation and information, so that all that remains is your determination to work through your challenges and keep your goals in check. Your possibilities await, and we are so excited to help make them happen.