Graduate school for architecture/design/toys

[scorpy13]

Hi everyone,

I recently went on a vacation to Japan and I fell in love with the country.

At the moment, I am planning on enrolling to a graduate school and I would love to do it in Japan. Does anyone here know good graduate school for architecture, industrial/product design, toys design? The Japanese version of Yale/Harvard maybe?

Thanks guys,

SS

 

[myric]

Hey scorpy,
My department is also industrial design, and I am gonna practice toy design in Chiba University - Design Science Master Course. I am not sure if it is the right place for it but I can give you more information when I get there

 

[scorpy13]

Thanks myric!!

If you dont mind me asking, when will you start at Chiba University?
And how did you find out about this school in the first place?

Yes, please do send me more info.

Thanks!

 

[buttmunch]

Kobe has a really well known school for design in general. Includes architecture.

 

[scorpy13]

To be exact, which school in Kobe are you talking about? Kobe University?

Thanks

 

[epigene]

Hi everyone,
I recently went on a vacation to Japan and I fell in love with the country.
At the moment, I am planning on enrolling to a graduate school and I would love to do it in Japan. Does anyone here know good graduate school for architecture, industrial/product design, toys design? The Japanese version of Yale/Harvard maybe?
Thanks guys,
SS

I don't know what you mean by Japanese versions of Yale or Harvard, but if you're looking for similar level of excellence, you'd better apply for Harvard or Yale.

Assuming that you're limiting your choices to Japan only, the people at 2ch who like to discuss good and bad schools posted this as schools that produced graduate students with the best theses in architectural engineering in 1999:

Kyoto University - 5
University of Tokyo - 4
Nippon University - 4
Niigata University - 2
Nagoya Institute of Technology - 2
Kyoto Institute of Technology - 2
Kobe University - 2
Tokyo University of Science - 2
Utsunomiya University - 1
Daido University - 1
Tokai University - 1
Tokyo Institute of Technology - 1
Tohoku University - 1
Hokkaido University - 1

All of these universities have their own websites, if you want to check into details and make inquiries.
Hope it helps!

 

[djmext]

Hi Myric

I have received the preliminary acceptance for MEXT from the Embassy here and am applying for Masters in Product Design at Chiba University. Unfortunately I don't know Japanese yet and there are no courses available here so I will have to rely on books.
How much of the course at Chiba is in Japanese? How difficult will it be to do the Masters with just a basic knowledge of Japanese?
Also, have you come across any Masters in Industrial/ Product design course in Japan which is conducted in English?

Thanks
DJ

Hey scorpy,
My department is also industrial design, and I am gonna practice toy design in Chiba University - Design Science Master Course. I am not sure if it is the right place for it but I can give you more information when I get there

 

[Zgarbas]

How difficult would a high-level 2-year course with specialized classes and writing a thesis be with only basic knowledge of the language that everything is in?
Prettty damn hard.
Unless the course is explicitly stated to be in English, it will be entirely in Japanese, and your colleagues and teachers will be Japanese people who will be unlikely to have patience for a student who is unable to communicate. Not to mention the fact that the scholarship is for your research period, and you'll have to pass the admissions exam in Japanese. With Japanese students as competition.Start studying.

 

[djmext]

How difficult would a high-level 2-year course with specialized classes and writing a thesis be with only basic knowledge of the language that everything is in?
Prettty damn hard.
Unless the course is explicitly stated to be in English, it will be entirely in Japanese, and your colleagues and teachers will be Japanese people who will be unlikely to have patience for a student who is unable to communicate. Not to mention the fact that the scholarship is for your research period, and you'll have to pass the admissions exam in Japanese. With Japanese students as competition.Start studying.

Dear Zgarbas
Many thanks for your very frank reply. I received the acceptance letter from Chiba University a couple of days ago. From my correspondence with them, it appears that 20 of the 28 lectures are in Japanese and the studio coursework in English. I've asked them how many courses one must take to complete the Masters and still awaiting a reply on that. Also, I can directly commence the Masters Program (i take that to mean I don't have to be a research student first).
All said and done, those 20 Japanese lectures are still a concern for me. Well I will most definitely start studying but I'd like to know if anybody has been through a similar experience (non- Japanese speaking enrolled for Design Science at Chiba University).
Thanks again!