General

Some basic information you may already know: Kyoto University is the second oldest Imperial University in Japan and as such it is quite prestigious among Japanese. It is usually ranked 20-23 in the world; sadly usually after Todai. However, I by no means think that Kyodai is worse than U of Tokyo (and just to dispel some misconceptions: students who study at Kyoto do not study there because they could not get into Todai; most chose Kyodai over Todai because it was closer to home or better in their discipline). If you would like to draw a comparison, I would say Kyoto University is like Cambridge (very strong in sciences and humanities and very research focused with liberal attitudes) and University of Tokyo is like Oxford (very good in politics, law and probably social sciences and a little bit conservative).

Location

The university has several campuses scattered in and around Kyoto. The main campus in the eastern side of the city with very good shops and restaurants around, thus if you live near you can find everything in a few minutes walk. However, if you want to go to club or to a specialist shop, the city centre (Shijo or Sanjo) is also very close, about 20-25 min. walking. The buildings are in excellent condition; they are renovating them continuously (or building new ones; e.g. the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies’ campus is quite new).

The Department of Engineering also has very new campus in the opposite side of the city, but there is a regular free bus service from the main campus (every other department is in the main campus(es)).

Sadly Kyodai does not have many dormitory places, thus most of the students are in private accommodation (the rent is not very expensive and there are many opportunities around the university). I was lucky enough to get a place in one of the new dormitories for foreign students for six months, but it was very far from the main campus. Of course, if you like challenges you could apply for the Yoshida dormitory, which is not in a very good shape (but hopefully it will be renovated in the coming years) and reflects the old style Japanese university dorms (it was built in 1913).

Note: The university is about 10 minutes from the nearest train station. Most of the Kyotonians use bike and/or bus.

Education

As I studied in the Faculty of Letters the following information will be more specific, but I believe the other faculties have very similar systems.

First of all, you have to keep in mind that, as wikipedia says, Kyodai advocates the “spirit of freedom” (「自由の学風」) in the academics and it is very true. There is not many things that is prescribed here (only the number of credits you have to have and a few credit quotas, but you decide when and what you want to take): you choose what classes you want to take, what specialization you want to have, what you want to write your thesis about and what you want to do your research on. It is a very hands-off teaching style. However, the professors are there to guide you and help when they can. Here, I would like to dispel another misconception: the teachers are not hard-asses, they do not want to make your life miserable and they do not hate foreigners (they understand that you are a foreigner; they are researchers as well as teachers and see you as a future-colleague). All of my teachers were/are very helpful and understanding.

There are many kinds of classes but there are two big groups: lectures and seminars. As you may well know, lectures tend to introduce the give topic and seminars are more or less discussions in smaller groups. In the Faculty of Letters you had to take liberal art and faculty classes. Thus, during liberal art classes you can taste other subjects, which are perhaps not very close to your (e.g. if you are an arts student you can take classes on astronomy or space environment) major and faculty classes tend to focus on your specialization. There are two kinds of evaluations: exam and paper. Exams are held usually at the end of the semester (or year) and last for a few hours. Papers usually involve research elements. In a few cases it is enough to have attendance or there are little tests during classes.

If you are now in the middle of choosing university, keep in mind that there are many faculties in Kyodai and all of them are very prestigious. As I wrote above the university promotes forward thinking research. Thus it is not surprising that the “newer” Faculty of Integrated Human Studies offers many interdisciplinary courses that are rather relevant nowadays at Western European universities as well.

Student life

The first thing to keep in mind is that there are a very, very few foreign students at Kyodai (when I was there, there were only three undergrad foreigners in the whole Faculty of Letters), especially at undergraduate level. Thus, if you want to immerse into the Japanese culture totally, this is the perfect place for you. However, the scarcity of foreigners also means that the students are not very used to gaikokujins thus some time they do not know what to do with us or where to place us. This of course results in many awkward situations (you have to be proactive). Moreover, the first few months could be especially difficult without foreign friends who you can relate to.

The whole student life could be very vibrant; there are many clubs and circles. I will not detail here what kind of clubs there are, as I am sure you can find one for your liking.

Conclusion

My only problem was with the socialization with the Japanese students, but if you go to Kyoto with one of your friends from gaidai, I am sure the transition period will be much, much easier. Furthermore, be proactive and go to circles, most Japanese students socialize there (clubs are much more difficult; I was advised against joining any if I wanted to finish the university in four years). Of course you have to study a lot, if you want to have good grades, it is not a free ride.

Overall it was a good experience for me. I think the teaching and academic aspect of the university is quite outstanding. Moreover, the academic staff is very, very helpful and welcoming.

I recommend Kyodai to everyone who want to study at an excellent university.

The purpose of this blog is that the students, senpai (先輩), who are or were students of Japanese universities, write about their university, their experiences and opinions. This way it would become easier for the new students to choose the university best suited for their expectations and needs.

As of now, there is no plan for a “toplist” of the universities, just the details themselves. Maybe later, when a need for such a list arises. Still, if you happen to be looking for such a list, here are a few links. An alphabetic list, a 30 toplist and the Wikipedia page of Japanese universities. (None of these links are related to the blog, thus I don’t know if they are accurate. I found them using Google.)