Student Voice

Why did you choose to study in Japan?

I chose to study in Japan because of my interest in Japanese culture and that there is much to learn from here. Also, as my father is exporting honey to Japan, I thought it might be a good choice for to come here.

How did you prepare for studying in Japan?

After taking IELTS, I searched for universities in Japan that offer English-taught programs.
So, I researched on the internet about universities in Japan that I could directly apply to from my country.

Websites such as U.S News and World report on Best Global Universities in Japan, Japan Study Support,www.studyinjapan.go.jp, and JASSO greatly helped me out a lot. Based on what I wanted to study, I found my university and applied. I would say that researching various programs offered by universities and reading all the guidelines was a bit time-consuming. To prepare for studying abroad in Japan, I also studied Japanese.

When I applied to Okayama University, I read the application guidelines and did according to the procedures required such as sending digital and physical documents. After I passed the first screening, I took the entrance exam which was an interview and after passing it, I came to Japan.

For scholarships, the previous websites helped, and also the OJEIC page was very helpful. For new students who have an interest in studying in Japan, I greatly recommend Okayama University Japan Educational Information Center, Myanmar OJEIC which you can find on Facebook or google and you can consult with them for free. They also helped me apply for the JASSO scholarship. They have comprehensive information and can help you out a lot.

Regarding Scholarships, you can apply Rotary Scholarship and MEXT university recommended scholarship (if your university offers it) before coming to Japan and after you come to Japan there will be more scholarships you can apply for.

What are you studying/researching in Japan?

I am currently studying mainly Management, Economics, Philanthropy and nonprofit management, in the track of social innovation and entrepreneurship cluster.

What do you do in your personal time?

In my personal time, I do a part-time job at an izakaya restaurant and sometimes go teach English to Japanese students. I also tried different clubs and circles like the boxing club, English club, etc. Other than that, I read in my free time as I love to read. Japan has a lot of beautiful places to travel to so for long holidays, I travel here and there with my friends.

Please tell us about your challenges in Japan and how you overcame them.

The challenge I had when I first came here would be the language barrier. Speaking wasn’t that much of a problem for me but reading Japanese documents was. Especially, when I first moved in, I had to deal with various documents from the town hall. Thankfully, there was student support offered by the university to help us get used to life in Japan.

Any encouraging message and/or advice to those who wish to study in Japan.

Before coming to Japan, I would recommend studying Japanese, as knowing Japanese here just makes a lot of things more convenient. Also, if you are interested in working here, you need Japanese proficiency of at least N2 (Except for IT and some other jobs). But you can study Japanese from Japanese classes offered by the university even if you are in an English program and you can start job hunting in the third year of your university.
For those who are looking forward to studying in Japan, I strongly encourage you to come and study in Japan and I am pretty sure that you would fall in love with Japan and its people.