International University of Japan (IUJ)

The university teaches in English and we were allowed to take Japanese as a second language. The Japanese courses were very intensive, but we had little opportunity for practise as most of the students are international students and we did not get much chance to mingle with local Japanese students our age or the local community, though some students did have a language exchange partner and joined some Japanese culture clubs.

Most students are on scholarships at the universities. Even students on private funds are able to apply for scholarships later on. There are also opportunites for earning a lot of money - and many people make huge savings - if you have the time such as teaching English or working in the library or computer labs.

Try to do a lot of extracurricular activities and try to get to know more of the locals, as well as other host families in other part of Japan. Try to save up and travel to other parts of Japan too as it is really worth it.

As this is Japan, space was limited so the rooms were very small. Most students stayed on campus but there were little facilities as the university is small and isolated. Moreover, there were problems with cleanliness in the public areas such as kitchen and plumbing.

This is a very isolated university - it's in a small village four hours from Japan. There are hardly any bars and night life is almost non-existent except for the small private parties by individuals on campus. There are, however, lots of places to visit such as parks, skiing, snowboarding, horse-riding, temples, etc but you need your own car, which could be a tad costly.