International Christian Univeristy

Hello!
I am an IB student from Europe, and I am very interested in studying in Japan. I have found the information on International Christian University on the internet, and it seems quite good to me. However, I am not sure how good actually it is, how it is ranked, and, honestly, this "Christian" bothers me - do they push these religious things to much? Is religion very important at this University?
Furthermore, I am interested in scholarships offered in Japan. How high they can be? Can I also have a part-time job in Japan?
Thanks in advance for answers

I wouldn't worry about the religious aspect of it too much. Most Japanese people are fairly non-denominational, many practicing both Shinto and Buddhist traditions.

Also, there's a Christian high school near my house that my friend goes to. As far as I can tell, the only thing significantly Christian about it is they have mass in the morning for about 50 minues. Not preaching, but studying the bible, which is good for general knowledge in itself.

However, it being an International Christian school, and if that's one of its main selling points, then religion might be stressed a little more. Can you read Japanese? If you can't, you can post the webpage and some of the forum members might do a little snooping for you.

I don't know about scholarships, but a part-time job should be okay. providing you're a legal resident. As a high school exchange student, I can't, but I think college students might be able to.

w ww.police.pref.gunma .jp/keijibu/01keisou/kokusai/01-fuhousyurou.htm
w ww.landbrains.co.jp/t abunka/english/01.html

I suggest you look at these. One is horrible engrish from my prefecture's police website, the other concerns various administrative documents.

Thank you very much for your answer. However, I think you might have misunderstood me - I am in a high school now, but in September I am planning to go to study abroad. My first choice is Japan, and I would like to take full Undergraduate course there (lasting for 3 or 4 years, I'm nor sure). Therefore I was really interested in International Christian University, but I am not really sure how good it is. And what about University of Tokyo? Does it accept foreign students, and does it have courses in English? Can I contact them by e-mail?

Thanks for the answer once again

I have met people that attend ICU, and one of my professors and resident director of my own study abroad program graduated from ICU. I've heard pretty good things about the school. I would be a bit concerned about the housing situation; I'm not sure if they have dorms, but I spent a night at one of the student "guest houses," and although the rooms were good-sized by Japanese standards, the building itself was in pretty bad shape.

There are smaller schollorship to get for private university studys, but if you want to get a full schollarship you will have to attend a state university such as tokyo university, but to attend those your japanese need to be atleast 2kyu level and you need to get a good score at the test for foreign students which have to be taken in japan... If you wanna go for the state university i suggest you start of with 1-2 years in a japanese language school to get your japanese skill up and they will halp you with enroling into a university.

International Christian University is Lutheran in origin, but, like many other universities founded by Christian missionaries, it is nonreligious in curriculum for most students. The only difference you'll notice is that they have a grand chapel (with one of the best pipe organs in the country) and a seminary (for those who elect to pursue the Christian faith). Otherwise, you don't have to worry about it at all.

ICU is easy to get into for foreign students, especially from North America and Western Europe, because it has international accreditation--meaning you can swap credits earned at universities in other countries, mostly in North America. Bachelor's degree from this university is accredited internationally as well. Many of the courses there are taught in English, and you get to learn Japanese and attain a high level of proficiency in the course of your studies.
However, ICU is oriented toward the humanities (it's a liberal arts college), so it's not recommended for students who want to pursue science.
AFAIK, ICU excels in the social sciences and Japanese studies and has excellent Japanese language programs, both for foreign students learning the language and for training interpreters. If I remember correctly, the Genki textbooks and Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese were developed by ICU faculty members. Many of the top simultaneous interpreters in Japan were trained at ICU.

University of Tokyo and rest of the "regular" universities in Japan are different, with virtually all courses taught in Japanese. For these schools, you need to be a proficient Japanese speaker/writer before you enter and to qualify with their admission process which varies by school, easy for some universities but difficult for most higher-ranking universities. Plus, they do not accept international students into their "regular courses" but in their "international programs" only. This means that you don't get to earn a bachelor's degree at such universities like other Japanese students, unless you work hard and quickly at the language to gain equal footing with native-speaking Japanese students. This means it's impossible for most foreign students.
International student admission in such "regular" universities is easier on the graduate level, because the emphasis is more on your academic performance in the area of study.

HTH!