Kyoto or Waseda or Osaka

[Lionsan]

Apologies for posting a new thread when there is one below on a similar topic (waseda or keio), I thought people might not see my question if I just posted it as a reply.

If things come together (which is by no means guaranteed), I will be able to do my third year in a japanese university. The options are Kyoto, Osaka, Waseda or Yamaguchi.

Of those, my uni only has set up exchange agreements with Waseda and Yamaguchi, and has tried pressuring me to go to one of those universities. Yamaguchi I'm not up for, I know it's a quaint beautiful town and the university isn't bad by any means, but it's not what I'm looking for.

Waseda I'm considering though, because it's in Tokyo - and it sounds fairly likely to happen as well because my uni has an agreement already.

But TBH I'm most interested in Kyoto. It's just going to be more of a pain to get to happen; my university has make the effort to set up a new agreement, and it may not actually happen if either my uni or kyoto uni can't be bothered with it. Osaka is exactly the same situation.
What would you choose in this situation? Are Kyoto/Osaka that much better than Waseda? Anyone know the universities directly and can say how they are?

[Lionsan]

Hey folks, is it because that nobody has an opinion/knowledge about these universities that no-one has replied to this thread? I just want a second opinion on my own feeling, which is:

Kyoto and Osaka are academically better (in terms of quality of students) than Waseda or Yamaguchi, althogh Waseda is also a good university though in part because it's private and thus has a lot of money. I'm trying to push my university in London to set up an agreement with Kyoto so that I can go there instead of Waseda.

Is what I'm thinking reasonable?

cheers

[Guru]

I think Waseda is good because it is in Tokyo. Kyoto and Osaka are too rurual and too Japanese-y for my taste. Both cities are good on their own right. But, if I need to hold my breath and pick my choice, I would draw the Waseda card.

[KansaiBen]

Waseda I'm considering though, because it's in Tokyo - and it sounds fairly likely to happen as well because my uni has an agreement already.

But TBH I'm most interested in Kyoto. It's just going to be more of a pain to get to happen; my university has make the effort to set up a new agreement, and it may not actually happen if either my uni or kyoto uni can't be bothered with it. Osaka is exactly the same situation.
What would you choose in this situation? Are Kyoto/Osaka that much better than Waseda? Anyone know the universities directly and can say how they are?

which university in Osaka are you referring to? There is no 'Osaka' University among a dozen or so universities in osaka prefercture (do you mean Handai? )

Waseda is a private university while Kyoto university is a public university. In general public universities are harder to enter so students tend to be brighter and more motivated. Waseda is a well-know famous university but if you have the money you can enter just about anywhere- what do you mean by 'better' students? I have lived in Kyoto and would prefer living in Kyoto over Tokyo anyday.

FYI. Public universities tend to be prestigious but the facilities and buildings tend to be run down and old. The government doesnt spend a lot of money on its infrastructure so if you are after state of the art classrooms. language labs and facilities then i would go for a private college.

[Lionsan]

which university in Osaka are you referring to? There is no 'Osaka' University among a dozen or so universities in osaka prefercture (do you mean Handai? )

Waseda is a private university while Kyoto university is a public university. In general public universities are harder to enter so students tend to be brighter and more motivated. Waseda is a well-know famous university but if you have the money you can enter just about anywhere- what do you mean by 'better' students? I have lived in Kyoto and would prefer living in Kyoto over Tokyo anyday.

FYI. Public universities tend to be prestigious but the facilities and buildings tend to be run down and old. The government doesnt spend a lot of money on its infrastructure so if you are after state of the art classrooms. language labs and facilities then i would go for a private college.

Yep I'm referring to Handai - which with a google search you'll find it's also known as osaka university.

Thanks for letting me know about the difference in facilities between public and private - wasn't aware things were so different.

[hemmingway]

I don't really know how the different universities compare in terms of quality, but I lived in Kyoto for about four years. I found Kyodai to be quite nice. The students I met there were quite friendly and welcoming. There was always a lot of stuff happening on campus. And they have an excellent juggling club. Kyoto is also much easier to get about in than Osaka. It's close to the mountains and there are many parks, shrines and temples near the university where you can go to relax. It's also close enough to Osaka that you can easily go there for a shopping or clubbing if that's your thing.

[Super Grover]

I don't really know how the different universities compare in terms of quality, but I lived in Kyoto for about four years. I found Kyodai to be quite nice. The students I met there were quite friendly and welcoming. There was always a lot of stuff happening on campus. And they have an excellent juggling club. Kyoto is also much easier to get about in than Osaka. It's close to the mountains and there are many parks, shrines and temples near the university where you can go to relax. It's also close enough to Osaka that you can easily go there for a shopping or clubbing if that's your thing.

I wouldn't choose Waseda. It is a university now that thinks it is better than it is. There have been quite a number of scandals there in the past few years.
Yes, it is in Tokyo, but Tokyo is not that great, imo. Depends on what YOU like of course.
Kyoto - HOT in summer, cold indoors and some say cold outside, too. Always something happening in Kyoto. No bargains, though. 35 min. from Kyoto Stn. to central Osaka. I do not like Osaka. It is good for shopping and eating, but that's it, imo.

[Scot27]

Got to Waseda.

You will have a much better time in Tokyo for a year. Kyoto is dull, and Osaka is a hole!

[Trichophyton-in-my-pants]

If your plan is to only spend a year in Japan, Waseda. If you are serious about your research or what-not and plan to continue to benefit from the exchange period, Kyoto. Hands down.

Also, note that "private" translates roughly to "my daddy pays for my tuition and I'm in a tennis club". Kidding. A little.

edit: Osaka, in my understanding, is pretty hardcore in economics and some engineering fields. You see guys from there in Discovery Channel from time to time. So I guess it comes down to your major too.

[kotoha]

The exchange program at Waseda is NOTHING like what you'd probably expect, if you've spent any time making friends with exchange students at your home university. The exchange students don't (can't, except to audit) take the regular Waseda courses. The Japanese students CAN (pass/fail) take the exchange students' classes.... but because they are pass/fail, you will be assigned a group project and the Japanese students in your group won't contribute at all, and the professor will look the other way, because it's not a REAL class for them, jsut a chance to brush up the Engrish. Japanese students visit the foreign students' building (which is at least on campus now, it was OFF CAMPUS when I was there, but still a seperate building) to bother you during lunch break asking you to take surveys that they've been asked to write for English class.

The Japanese language classes are decent. The other classes fall into two categories: taught by foreign visiting professors, which are more or less like classes back home BUT because everyone in there is only on a "pass/fail" system, no one really cares too much and the quality isn't great. And taugh by Japanese professors, in which case yoru entire grade will probably based on attendance, you show up and sleep and learn absolutely nothing, partly because the professor's English is so bad and partly because no one really cares. There were three or four classes per semester available in Japanese, when I was there at least (which was sometihng like 8 years ago now so it might have changed), after a first semester falling asleep in the English classes I took ALL the Japanese courses even if they had nothing to do with my major or area of interest.... I got a LITTLE more out of that, just because instead of falling asleep to mispronounced English I was at least getting submerged in the language that way.

I had a GREAT year.... made lots of friends, got to see a lot of Tokyo, my homestay experience was really positive and I learned a ton of Japanese (mostly OFF campus).... but very little of wht made it good came from that program. The only Japanese students I met wanted free English lessons.... and really, I hadn't come all that way and forked over the program's tuition so I could TEACH ENGLISH, but so I could LEARN JAPANESE. So I skipped class a lot, and had a great time. But if I had it to do over again, I would probably have tried to find a program that offered a better taste of Japanese university life. I was at Waseda for a YEAR, and I can still safely say that what I know about Japanese university life comes 99% from TV and movies, and what I personally experienced was NOT AT ALL what a Japanese student would experience. I hate that I didn't get to have that experience.... maybe NONE of those schools offer a really integrated program, I don't really know about the others.... but what you will get at Waseda will neither teach you about whatever your majoring in OR give you an authentic Japanese university experience.

It will put you in Tokyo to party hard though. Not that you can't do that in Kyoto, though. :P

[excimeMeels]

Mga ka-TF members,

My friend and I are going to Kyoto this 29th and 30th.
Do you have any suggestion on good places worthwhile visiting?
Ive been there before but it was purely business.
If any of you could give me some suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it...

[KansaiBen]

Mga ka-TF members,

My friend and I are going to Kyoto this 29th and 30th.
Do you have any suggestion on good places worthwhile visiting?
Ive been there before but it was purely business.
If any of you could give me some suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it...

what do you want to see? Temples? Japanese culture? Nightlife?
Gaijin pubs?



temples and shrines

Kiyomizudera
Kinkakuji
Ginkakuji
Heian Jingu
Ryoanji
Fushimi Inari
Japanese Imperial Palace grounds (Gojo)

Pubs

Hill of Tara
Pig and Whistle

Japanese castles

Jijo castle

[ax]

Japanese students visit the foreign students' building (which is at least on campus now, it was OFF CAMPUS when I was there, but still a seperate building) to bother you during lunch break asking you to take surveys that they've been asked to write for English class.



Why do they have a separate building for foreign students?

It was the same at Kokugakuin. They isolate all the gaijin students in a little building and didn't let us take regular courses.

[KansaiBen]

It was the same at Kokugakuin. They isolate all the gaijin students in a little building and didn't let us take regular courses.

A zoo for Japanese students and foreign students are the animals.

[ax]

A zoo for Japanese students and foreign students are the animals.

The thing is they have classes where regular students are put together in the same class as foreigners. I think it was a course under the foreign culture and language studies. One class actually turned out successful because the prof made mixed groups and told us all to discuss various subjects written on cards. Everyone had a good time. However, there was one time on the first day of the term when all us gaijin kids were in one classroom already and every few seconds the Japanese students would come to the door, poke their head in, say "yabai!" and whisper to themselves as they turned the opposite direction and probably went to change their course.

You have to stop and think: they're all in some kind of foreign language and culture studies major, and yet the run away when they have a chance to actually interact with foreigners without dishing out a boatload of cash at an Eikaiwa.

[KansaiBen]

You have to stop and think: they're all in some kind of foreign language and culture studies major, and yet the run away when they have a chance to actually interact with foreigners without dishing out a boatload of cash at an Eikaiwa.

and if they go to an eikaiwa most will quit within a year when they actually realise that learning to speak English means they actually have to STUDY. Ive had students at my PT eikaiwa that were all gung-ho during the interview and then quit after 3 lessons.

Are the courses with the foreigners actually taken as for-credit courses? Sometimes its taken as an elective or a soft-option and many students will take the path of least resistance. Most want to graduate after all and thats more important than being able to speak English. Foreign culture means learning about foreign countries taught mostly in Japanese.

[ax]

and if they go to an eikaiwa most will quit within a year when they actually realise that learning to speak English means they actually have to STUDY. Ive had students at my PT eikaiwa that were all gung-ho during the interview and then quit after 3 lessons.

Are the courses with the foreigners actually taken as for-credit courses? Sometimes its taken as an elective or a soft-option and many students will take the path of least resistance. Most want to graduate after all and thats more important than being able to speak English. Foreign culture means learning about foreign countries taught mostly in Japanese.


If I recall correctly they were for credit both for the regular students and the gaijin kids. It was 演習, so I suppose the idea was discussion.

About the lack of will to actually study anything -- I've seen advertisements claiming you can learn English without any benkyou. You just have to listen to their lesson or whatever and you'll be magically speaking fluent English (and then there is a picture of a smiling Japanese lad beside some attractive young gaijin youth).

I think older generations in general have a better method for learning foreign languages. I've met more than a number of elderly Japanese men and women who speak and read English quite well despite never having lived abroad. I don't think any of them ever studied it for an exam or for their resume. They just studied it out of interest and they became conversant and literate. They studied it long before MP3 players (or cassettes in some cases), digital dictionaries or Eikaiwa schools. They did it the old fashioned way with paper dictionaries and textbooks.

With a few exceptions, I've seldom ever seen that kind of ongoing commitment from a Japanese youth -- even those who claim to take an interest in English. The problem is they see the TOFEL score as their goal, and not assimilating a foreign language and putting it to use. So it is just a daily grind to pass a test and once it is over there is no more need to study or maintain in the mind what one has studied.

[schizm]

Ive had students at my PT eikaiwa that were all gung-ho during the interview and then quit after 3 lessons.


Maybe that's just you......

[KansaiBen]

Maybe that's just you......

I have other students that have come every week like clockwork for over 2 years. Its not the teaching mate, its the student's attitude thats at fault here.

[schizm]

I have other students that have come every week like clockwork for over 2 years. Its not the teaching mate, its the student's attitude thats at fault here.

Can't fault you there.............Some students suck.