From Boarding School to Waseda University: My Education in Japan

Having lived in Japan for 9 years and counting, people normally assume that I have worked here for a very long time.

Instead of working, I chose a path much less taken: studying (in English) in Japan starting in high school. For people looking into studying in Japan, here are some reviews of my experiences of both an international high school and bachelor’s degree that might help you weigh your options of whether or not to move here for education. 

My background  

First, let’s take a brief look at my education experiences (2015-2022).

I went to high school in Japan. It was a full-English international boarding school in the countryside in Japan. I completed the International Baccalaureate degree. 

I then attended Waseda University School of International Liberal Studies. It’s a private university, and this particular department offers the 4-year bachelor program in English. 

I learned Japanese during my university years. I didn’t speak the language before moving here. 

I currently work post-graduation in Japan. 

Many people are interested in living in Japan, and studying here compared to joining the workforce is a much more feasible step, so let’s take a look at both high school and university as options for experiencing life in Japan. 

High School: an international boarding school experience

I’ve met a few people who did a year of exchange in Japanese high schools, but it’s rare to meet someone who completed the full high school program here. I knew I wanted to go to an English-speaking boarding school and just stumbled across a newly built school in Karuizawa amidst my search for an American boarding school. 

I’ve heard more and more boarding schools are being built in Japan to cater to the Asian market demand, so if you’re interested, this is a viable option. School qualities and fees vary widely, so it’s a good idea to search them up in advance, do school visits and talk to students and faculty on campus to make an informed decision. It will help vastly and give you a good idea of how the actual boarding school experience will be like. 

Its Advantages

When I attended my old high school, the school was relatively new so it was very experimental. Teacher quality was mostly really good, however, the subject choices were rather limited and as with any international boarding school, teachers’ contracts are short and not permanent, meaning they don’t stay at the school forever. The facilities were beautiful. The buildings smell of wood and we have a really vast grassy area for stargazing. Since it was Karuizawa, the weather was rather rough in the winter, however, the distance between classrooms and houses were really close to keep you toasty inside. 

The quality of life was excellent. There was no need for a long commute. Food was quite fattening, but it was pretty delicious. We now also have great tournaments among other international schools for things like volleyball. Since we are surrounded in nature, our outdoor sports education is a major strength. Camping, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking; students can be trained from scratch and enjoy these activities every weekend. It gave me a much deeper appreciation of quietness and mother nature. 

Since we did the IB program, I’d say it was rigorous. Coming from a chill French education background, I was a little overwhelmed. However, you get to learn with really dedicated teachers so if you’re lucky to be assigned to the right one, the things you learn are so valuable. The library is also pretty well sized for a small school, so there was all you could ask for for good education despite solitude. The IB program was well recognized, so it was really helpful to apply to universities in Japan as well as abroad. We also host SAT tests, so there’s no need to travel for it. 

The best part about life on campus was the support system students are entitled to. For paperwork, we have a team of knowledgeable Japanese staff that help us from A-Z, from opening bank accounts to all procedures related to living in Japan. Doing all that work by myself once I moved to Tokyo for college made me realize how lucky I was to not have to worry about those things. Quite a few teachers lived on campus, and if not, they generally had lunch with students. Close accessibility to teachers meant we could come to them for academic and personal life support. We also had an advisory, where students were divided into smaller groups to meet up with teachers once a week, almost like a second family so parents can trust that their children are in good care. 

Diversity was also a major strength of ours. Since we have students selected from all over the world, different financial and political backgrounds were highlighted and debated from time to time. Students are really supportive of one another; we remain tight knit among different years 6 years after graduation. To see how the world works in the future is a nice pro of a boarding international school, with local international schools or American colleges, you mostly see people of the same background. You learn to empathize much better at an (actually) international school. 

Support like part-time work and accommodation over long breaks were available to students in need. 

Its Disadvantages 

We didn’t have a strong focus on learning the Japanese language. Since IB was the priority with most students choosing to go to colleges overseas, we didn’t pay attention to the local language learning part. This was a major struggle as it proved challenging to communicate outside the campus and in the local community. Especially when it comes to volunteering in local environments, there was a major language barrier. 

Mental health support is also rather weak. It is inevitable that teenagers living away from family, isolated in a small community would struggle in many ways. The school has been trying to find good personnel for the role but the ratio of professional to students in need is rather insufficient. I would not recommend students who have signs of existing issues to attend a boarding school, since these kinds of challenges can negatively affect your daily life as a student. 

College life: 4 years in Waseda 

In college, I chose to stay to learn the language and expand my network in Japan in the hope of working in Japan and in Asia in the future. Deciding the goal of why you want to study here, whether it’s just for fun, for the language, for the culture, or to stay and work post-grad really impacts your motivations to learn the language as well as your overall experiences during the 2-4 years.

My criteria were simple: big city, private university, all English-speaking liberal arts department so that helped narrow down the choices down to just three in Tokyo. In retrospect, I wish I knew language school was a thing to attend before entering college.

Its Advantages 

I attended Waseda University, a well-known top tier school in Japan with a lot of support for foreign students. The location was great: we were literally in the middle of Tokyo (Shinjuku ward) with great access everywhere. This helps with an abundance of opportunities, from internships to access to libraries and museums. If you were to attend a school in a small town, it’s not so easy to find internships (especially English-friendly ones) in the area. 

I also love the aspect of financial independence of attending college in Japan. Loans are not a common thing; there are so many scholarships and funds that cover not only tuition but also living costs that you can apply to before and during your college years. You can also work for up to 28 hours during the school year and 40 during the holidays. Thanks to the generous scholarship I received, I didn’t have to worry about my finances. It was really easy to live in Tokyo even on a budget. 

Learning the language was a big reason why I chose to stay in Japan. 3 years in the countryside in a boarding school didn’t offer enough exposure to force myself to practice the language, and so what better opportunity can there be to be in a big city? While I didn’t learn the language through the popular choice of dating a Japanese, different part-time jobs have helped a lot to learn to communicate with Japanese colleagues and customers, much more helpful than any other Japanese classes I’ve ever attended. 

Another thing that was a major pro of the choice of staying in Japan is observing and learning the behavior of how Japanese society functions. This, I believe, is the most beneficial thing that even if you were to excel at a Japanese language major at university abroad, you can't have unless you have lived in Japan long enough. There are certain things like not directly being refused but being expected to read the air; scheduling with close friends weeks to months in advance; collective behavior, etc. Despite having lived in Japan prior to enrolling in this undergraduate degree, for three years nonetheless, the amount of culture shocks took me aback multiple times, even up to the end of my experience. Being able to interact with peers and discussing cultural differences and living with them help me learn underlying behaviors to adjust to workplaces and just the community much better. 

Lastly, my favorite things about Waseda can be summed up in two things: the nice facilities and fun class choices. Campus is super modern and beautiful, with 3 different main campuses near each other for ease of access. We also have multiple houses across the country that students can rent for extracurricular purposes. The libraries are huge and really diverse. Sports classes range from trampoline to horse riding to our biggest strength: sailing. Summer sailing classes are available for 4 days in Hayama, allowing me to learn from sailing champions in student contests in Japan for a relatively affordable price. These classes let me meet students of many different years, departments and backgrounds and hear how different their college life experiences were like. 

Its Disadvantages 

Japanese university education quality in higher education is notoriously weak compared to other countries, especially more so in English departments (taught by local Japanese professors sometimes). People enroll for a degree, the school prestige, or for the fun university experience. If you’re looking for a challenging environment, either prepare your Japanese really well to take classes with local students, or maybe look into dual programs between Japanese universities and well-recognized universities in other countries. Uninformed foreign students get really critical about this, but it’s a part of the culture that won’t be changed easily anytime soon, 

Internally, at least from my experiences, the system for signing up for classes, as well as bulletin boards can be really outdated. If you get easily frustrated with old technology, or manual ways of doing things, think carefully whether or not you can endure, or get used to this for four years straight. 

Lastly, if you don’t speak Japanese to a pretty fluent level, it's hard to mingle in a Japanese university. Clubs and social circles are almost exclusively done in Japanese. You will be stuck with your dorm friends, peers from your country, or have a really hard time making friends. This can be easily overcome by attending a language school for one to two years before you attend your bachelor’s degree in the language of your choice. 

Overall, for the goals that I’ve set for myself, the choice of attending Japanese university has been beneficial. Obviously with any experience living alone outside of your home country, things are bound to be challenging, but it’s also very worthwhile to overcome them by yourself, or with the help of others. I hope this article has given you more insight into the life of an international student in Japan.