• Exchange students at KUIS belong to the Japanese Language and Culture Program of Ryugakusei Bekka.

• The maximum duration of study is 1 year (2 semesters).

• Changing the duration of your stay (1 semester to 2, or 2 semesters to 1) cannot be accepted without reasons which KUIS acknowledge as legitimate. Please be careful when you apply.

Eligibility

• Application is open only to international students from the partner institutions.

• Applicants must be nominated by their home institution.

• Applicants must have completed at least 12 years of formal schooling. If not, applicants must be 18 years old or older at the start of the exchange program and have passed an examination which proves that applicants have attained the same or higher academic level as 12 years of formal schooling. 

• Applicants from partner institutions must not graduate from their home institution while they are enrolled in the exchange program.

• Applicants must have completed at least one year of study at their home institution by the time of studying at KUIS.

N.B.

Students must notify KUIS prior to nomination if they:

• have a history of the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) rejected,

• have a Japanese nationality (including double nationality) and/or whose mother tongue is Japanese, or

• have studied abroad at a Japanese university (including universities other than KUIS).

GPA Requirement

None unless stated in the agreement. Home university’s nomination is required.

Home university must assure that the student has an excellent academic performance and is of a good character. 

Language Requirement

[Japanese Language and Culture (Bekka) Program only]

None but applicants must have a basic knowledge of Japanese language, including hiragana, katakana, basic words, kanji, and expressions.  Applicants are recommended to have Japanese language proficiency of JLPT N5 or above.

*Sample questions of the JLPT can be viewed at the following website.  Please use it as a reference for your Japanese language proficiency. https://www.jlpt.jp/samples/forlearners.html 

[Japanese-conducted Undergradauate Courses]

• • a) Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N1 and placed in Level 6 (certificate needed)

  • b) Placed in Level 7

[English-conducted Undergraduate Courses] (No certificate required)

• • TOEIC L&R 600

  • TOEFL iBT 54

  • TOEFL PBT 480

  • IELTS 4.5

• The first and foremost aim of our program is to foster students’ language acquisition and ability to communicate with many types of Japanese speakers in a variety of interactive situations. Japanese speakers are invited to join the classes so that students can use their language skills they have acquired to communicate with them. 

• Students are encouraged to join extracurricular activities such as club activities and chat session program with KUIS students in order to improve their Japanese communication skills.

• Students are expected to work autonomously and manage their own study schedule. The coursework of the program includes class lessons, homework, project work, and daily quizzes whereby students’ Japanese language proficiency is expected to improve significantly through the program.

Bekka Curriculum and Course Descriptions

• The outline, course descriptions and other details of the Bekka Program can be found on the Ryugakusei Bekka webpage.

• The curriculum consists of compulsory courses and elective courses.

• Please note that documents posted on the webpage may not be up-to-date. The curriculum and courses are subject to change.

Level Placement

Exchange students will take a Japanese Level Placement before the semester begins and placed in an appropriate class.

• All exchange students belong to the Japanese Language and Culture Program, but students who fulfill the language requirements can also take Japanese taught undergraduate courses of the Faculty of Foreign Languages when there are no Bekka classes on their timetable. 

• The language requirements are as follows:

  • a) Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N1 and placed in Level 6 (certificate needed)

  • b) Placed in Level 7

• Some courses, such as compulsory courses for regular students, are not available to exchange students.

List of the Faculty of Foreign Languages courses available for exchange students (2022)

*This list is from AY2022 and changeable every year. This is just for your reference (available in Japanese).

*Each course may have prerequisites.

*The number of students may be limited when it exceeds the capacity.

• Courses of English-conducted undergraduate program called Japan Studies Program (JSP) and Effective Language Learning Courses (ELLC) are also open to exchange students.

• All exchange students belong to the Japanese Language and Culture Program, but students can also take these courses when there are no Bekka courses on their timetable.

• For CPJS courses, at least the following level of proficiency is required. (No certificate needs to be submitted upon application. Students may be required to show a certificate to the professor/instructor.)

  • TOEIC L&R 600

  • TOEFL iBT 54

  • TOEFL PBT 480

  • IELTS 4.5

• Some courses, such as compulsory courses for regular students, are not available to exchange students.

The course list below is from the past semester. Courses available vary depending on the year/semester.

JSP

• Japanese Literature

• Japanese Popular Culture I

• Japanese Popular Culture II

• Tourism and Local Cultures of Japan

• Japanese Language and Culture

• Women’s Studies in Japan

• The History of Modern Japan

• The History of Premodern Japan

• International Relations: Japan in a Global Context

• Japanese Politics

• Media and Japanese Society

ELLC

• Effective Language Learning Course 1

• Effective Language Learning Course 2

Syllabi Search (available in Japanese only)

https://camjweb.kuis.ac.jp/portal/slbsskgr.do

How to search syllabi

*Availability and details are subject to change.

Exchange students will see KUIS students called Kaedemate once a week for about one hour to interact with each other.

*Japan Standard Time (JST)

1st Period: 9:00-10:30

2nd Period: 10:40-12:10

3rd period: 13:10-14:40

4th Period : 14:50-16:20

5th Period: 16:30-18:00

A+: 100-90 (Grade point: 4)

A: 89-80 (Grade point: 3)

B: 79-70 (Grade point: 2)

C: 69-60 (Grade point: 1)

Fail: 59-0 (Grade point: 0)

For a detailed explanation of the grading policy for each class, please read each course syllabus.

As a general rule, students are required to attend more than two-thirds of the classes. Being late or leaving early from class three times will be counted as one absence. A different attendance policy may apply depending on the course.  Absences with legitimate reasons that are known in advance should be reported to the instructor.

Cheating and plagiarism will be strictly treated in accordance with KUIS regulations.