The program I went with was Temple University. Temple University is actually an American based university with its main campus in Philly. There are a large number of benefits associated with this. For example, often taken for granted is that Temple operates under an American semester schedule. The Japanese academic term, in comparison with the American academic term, is significantly offset. Moreover, Japan spreads out its breaks more evenly, meaning that syncing school terms between Japanese and American universities can get messy. In addition, all courses by default are taught in English.
The Japan campus itself is quite nice. Like I said, by default classes are taught in English. One thing to note is that while over half of the students are admitted from Japan, a significant proportion of the people on campus are not from Japan. While this certainly makes coping with living in Japan much easier, on the other hand I also felt as if I did not quite recieve a full experience, and I may not have gotten a completely Japanese perspective from some of my classes.
When choosing classes, really consider taking classes that are not readily available outside of Japan. My personal class schedule is as follows. Class catalog for my semester here
Days | Course No. | Course Title | Meeting Times |
---|---|---|---|
M W F | 6937 | Japanese 1 | 1:30 - 3:30 |
M W F | 7536 | Japanese Graphic Design History | 5:30 - 7:30 |
M W F | 7060 | Anime in Japanese Popular Culture | 7:10 - 9:10 |
T Th | 7059 | Manga in Japanese Popular Culture | 7:10 - 9:10 |
Despite being in a technical major, being in a humanities college meant that I had a number of humanities based geneds that I had to take. This largely affected my decision to take misc classes, as I personally wanted to free up my semesters back home for taking major relevant courses. As for taking classes that directly contribute to one's major requirements, I don't have any commentary on that.