If you are totally confused as to where to even being looking for your options for getting to Japan, your local Consulate General of Japan is generally always a great place to start looking.

Not only will they have practically every method by which a citizen of your country can get to Japan to work, travel or study, but they will also have up to date information on Japanese cultural events happening in your country! Japanese study classes! Institutions that conduct Japanese lessons! And a ton more. The Japanese consulate will generally provide you with all the details, requirements and deadlines for study abroad programs, working holidays, tourism visas (whether they are required or not), etc.

All the information is generally accessible online, but a lot of the times consulates will also have libraries, or know the location of libraries full of Japanese study material. So it is always a good idea to go and check out your local Japanese consulate in person. They are always willing to help out those interested in studying Japanese or going to Japan. If you don’t know where your Japanese consulate is, a simple google search with the keywords “Japanese consulate” should come up with a recommended search in your geographic location. For example, since I’m in Toronto, all I’d have to do is type “Japan/Japanese Consulate” and the first suggestion to pop up will be “Japanese Consulate Toronto”.

Generally, Japan Consulate General offices will be in major cities. So if you are from a smaller town or city, you might have to invest in some gas money or hop on the local train/bus for the biggest city near you. But, if that isn’t an option for you for whatever reason, fortunately we live in the digital age in which 95% of information is accessible online! So quit yer’ complainin’ and be fortunate you have internet access!

Happy Japanese consulate hunting!

Let’s say you are in university and got still got some more months or years to go before you graduate. If you are already studying something Japan-related (like East Asian Studies, Japanese language & culture…) then going to Japan for at least one semester is more or less a must! Otherwise you study for about three to four years and all you know about Japan is from some study books or seminars. But to make sure you get some hands-on experience, you want to go to Japan and see it, feel it, smell it and just experience it yourself. If you got the right motivation, your desire to go to Japan should be really strong so there should be no problem. (For more info about motivation, go back to step one – motivation and goal setting!)

But even if you are not studying something Japan-related and it’s still more like a hobby, it might be considering doing one semester at a Japanese university anyway. Here are some reasons!

You can gain lots of international experience as you study at a university in a metropolitan area with an international crowd or you could even take up the challenge and go to a university in a… let’s say less international area.

You meet people from all over the world, which is always great to widen your horizon and learn about other cultures.

You have the opportunity to field-test and work on your Japanese as well as to explore Japan and experience the culture yourself instead of just reading or watching videos about it.

Last but not least, it helps you to build a network in Japan, make local and foreign friends. Having a strong local network can be pretty useful if you want to look for a job in Japan!

The first place to go should be the international department of your university. There might be some partnership with a Japanese university already and you just don’t know about it. Especially if you study something Japan-related, the probability that your university has some connections to Japan is pretty high. Even if they have no partnerships, they can usually tell you where you can get information. Another pretty contact point is JASSO, the Japanese Student Service Organization. Check their website for details about universities, language schools and scholarships if you need some financial support for your studies in Japan

During the information gathering, also make sure you can transfer the credits from the Japanese university/language school to your home university. Preparation and application procedure takes quite some time, so make sure you apply at least 6 months in advance.

If you’d rather gain some work experience instead of studying, check out our post about internships in Japan!

Any recommendations, additional information or comments? Feel free to leave us a comment or send us a mail at Fab@GETtoJAPAN.com!

PS: Of course you also have option to study all four years in Japan instead of studying in your home country or somewhere else and just going to Japan for a semester or two. But that’s a totally different story we’ll try to cover in a later post