Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

[menrui]

^yea~ i want a netbook too! you can get a good one for about 300$ nowadays. if not, i was thinking of getting a lenovo or a dell if they have a good deal.

credit cards can be useful.. but they might not work are every ATM. so you're basically taking a gamble with them. im not sure how to determine if your credit card will work over there or not. both my cards worked at the post office ATM and post offices are everywhere, so i was lucky. they were both "visa" bank/credit card. also, japan is not very big on credit cards, at least compared to the US they arent.

 

[kouki]

Just would like to confirm:

1. Cell Phones
Are there any special rates offered for buying cell phones, when we are subscribing a certain network service? It is true that Japan and Korea are the only two countries which are using different system in the cell phone network. FYI, most of the countries are using GSM, which usually requires SIM card.

2. Computers
I heard that prices of computer in Japan is a little cheaper than you can find in Malaysia. What I am thinking is that, since we would need to input and read Japanese characters, wouldn't it be better if we can use a computer with keyboards in Japanese, as currently, if we would like to switch the language, from English to Japanese, and vice versa, it is a bit troublesome. However, IMO, we definitely would have to switch our OS to Japanese one, since currently, we cannot still view some of the Japanese characters. Some computers would not even recognise the character we typed and sent to them, it is called 'moji bake' in Japanese, and it is really troublesome to have to face it in our daily life.

 

[Nall-ohki]

I really doubt the stipend will be delayed, considering the efficiencies of the Japanese.

Man, I would NEVER make a decision based on that.

That said, the year I had my scholarship, I never had a problem with the stipend being late.

As always, bring extra money for emergencies - medical care is covered, but you often have to pay for it up front, and then be reimbursed. If there is any problem, you could be in a bad position.

 

[menrui]

1. dont know

2.
I think the most common way of typing in japan is using a standard qwerty "english" keyboard, then type the romanized kana, and then have it converted on the fly using some thing like IME(which is a basic program on windows). so you dont need to buy a japanese "kana printed" keyboard.

for example, i type this on my english keyboard:
menruigasukidesu.
and it is converted to this:
麺類が好きです。

there is not really a japanese OS. they mostly use windows in japan. and windows is compatible with many languages, including japanese. and it isnt really troublesome to switch from english to japanese. i just hit ALT+SHIFT to switch between languages.

"moji bake" is a encoding software problem, not an OS problem(well, i guess it could be). with windows, you can just download the "eastern asian" language package and you should be able to read close to 100% of every thing japanese, or asian. i think alot of the "unreadable" problems occurs when exchanging email because of encoding conflict due to email provider/program.

anyways, you shouldnt have to worry about japanese compatibility if you are using windows.

 

[jim84]

hi, i have a quick question (perhaps a stupid one) to fellow malaysians who has relevant experience.
Once we're in Japan, lets say long term, are we still able to access our online bank accounts as usual? Such as Maybank2u, Cimbclicks to do transactions, pay our credit cards (i still have easy payment balance), transfer funds from between foreign accounts to malaysian banks via internet transactions?
It seems rather stupid, as websites are usually not constrained to international borders/networks.
But, just to be cautious.
anyone has an answer? thanks

 

[Charles Barkley]

People living in Japan can't access any of the same sites that people not living in Japan can. That's why, even though this is a Japan themed website, you won't find any people living in Japan who post on here.

 

[jim84]

how come? due to different ISP (internet service provider) and local networks?

 

[kawabanga]

Man, I would NEVER make a decision based on that.
That said, the year I had my scholarship, I never had a problem with the stipend being late.
As always, bring extra money for emergencies - medical care is covered, but you often have to pay for it up front, and then be reimbursed. If there is any problem, you could be in a bad position.

I do not have extra to bring, so I have to count on to that. But I always hold on to this Chinese proverb, "When the ship arrives, the jetty will be there to welcome it" (which simply means things will eventually and naturally work out without having to worry extensively).

 

[menrui]

^yes! you and me both! (sort of)

 

[Eri-ChanRakkii]

Menrui,
yup yup thanks so much! I know a lot about the process but i dunno about how do they qualify each applicant? the points and all that stuff!; how many points do I have to achive to go to the interview,
2-what does happen if I'm not in college and I'm just studying Japanese?
3-does maths exam have any influence about the points?what about Japanese exam?
4-and if I change my major what does happen then?

Thxs!!! I will wait for answers!!!! *(^0^)*

 

[pilarika]

People living in Japan can't access any of the same sites that people not living in Japan can. That's why, even though this is a Japan themed website, you won't find any people living in Japan who post on here.

Hi!... I kind of found this a bit worrysome. what exactly do you mean? If things go well and I get the scholarship, I still need to be alble to acces websites from my country. I mean, pay credit cards and social security issues I can't leave unattended. Can you please explain a little better?

 

[jim84]

exactly pilarika
we got commitments, loans to repay, investments to manage
can someone in japan help out?
my friends in Japan are those who left malaysia after high school, so they don't have such prob

 

[menrui]

yea, post from charles was a bit confusing... i didnt have any problem accessing websites, even my banks website, when i was in japan

eri-chan,
errr dont thank me just yet. because i cant really answer any of your questions, sorry to say. im hoping someone else can help you.

 

[JapanDream]

People living in Japan can't access any of the same sites that people not living in Japan can. That's why, even though this is a Japan themed website, you won't find any people living in Japan who post on here.

Hi Charles,

Like Menrui, I'm confused too. You're now living in Japan and still able to access this online forum, right?

 

[senseiman]

I live in Japan and am posting this from Japan so (obviously) it is possible to access this website from Japan!

Perhaps Charles was referring to certain bank websites or something.

 

[Charles Barkley]

I was hoping the fact that I was being facetious would be obvious, since I am in Japan and you all are not in Japan and we are using the same website.

Anyway, nothing on Japan's end is going to block websites for you. The only possibilities I could see would be sites that show media content, such as sports/news broadcasts. I cannot, for example watch basketball highlights from yahoo! sports because I am in the wrong area.

 

[menrui]

yes, we can really detect sarcasm on message boards (<-- sarcasm FYI)

now that i think about it, how am i suppose to watch the Houston Rockets championship run!?

 

[Charles Barkley]

They have a regular schedule of games, about 4 or 5 a week, and obviously will show more of the playoffs, on japanese network TV.

NHKスポーツ

Though sadly NHK won't pick up games that don't happen, so good luck with finding that playoff run on TV. ;-)

 

[c0ok1e]

so the only thing we cannot access through japanese network is online video streaming. other websites we can access like normal. thats not too bad accept we cant use youtube anymore..

 

[menrui]

im sure you should be able to access youtube in japan just fine

 

[jim84]

whoa....no youtube, no life.
haha

 

[kawabanga]

With the Japanese scholarship, I believe I can live happily without YouTube.

 

[Nall-ohki]

With the Japanese scholarship, I believe I can live happily without YouTube.

I don't know, that's a big sacrifice - where else am I going to find such a wealth of intelligent, lucid comments?

 

[menrui]

japan isnt going to take away your youtube!

 

[jim84]

With the Japanese scholarship, I believe I can live happily without YouTube.

haha, that's true man.


gosh, i had a nightmare last night. Dreamt that the results were out, and only half got it, only those who applied for PhD. Those who went for Master's all failed.