Hi I am currently living in the USA and I have been always interested in Japan and it's culture. I am 16 and going into my junior year of high school, I plan on learning the Japanese language up to my senior year. I intend to get a full scholarship to a university in Japan but I wanted to know what colleges offer music and record producing programs as well as academic courses? I want to be a music producer as good as one of my favorite producers Nujabes.
universities in Japan
- Thread starter emman43
- Start date
Emoni
先輩
- 20 Sep 2003
- 1,779
- 67
Bah, I wasn't going to answer this. I got a bit of time before sleeping so I'll try not to crush your dreams.
Here's the deal kid, and this is also why I wasn't gonna answer cause anyone who does say it up to you up front is just going to look like an *** getting kicks from discouraging you.
What type of college isn't your concern at this point. Your concern is learning Japanese, and learning it damn well. You might be able to pull off grad school through some sort of research gig, but if you want a four year degree from Japan (which won't mean much anywhere but Japan and you'll have everything against you after you get it anyway when you are refused who knows how many jobs cause you're not Japanese) you are going to have to know Japanese damn well.
You've got 2 years left before college? Good, you can now cram 8 years of Japanese into those years and be late signing up by one year for college in Japan as it takes a year at least to apply, and expect there to be tests as well you have to pass. Unless you are language genius, taking this route is going to hurt you more than help so I won't even bother continuing.
I will recommend this. Find a good college in the UNITED STATES that covers what you are interested in, and you better hope for your own sake your interest in this is more serious than thinking J-pop is cool and liking Japanese chicks in tight clothes. You've decided to aim for an industry that is brutal and extremely difficult to get in, and then you threw on learning an entirely foreign language and culture on top of that all in 2 years. I think masochistic is good non-Japanese word for this.
Ok, so you've found a college or two in America that has what you are looking for. Good, now check to see how good their Japanese program is and check out their study abroad options. After maybe four years of extremely serious Japanese, from two years of College classes, chances are you can study abroad in Japan and get some serious benefit from the experience and find out your options there while you study. From there you can check your options for furthering your education after you graduation from an American University.
Or, if you are absolutely insane and have the ludicrous determination to back it up you can take the hard road. Don't even ask about which colleges are good, because you won't be able to understand the site or contact the teachers or pass the entrance tests anyway yet. You're going to have to study Japanese like a maniac. After you have hit around 1 kyuu level (you'll figure that out later) you can apply for the government scholarship to study at a four year university in Japan from your nearest Japanese embassy. That is the best path for you and would be fully funded by the Japanese government and is also your ticket into the university.
Oh, but also there is an age limit of about 24 or so.
Your literal first step from here is to grab a series of books called "Genki" by Japan Times Press and get to work, the student CD's should be enough as well. When you can write a 2 page essay in Japanese why you want to study recording and producing in Japan then come back and ask the same question again.
Sorry to be rough and rude about it, but this is nothing compared the road ahead. Can you do it? Yes, but it will be unbelievably difficult. However, it's totally up to you.
I'd wish you good luck but luck has nothing to do with it. Just the ability to focus for endless hours on language and tests.
Here's the deal kid, and this is also why I wasn't gonna answer cause anyone who does say it up to you up front is just going to look like an *** getting kicks from discouraging you.
What type of college isn't your concern at this point. Your concern is learning Japanese, and learning it damn well. You might be able to pull off grad school through some sort of research gig, but if you want a four year degree from Japan (which won't mean much anywhere but Japan and you'll have everything against you after you get it anyway when you are refused who knows how many jobs cause you're not Japanese) you are going to have to know Japanese damn well.
You've got 2 years left before college? Good, you can now cram 8 years of Japanese into those years and be late signing up by one year for college in Japan as it takes a year at least to apply, and expect there to be tests as well you have to pass. Unless you are language genius, taking this route is going to hurt you more than help so I won't even bother continuing.
I will recommend this. Find a good college in the UNITED STATES that covers what you are interested in, and you better hope for your own sake your interest in this is more serious than thinking J-pop is cool and liking Japanese chicks in tight clothes. You've decided to aim for an industry that is brutal and extremely difficult to get in, and then you threw on learning an entirely foreign language and culture on top of that all in 2 years. I think masochistic is good non-Japanese word for this.
Ok, so you've found a college or two in America that has what you are looking for. Good, now check to see how good their Japanese program is and check out their study abroad options. After maybe four years of extremely serious Japanese, from two years of College classes, chances are you can study abroad in Japan and get some serious benefit from the experience and find out your options there while you study. From there you can check your options for furthering your education after you graduation from an American University.
Or, if you are absolutely insane and have the ludicrous determination to back it up you can take the hard road. Don't even ask about which colleges are good, because you won't be able to understand the site or contact the teachers or pass the entrance tests anyway yet. You're going to have to study Japanese like a maniac. After you have hit around 1 kyuu level (you'll figure that out later) you can apply for the government scholarship to study at a four year university in Japan from your nearest Japanese embassy. That is the best path for you and would be fully funded by the Japanese government and is also your ticket into the university.
Oh, but also there is an age limit of about 24 or so.
Your literal first step from here is to grab a series of books called "Genki" by Japan Times Press and get to work, the student CD's should be enough as well. When you can write a 2 page essay in Japanese why you want to study recording and producing in Japan then come back and ask the same question again.
Sorry to be rough and rude about it, but this is nothing compared the road ahead. Can you do it? Yes, but it will be unbelievably difficult. However, it's totally up to you.
I'd wish you good luck but luck has nothing to do with it. Just the ability to focus for endless hours on language and tests.
Charles Barkley
TNT Basketball Analyst
- 14 Jun 2007
- 560
- 12
[Reply to #3]
There are plenty of American based, English speaking universities in America you know...maybe look there?
Try to give a more detailed account of the type of school you are looking for and it will be easier to help you out. Do you want an exchange program? Undergrad? Graduate? Why an American school? Etc...
There are plenty of American based, English speaking universities in America you know...maybe look there?
Try to give a more detailed account of the type of school you are looking for and it will be easier to help you out. Do you want an exchange program? Undergrad? Graduate? Why an American school? Etc...
Last edited by a moderator:
Charles Barkley
TNT Basketball Analyst
- 14 Jun 2007
- 560
- 12
[Followup to #2]
Good advice here. Go to an American university (btw, this means in America). You will get a far superior undergraduate education and have much better option after you graduate. Take Japanese at university and study abroad for a year. After graduating university you can evaluate your options.
Fulbright scholarship, monbukagakusho scholarship, etc are available for postgraduates studying in Japan, and will see you fully funded if you can get one.
Although Emoni has already stressed the massive odds against you if try to follow through with your original plan, I will echo that by saying it is literally impossible and were it even possible, you would find yourself far more limited than if you go about it the way he has suggested. Do your best to get into a good American school. And learn how to work harder than anyone else. Then you'll be set.
Good advice here. Go to an American university (btw, this means in America). You will get a far superior undergraduate education and have much better option after you graduate. Take Japanese at university and study abroad for a year. After graduating university you can evaluate your options.
Fulbright scholarship, monbukagakusho scholarship, etc are available for postgraduates studying in Japan, and will see you fully funded if you can get one.
Although Emoni has already stressed the massive odds against you if try to follow through with your original plan, I will echo that by saying it is literally impossible and were it even possible, you would find yourself far more limited than if you go about it the way he has suggested. Do your best to get into a good American school. And learn how to work harder than anyone else. Then you'll be set.
Last edited by a moderator:
epigene
相変わらず不束者です
- 10 Nov 2004
- 4,354
- 179
[Followup to #5]
What the two posters above said is absolutely true.
Studying in the US or Europe is the dream for most Japanese university students enrolled in music programs in Japan. They don't do that because:
(1) They don't have the financial resources
(2) Can't qualify for any scholarship program
(3) Can't achieve adequate English competence
(4) Told not to go by their families
(5) Or all or most of the above
What the two posters above said is absolutely true.
Studying in the US or Europe is the dream for most Japanese university students enrolled in music programs in Japan. They don't do that because:
(1) They don't have the financial resources
(2) Can't qualify for any scholarship program
(3) Can't achieve adequate English competence
(4) Told not to go by their families
(5) Or all or most of the above
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[Followup to #6]
I will have to concur with what everyone else has said so far.
I was once in a position very similar to yours. During my high school years I decided I really wanted to go straight to Japan and stay for good. I thought it was bad enough that I had to stay put to finish high school, why should I want to stay for another four or more years on top of that before I could make the jump?
I spent a lot of time thinking of how to get straight into school in Japan, but ultimately it didn't work, mainly because of the lack of funding options at the time.
I started school in the US, and during my first term I very quickly re-thought what I wanted to do with myself and underwent a bit of an attitude adjustment, to come to the conclusion that I should strive for a career that I find suitable and satisfying, rather than getting so caught up on where I wanted to be.
It paid off in the end, as I came out with a better undergrad education than I might have if my previous attempts for Japan had worked out. I still got to spend a year in Japan, which I found to be quite enough for the time being, not to mention that it was infinitely easier to fund.
Also, I think spending just a year on a study abroad is a good way to see whether or not you really want to stay any longer. I got pretty burned out after a year in Tokyo, and was really ready to go back to the US for a while and get back on track academically.
I did wind up coming back to Japan after graduation, and things have worked out much better than if I had been able to go through with the straight-after-HS route.
So, what I'm getting at is, don't rule out school in the US as a very good next step along the way to get where you want to go.
There are ways to get to Japan. The Monbukagakusho undergrad scholarship is now open to applicants from the US (it wasn't when I was graduating from high school), but it is very hard to get. I think it is much harder than the postgrad research student scholarship.
There's also the senshu-gakko (special training school) category, which is not offered to many recipients each year comparatively, but it is an option, and music might be a field of study that they would accept for that. As far as I know, those are basically the only way you can get a full scholarship for school in Japan.
So if you really have your heart set on Japan, give that a shot, but definitely be prepared to study in the US.
Besides, college in the US can be a lot of fun, and though a lot of it is bullshit (gen ed requirements, etc) it's generally worth your time.
My advice would be to go to school in the US, study Japanese, spend a year in Japan, have a blast in both places along the way, and then set your sights on Japan afterwards if that's really what you want to do.
And, go wherever there is a good career for you, even if it isn't Japan. I think you'll likely be much happier overall that way.
I will have to concur with what everyone else has said so far.
I was once in a position very similar to yours. During my high school years I decided I really wanted to go straight to Japan and stay for good. I thought it was bad enough that I had to stay put to finish high school, why should I want to stay for another four or more years on top of that before I could make the jump?
I spent a lot of time thinking of how to get straight into school in Japan, but ultimately it didn't work, mainly because of the lack of funding options at the time.
I started school in the US, and during my first term I very quickly re-thought what I wanted to do with myself and underwent a bit of an attitude adjustment, to come to the conclusion that I should strive for a career that I find suitable and satisfying, rather than getting so caught up on where I wanted to be.
It paid off in the end, as I came out with a better undergrad education than I might have if my previous attempts for Japan had worked out. I still got to spend a year in Japan, which I found to be quite enough for the time being, not to mention that it was infinitely easier to fund.
Also, I think spending just a year on a study abroad is a good way to see whether or not you really want to stay any longer. I got pretty burned out after a year in Tokyo, and was really ready to go back to the US for a while and get back on track academically.
I did wind up coming back to Japan after graduation, and things have worked out much better than if I had been able to go through with the straight-after-HS route.
So, what I'm getting at is, don't rule out school in the US as a very good next step along the way to get where you want to go.
There are ways to get to Japan. The Monbukagakusho undergrad scholarship is now open to applicants from the US (it wasn't when I was graduating from high school), but it is very hard to get. I think it is much harder than the postgrad research student scholarship.
There's also the senshu-gakko (special training school) category, which is not offered to many recipients each year comparatively, but it is an option, and music might be a field of study that they would accept for that. As far as I know, those are basically the only way you can get a full scholarship for school in Japan.
So if you really have your heart set on Japan, give that a shot, but definitely be prepared to study in the US.
Besides, college in the US can be a lot of fun, and though a lot of it is bullshit (gen ed requirements, etc) it's generally worth your time.
My advice would be to go to school in the US, study Japanese, spend a year in Japan, have a blast in both places along the way, and then set your sights on Japan afterwards if that's really what you want to do.
And, go wherever there is a good career for you, even if it isn't Japan. I think you'll likely be much happier overall that way.
Last edited by a moderator:
Kirakira1232
素敵な冒険始まる！
- 6 May 2008
- 472
- 16
Dont Forget the JASSO scholarship for undergrad students ^^;; if you cant get the monbagakusho.
Yeah, this is only good for one year as far as I know. It is one of the scholarships that helped fund me for a one-year exchange program, and it is quite nice anyway.
Emman, I understand fully your wanting to combine the experience of living in Japan with your college years, as I felt very much the same way when I was in HS trying to figure out what to do post-HS.
The reality is that there are very few schools in Japan that offer a full curriculum in English, and of those few, I don't think any of them are particularly good places to go to study music.
As far as my undergrad years went, I was more than satisfied with spending just one of those years in Japan, as far as getting the experience of living there for a while and brushing up on Japanese; plus college in the US is a generally good experience that, looking back, I don't think you should miss out on.
It's not my intention to answer negatively about your desire to pursue your studies in Japan, it's just my perspective after having been in a similar situation.
I hope it is of some use to you, and good luck with whatever it is you decide to do!
Emoni
先輩
- 20 Sep 2003
- 1,779
- 67
This is one of those times where the efforts of the responses do not quite match with the lack of a sincere attempt to put forth and effort by the original poster.
Either way, I think the amount of advice given is more than enough Emman. You have some serious work ahead of you which I have to say I don't see getting done any time soon.
Either way, I think the amount of advice given is more than enough Emman. You have some serious work ahead of you which I have to say I don't see getting done any time soon.
