Hitotsubashi University Travel Report

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SPRING 2014

1. Before the Exchange

When preparing for an exchange semester in Japan, you might want to get used to a decent amount of paperwork and planning quite early on. After being nominated by Aalto to Hitotsubashi, I received all kinds of documents to be fulfilled. Most of the documents required e.g. for visa are quite straight forward, however you should be prepared for the X-ray examination. I got mine at YTHS, free of charge and with a fairly short schedule. Other documents required were bank / financial statement of your capability to take care of yourself during your exchange (I sent a copy of my bank statement and the school's certificate of the exchange scholarship), different kinds of information sheets and pictures. As Japanese love pictures, you should stock them up before your departure!

After some time you will eventually receive the Certificate of Eligibility, with which you can apply for a Visa at the Japan's Embassy in Helsinki. For me the process at the embassy took about 40 minutes (two days prior departure, of course), but I recommend taking care of such trivial matters early. The payment has to be made in cash. The university also asks you about your housing preferences and language skills, more about housing later on.

Whatever questions you might have during the application process, Hitotsubashi's International Office replies in a very short time.

2. Travel to Japan

I ordered my tickets through Kilroy, as it offers the chance to change the ticket dates. The roundtrip was around 800 euros, with eventually the change costing around 250 euros (it was high season and I was kinda late, usually the change is about 130 euros).

I arrived myself a few week's before the semester to Tokyo to enjoy and get to know around before the semester (stayed at Sakura Hostel). You will get a residence card at the airport, which will serve as your identification card in Japan; you should always carry it with you. However, should you lose it, it's quite easy to obtain a new one at the local immigration bureau with a notification of lost item (closest one in Tachikawa). Carrying the residence card also means you don't have to have your passport with you all the time, which is pretty convenient.

Hitotsubashi offered a bus ride from Narita to the campuses if you wished to use it. The bus service was scheduled for one day and you had to arrive prior 1 PM, but I think it was pretty convenient and ended up using it myself also, as I didn't feel like getting lost with all my luggage.

3. Housing

Hitotsubashi University offers a housing for every incoming exchange student. There are two campuses, the Kunitachi campus (near the university) and Kodaira campus (around 20 mins with a bike from the university), and you don't get to choose which one you stay in. However, I don't know anyone who was placed to Kunitachi campus, as it is more aimed for degree-seeking students. Also if you don't speak any Japanese or not much, you will most probably be located in Kodaira campus.

The housing provided was pretty convenient, consisting of dorms with 6 guys/girls living in one dorm. One of them was always a Japanese degree student, so whenever you couldn't use the laundry machine or you had no idea what to do with your insurance bills, you could ask for help. You have your own room, and the kitchen/living room, toilets and showers are shared. No worries though, there're two showers and toilets per dorm. The accommodation was shit-cheap as well, cumulating around 12 000yens per month. Conveniently, after opening a Japanese bank account the sum was automatically withdrawn from your account monthly, so as long as you have money on your account, everything works smoothly.

Main gate to the campus area 4. JASSO Scholarship

Some of the papers to be fulfilled also include information and applying for the JASSO scholarship. JASSO is an amazing scholarship given by the Japanese government to exchange students. Noone knows by which grounds this scholarship is given, but during my semester all the students from Aalto received the scholarship (a quite remarkable amount of 80 000 yens per month). So make sure you fulfil all the papers with thought! And also remember to go once a month to actually sign for the scholarship, as you will otherwise lose it. As I also stayed in Japan some months after the semester, I was for some reason able to get it during those months as well, so make sure to ask about it if you stay in Japan longer!

5. Orientation

The orientation program, though exhausting at times and consisting of one week of different kinds of stuff, was very well coordinated and something you most probably won't be able to do by yourself if your Japanese is not on a pretty good level. The program was coordinated with the university, "Plaza" (accommodation service provider at the Kodaira campus) and "ISDAK" (an association arranging program to international students at Kodaira campus). The program consists of course enrolment information, opening a bank account and doing the automatic rent withdrawal, welcoming party with a decent buffet and tours around the campus / Kodaira / university. All in all, a well-coordinated package, and I would very warmly recommend to actively take part in it, as you also get to know your fellow exchangees.

6. Studying and Courses

The spring semester in Japan starts usually late March / early April and finishes with exams right before August. Hitotsubashi offers also one-week intensive courses in August, which were available for exchange students as well.

To make a long story short, the purely academic content of my stay at Hitotsubashi University did now necessarily blow my mind, however, I feel there were many important lessons I learnt about cross-cultural teams and East Asian business. I don't think you are actually able to learn and experience these things without travelling to the other side of the world to study with people from these cultures. You were also free to choose the Japanese taught courses, which by what I heard were much more in-depth and demanding than the English taught ones, but of course required fluent skills in Japanese.

6.1. Language Studies: Japanese Basic 2

For your Aalto BIZ International Study Module, you are able to include 8 ECTS (spring 2014 equals to 4 UG credits at Hitotsubashi) of language studies in it. The Japanese language courses offered at Hitotsubashi were extremely well- conducted, intense but also very rewarding. I had studied around 16 credits of Japanese prior to my exchange, but I felt my knowledge of Japanese at least tripled during this one semester.

Prior the semester, part of the orientation program, you are also asked to join a language evaluation test, which based on you are assigned to a study group. There are groups ranging from the very beginners to academic level Japanese, also with different paces. Though prior studies, I was put into Basic level 2, which in the end was a really good set for me.

Japanese Basic 2 consists of three modules: Mon-Wed was more about grammar, Thu is kanjis and Fri is reading. All these components form a set, and you are supposed to take the whole program; with very limited amount of possible absences, it was at times a bit much, but in the end I am very happy to have completed the set. Also the teachers were very enthusiastic and the atmosphere at the classes fun (with around 5-6 participants only, you also got a lot of individual feedback on your language skills).

Altogether the set equals to 5 UG = 10 ECTS, which is a few credits more than what can be included in the ISM, however if there is one place to prep your Japanese, it would probably be in Japan.

6.2. Other Courses

As for the other courses, the quality of the teaching and contents differed quite a lot. Hitotsubashi offers a pretty wide array of courses in English in its HGP Program, with an emphasis on Economics. What I've heard, the economics courses were pretty good, so I would probably recommend those if you find interest in them. Courses in Hitotsubashi HGP program (except the language ones) take place once a week. Here's a small summary of the courses I took:

- Japanese Business Culture (2 UG = 4 ECTS)

This course was taught by a professor who has spent a lot of time in the US, so he was able to shed light on the uniqueness of Japanese business culture also from a Western point of view. The course was very interesting and the professor's own opinions and experiences the most rewarding ones. However, the weekly written assignments, mid-term report and a rather long final report (around 10- 15 pages) means you have to put some time into it. Also I felt that the student presentations on the weekly topics were often not that well conducted and the course would have been better with simply lecturing and class discussion. However, I can warmly recommend this course, especially if you think about working in Japan later on.

- Introduction to Global Leadership (2 UG = 4 ECTS)

Professor for this course was an energetic lady graduated from Stanford and Harvard. Though the course did not really offer much up-to-date academic information on the topic, the class discussions about various topics of companies globalising and localising their offerings were interesting. You also had to write a few case reports in groups which the professor had decided, so you got to work with people all around the world. In my opinion, that was the best offering of the course and you could really experience first hand how differently cultures around the world work; also how similarly Europeans seem to do. All in all, the course gave a good platform to practice working and discussing in multi-cultural groups. Grades were given based on two presentations and their reports, and one individual reflective essay at the end of the course.

- Special Topics in Commerce and Management: Behavioral Finance (2 UG = 4 ECTS)

This course was conducted by a sympathetic Korean professor, and had an emphasis on how managers of big companies make mistakes in business. After introductory lessons on basics of finance and psychological role of thumbs, rest of the course was conducted through student presentations. Our group did a presentation on Nokia's smartphone mistakes and IKEA's first failed attempt to Japanese markets. Some of the student presentations were quite interesting and there was always a good discussion after the presentations, however I felt that too much of the course content was left for the students; meaning, if some groups didn't put a lot of effort into their presentations, the content would be quite weak. At the end, we had a small "exam", which simply presented a failed business solution and we were supposed to analyze the mis-leading behaviours behind the managers' actions. I wouldn't say the course was that bad nor good, but at least it gave you some confident; even the managers of big companies do make mistakes. And sometimes pretty big and foolish ones.

- Language and Economy (2 UG = 4 ECTS)

This course was probably the most un-organized and free spirited I have taken part during my university life. However, after giving up on hope that I would find a red threat throughout the course or a leading thought behind the lessons, the weekly content was actually pretty interesting at times and gave you a lot to think about. Basically the idea of the course is to examine the relationship between languages and economy. However, that can basically mean whatever. Topics covered during the weeks were for example; Google AdWords, stories and economy (with an example of the dolphin hunting), marketing, English proficiency tests, Simple English and globalisation... In the end, I feel this course gave a lot of information on different kind of daily topics, with relation to economy and business. Most of the grade came from a final report (single spaced, around 5 pages) and there was also a smaller exam, which basically measured if you had been listening to anything during the course. In my final report, I analysed the differences between Japanese and Western marketing from a linguistic point of view.

- Global Business and Japan (2 UG = 4 ECTS)

Shu-sensei, an extremely lively and friendly professor closing seventies, was truly a character to remember. Not only were his classes fun and free-spirited, he also invited us all to a karaoke place (with foods incl. at a very reasonable price) and the most adventurous ones continued the night at his apartment. About the course, it was a lively mix of topics ranging from Japanese marketing, difficulties in entering Japanese markets to (personal) branding. We analyzed Japanese tv advertisements and wrote small bi-weekly papers on different topics. Course was evaluated based on a written report and a presentation. Shu- sensei's classes were always filled with laughter and a great spirit.

- Shibusawa Scholar Seminar (2 UG = 4 ECTS)

This course serves as a fundamental course for Hitotsubashi students enrolled in the "Shibusawa Scholar" program. However, exchange students were also welcomed to join the group. The Japanese students in this program were very welcoming towards us three exchange students who ended up taking the course. Same teacher as for the introduction to global leadership, this course was also lightened up by a lot of discussion, presentations and different medias. Content of this semi was personal skills needed to work in a global setting, and also finding your own global personality. We had to write a mission statement which we kept as a speech for the class and do a bigger group project. Out of all the assignments in Hitotsubashi, this one was actually quite the blast. We formed groups of 3-4 and were assigned CEOs and other high-level professionals and experts the teacher (with amazing networks) knew to conduct interviews with. So we suited up and headed to downtown Tokyo to do interviews with these very interesting people about their experiences as leaders in cross-cultural settings and what kind of difficulties they've had in their careers. These interviews were tremendously fruitful and a rare chance I didn't think I'd get during the exchange. Course was graded based on the mission speech and a written report and presentations based on the interviews.

- Explore Japan Seminar (2 UG = 4 ECTS)

I took this course as an extra, as it is basically a great deal of fun in the form of exploring Japanese culture with your fellow exchangees and going on field trips and events. We experienced e.g. Sumo, tea ceremony, onsens, hiking, judo circle and kabuki. At the end of the course, the students create a magazine of the course, which is then manufactured and given to everyone. A great way to explore the Japanese culture with pretty neat discounts and everything prior organized - something great especially for lazy travellers. The final grade is based on the magazine and you're attendance.

Our Explore Japan Group with Abe-sensei 7. Free time

Tokyo, well, it basically gives you as much as you take. As the highest population density in the world and the third biggest economy, you are bound to find things to do.

Typical night view of central Tokyo

7.1. University circles and clubs

Japanese high schools and universities are known for their great amount of different circles ("saakuru") and clubs (kurabu). Basically these are the places the Japanese students get to know each other, and they serve a greater goal than to just involve in the activity. Usually students hang around with their circle members during school time, conduct group works together and spend a great amount of time together in their free time as well. That's why if you want to get to know the local students, joining a circle is, if not the only, then at least the best way to do it. Circles are much more free-spirited than clubs, which can have practices say 5 times a week and tournaments during the weekends. There are different circles all the way from hiphop to poetry. I joined a badminton circle, which was definitely a great deal of fun and we did field trips and drinking sessions ("nomikai"). This circle was very foreigner-friendly and quite many exchangees joined it as well. Unfortunately some circles don't really take foreigners so easily, due the language barrier and the whole senpai-kohai culture. Anyway, there are also international circles and language prepping circles, which of course are more welcoming towards exchange students.

ITB Badminton Circle

7.2. Izakayas, karaokes, clubs, festivals, concerts

Izakayas are a great way of spending an evening/night with your friends in a cozy pub-like atmosphere while eating and drinking at a very reasonable price. Many of them offer all you can drink -offers ("Nomihoudai"), which can sometimes be just 1000yens / hour. There are great places in Kunitachi, just one stop away from "Hitotsubashi Gakuen" station, which you will be using if you're located in the Kodaira campus. And with a bike, it's around a 20-minutes trip.

Karaokes are also something Japanese love. They differ from the Finnish ones though, as you usually rent a small (or big) karaoke box with your friends and you have your own room with the karaoke machine, mics and a phone you can use to order drinks and foods. A fun way to start the evening, if you don't feel like going to izakayas or they're crowded.

Japanese karaoke box

Clubbing in Japan is not as popular as in the Europe I'd say, but there are some pretty cool clubs in Tokyo if you feel like dancing your night away. Especially in Shibuya, places like Club Asia, Vision or Womb are worth checking. A bit further away with a great sea view is the biggest club in Tokyo, AgeHa, which if I recall correctly has at least four dancefloors. You can find some crazy events and world famous djs playing there, definitely a place to check out. For a more hipsterish feel, head for the clubs in Daikanyama, which is an area known for cool cafes and global trendsetting. The Kabukicho area in Shinjuku is a pretty lively place as well, especially liked among tourists. When going clubbing in Japan, they will ask for your ids, so keep them with you (the legal drinking age in Japan is 20!).

Japan is also known for some big festivals such as Fuji Rock. Tokyo of course attracts world-famous artists as well, but for booking tickets to these events you may want to ask a Japanese friend to do it.

The monthly dancing parties ISDAK arranged were, though somewhat similar to upper secondary school discos, also a fun way to get to know the people living around you.

7.3. Hanami, autumn colors and "Matsuri" festivals

If you spend the spring semester in Japan, you will most likely arrive just perfectly for the "hanami" season, the time when the cherry blossom trees are at their best. You will notice the whole Japan getting excited about it and everyone spending time outside watching these blooming trees at parks. If you are selected for the fall season, no worries though since Japan also enjoys an amazing palette of colours during the late summer when it's turning to fall. You might want to experience this outside Tokyo though, for example in Kyoto.

Especially during the summer season, Japan is full of different kind of festivals called "matsuri", which often include amazing fireworks and lot of local food stalls. Japanese wear their yukatas for these festivals, so you can see a lot of tip- to-toe dressed up people, often enjoying the evening with their friends or colleagues.

Group of exchange students and locals dressed for the matsuri!

7.4. Traveling

From Tokyo, you can reach great destinations both inside and outside Japan. Kyoto is of course the cultural centre of Japan with an amazing authentic feel of Japan, something you can see in "Memoirs of Geisha" (filmed partly in Kyoto). Osaka is a smaller version of Tokyo, people say the people there are more relaxed, who knows, but at least they have a funny accent and sure all the metropolitan joys and wonders. We also went to Okinawa, the "summer vacation" place of Japan known for its emerald green beaches and relaxed atmosphere. However I wouldn't recommend the main island of Okinawa with Naha as its centre, but a better way to fly away from the metropolitan life is to continue the trip to the smaller islands of Okinawa, closer to Taiwan. We went to Ishigaki, which was a great little island with local pubs, beaches and great diving possibilities. You may also want to take a trip to Hiroshima, Nikkoo, Kamakura or even Hokkaido if you miss the cold. Overall the weather in Tokyo is pretty nice whether you come in the fall or spring semester. Fall semester might get a bit chilly (of course nothing compared to Finland) during January-February, whereas the July-August in the summer is pure pain with the heat and humidity hitting the roof. Otherwise, it's quite comfortable. As the weather in Japan is very unpredictable, rather than relying on the your phone's default apps, I'd recommend to check the Yahoo forecasts.

During my exchange I also flew to Seoul and Taipei, both great places (and cheap!) worth visiting if you have time.

Bamboo forest in Kyoto 8. Prices

Last year started with a boom, the Japanese new area of economics - Abenomics - has done a great job in getting the value of yen to lowest its been in decades. Therefore, even Tokyo is, especially after Helsinki, not that expensive. Eating outside is a lot cheaper than Helsinki, and even supermarkets are apprx. 15-20% cheaper. Of course it depends on whether your buy domestic products or imports, but still I'd say it's pretty cheap. Also as mentioned, the rents in the dormitories are crazy cheap, and the only books I had to buy for the semester were the Japanese language ones (which you might actually want, if you want to study Japanese). Prices at the clubs are a bit cheaper than in Helsinki, but the cloaks can be quite expensive at times. The only thing, which will definitely eat your purse, is the public transport. Though it's amazingly punctual, clean, fast and convenient in every way, a one-way trip from the dormitory to Shinjuku costs around 4 euros, and there are no discounts available for exchange students.

The ever so famous Ehkä Söpö in the Harajuku fashion district

9. Language

If there is one thing which makes living in Japan frustrating at times, it's the language. You can't really expect anyone to speak, at least fluently or conversational level, English outside the university. The students at Hitotsubashi can usually speak pretty well, which is probably due the international and business focus of the university. Transportation is very easy though and all the stations in Tokyo have English infos and utilize romajis and simple Japanese writing in the station names. Also the restaurants pretty often have sample dishes outside, which is by no means a sign of poor quality as in some other countries, but merely a popular thing to do. The Japanese are also extremely polite and kind, and even without the common language often problems are solved in a friendly atmosphere. Only when you need to some more complicated stuff such as buy a sim card, report a lost item or use the laundry machine, you might want to have a local with you.

The language with its three writing systems, nuances and unique grammar itself takes a few years for sure to reach even a conversational level. Therefore if you have no prior skills in Japanese, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the heavy language courses, especially if you have no intention in continuing the language. Instead, it's useful to learn the most used phrases to make sure you can act politely, ask for ways when your lost and order a tap beer ("Namabiiru").

10. Tips to Survive

The greatest apps for Japan are:

- Google Maps (simply awesome when it comes to navigation) - Google Translate (well, you can get at least usually the message through) - Imiwa? (best Japanese dictionary and translation app, especially if you know how the Japanese language works at least a bit. Also great example sentences) - Tokyo + rail map (I bought this when I didn't have 3G, as it has offline location and railway maps) - LINE (the local whatsapp, with irritatingly addictive stamps and stickers) - Tae Kim's Learning Japanese (A good app to find useful grammar quickly) - Japan News (just so you know what's going on)

There are also tons of apps to learn about Japanese restaurants (like sushi apps), easy phrases to use and cultural sights to see. Browsing through the app stores before your departure will definitely make your life easier!

You should definitely get a bike for your semester. The school trip with a bike takes around the same time as with the train (apprx 20-30 minutes), but you save around 500 yens per day with the bike. Also in the campus area, there are some nice restaurants which are a bit of a pain to walk to. At the beginning of the semester you could buy a bike from the university (around 10 000 yens) and there were also some individuals renting theirs. I bought mine from a bigger supermarket for 9500 yens, and sold it for 5000 yens after the semester to the new exchange students. A word about the bike, in Japan you have to register it. Usually you do it when you purchase the bike, but you should be cautious if you want to sell your bike to someone else and make sure you fulfil a transfer of bike - certificate. The police can actually stop you and check whose bike you are riding; if it's registered under someone else's name, no matter the explanation you give, you will probably be asked to come to the station and have the matter solved.

Japan is probably the safest country in the world, meaning it's totally fine to sleep at the railway station with your bag next to you and wait for the morning train, especially since the local white collar workers (salarymans, "Sarariiman") will do it with you. Actually speaking of experience, even if you lose your pretty expensive bag with a wallet containing several hundreds of euros and all kinds of nice electronics, you will most probably receive it back untouched.

If you speak simple English and learn how to pronounce it the Japanese way, people will have the courage to use English with you.

Having 3G on your phone is a lifesaver, especially since in Tokyo it's pretty hard to find Wifis (some bigger stations have, and also Starbucks, which is funny though since it requires a registration for usage and you can register only online, and 7elevens). Coordinate with the other exchangees on how to open one, I bought mine from Bic Camera ("Bikku kamera"), operated by IIJmio. A bit of a fuss is also that the dorms don't have wifis, but you need to buy your own. During the orientation there are people selling them though, and you can share the connection with your roommates (making it cost only about 2000-3000 yens for the semester).

Due its location, Japan is known for natural disasters. During my time in Japan I experienced a few smaller earthquakes and read the news about the floods and volcano eruptions. Though I never felt threatened anyway, learning the basics of what to do during an earthquake and saving the emergency number on your phone (119 for emergency) can really be a wise thing to do.

The Japanese food is amazing. So good. Try the best sushi of your life and enjoy the oily ramen after a night out. Drink tea, make your own okonomiyaki and experience the delicacy of Japanese deserts with an amazing eye for detail and perfection. Have the heureca moment when you understand which words omuraisu combines and splash some money on mouth-watering kobe beef.

Students are not automatically allowed to work during their exchange, however you can apply for a permit to involve in activities other than designated which will grant you the right to do certain jobs for a limited amount of hours in a week. If you are planning on staying in Japan after studying, you will have to change your student status back to temporary visitor, which is for 3 months and can be reapplied once for additional 3 months. I was fortunate enough to get an internship after my exchange in Japan, which meant I had to change my status from a student to designated activities. That process can be quite tricky, if you need help feel free to ask my contact information from the International Student Services at Aalto.

There are tons of small things to say, such as Japanese form a neat queue before the metro doors open, drive on the left side, don't have gears on their bikes and sometimes buy a ticket outside the restaurant for ordering the meal, but with an open-minded spirit and a polite appearance you will sort all these things easily out.

11. Wrapping it Up

My exchange semester in Hitotsubashi University was definitely an experience I'm glad I decided to do. I'm sure an exchange wherever equals a lot of fun with people from around the world, but exotic locations such as Tokyo add the fascinating aspect of unique culture and ways of thinking and doing to it. I feel I was able to truly learn a new set of values through which to observe the world and valuable cultural and communicational skills I can utilize when interacting in East Asia.

Japan is truly unique; whether it's the Shibuya crossing, friendly old lady wondering where you're from or a bunch of high school kids randomly asking if they can take a picture with you, you will always find yourself surprised.

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