Ritsumeikan University

Please note: these tips have been provided by students who have studied abroad in Japan - Global Opportunities recommends that you use these as a guide only and do your own research on what is best for you.

Money and Banking: 

• It was very hard at first trying to figure out which ATMs would accept international cards, and which would not. If you enter a convenience store (conbini) like 7 eleven, Lawson or My Family, they should always have international ATMs. However, this is not always the case, like when I went traveling to Amami Ōshima, they had 0 international ATMs, so make sure that you have cash with you in case of emergencies. Another thing is that they will charge you for taking out cash, 100 yen for 10 000 yen and 200 yen for 20 000 yen or more. You will not be able to withdraw less than 10 000 yen. Also, contact your bank before traveling to tell them that you will be living in Japan and they will have more advice. You can open a Japanese bank account, you do not need a hanko to do so, you will find the process irritating and international transfers expensive. I recommend opening one only if you are receiving a scholarship from Japan or if you are planning on working a part-time job. Don't expect many places to use card when you buy something in Japan either, it is a very cash based society.

• I was able to withdraw money from my account in the UK at ATMs in Japanese convenience stores, after letting my bank know that I was going abroad. There was a small fee for withdrawals and the minimum withdrawal amount was 10,000 JPY (around £70) but Japan is a cash-based society and is very safe, so I felt much more secure carrying that much cash around than I would have in England. Furthermore my host university helped me to set up a Japanese bank account that my rent was withdrawn from and I could deposit money into it via ATMs.

• In the beginning I withdrew cash from my UK card and used that throughout the week. A lot of places don't accept cards including the train ticket machines. However, you can get transportation cards and load them with money and use them in shops and for the trains, saving you from carrying cash around.  

• A special card called WeSwap which lets you change currencies easily.  

Staying Connected: 

• I definitely got a new SIM card when I came to Japan. You need a Japanese phone number for nearly every bureaucratic process. For example, registering your address at the registration office, getting a Japanese bank account or renting an apartment etc. I got a great deal from Bic Camera, £9/month for 6GB of Data, although texts and calls cost extra, but most stuff is online anyway and the contract is only for a year. I recommend doing this before you come to Japan.

• I kept my old phone and bought a Japanese SIM card. SIM contracts can be a bit complicated in Japan so I purchased a Japanese Travel SIM, which is data only but is a one time purchase that you can top up using cards from electronics and convenience stores and is very easy to set up. 

• I bought a Japanese SIM while in the UK and picked it up from the airport after I landed. This saved time from having to communicate in a local store. I would recommend Mobal phones, they are relatively cheap and have really big data packages which come in handy when using online maps.  

• I bought a new sim but portable wifi is also an option. 

Food: 

• The best answer I can give, is to try everything! If you are vegan or vegetarian, then eating out will be difficult, but not impossible. There's an app called Happy Cow, and many Facebook groups which can guide you to the best places to eat if you have dietary needs. Another thing to watch out if you have allergies, be very careful where you eat, because even if you ask in Japanese if there is so and so in the food, most of the time they may not have an answer, and this may seem unhygienic. However that's not the case, they just don't have regulations which enforce writing allergies on the menu. My favourite places to eat / things to eat, would be Jiro ramen (huge food portions, you have been warned), takoyaki, izakayas (traditional Japanese "pubs" with amazing local food), shabu-shabu, yakiniku, gyudon, okonomiyaki, ichigo daifuku etc. Where to buy food, I would recommend the cheapest shop possible, I guess Don Quijote would be a good place to try, but you could probably find cheaper. Japanese food is amazing and it has definitely changed my life, you will never go back to normal rice after you try Japanese rice from a rice cooker.

• Eating out in Japan is quite cheap, so I'd recommend eating out fairly regularly for the experience. Personally I found convenience stores to be the best places to purchase meals to eat at home, as they can simply be heated in the microwave and they aren't ridiculously expensive. For me they were ideal as I was working very long hours in the lab and so I didn't really have the time to cook in the evenings. 

• Everywhere. In Japan, everywhere has good food. 

Paperwork and bureaucracy: 

• You find a Japanese friend, a friend who can speak Japanese or master the language before you arrive. None of the paperwork is in English. It took me 2 hours to register my address and nearly 3 hours to open up a bank account. There will be people to lead you on the way (Resident Assistants), don't be afraid to bombard with questions and get help from people around you, because you will all end up in the same boat and experience the same issues. Google is your friend, but not when the website is only in Japanese, so you may need to discover another friend called Google Translate Website. 

• A tutor from my dormitory came with me to file the paperwork at the local ward office when I first moved to Japan, and the university also helped me with some of it. When it came time to leave Japan, I had to go to the local ward office to let them know I was leaving by myself but fortunately there were people at the office who assisted me with filling  out the Japanese forms.

• There was a workshop at the start of the placement which gave you a package explaining the different forms to fill out. If you followed the guide it was relatively simple. 

• The process is at least somewhat efficient here. Was more difficult not speaking the language and living by myself but the internet was always able to help with the forms that are commonly filled out by foreigners. 

What I wished I'd known...: 

• Scholarships. Apply for them now. Don't wait for the response of your application to get accepted (like I did) before you decide to apply for scholarships. You have to do your own research, and even if you feel like you have no time to apply for them, ask a friend to help you with the process or even your family. It will be a pain, but worth it in the end if you get accepted, because flights and life in Tokyo / Japan is expensive, so be prepared financially. You can also easily find part-time jobs teaching English, they pay very well, make sure to apply for the right visa before coming to Japan. 

• How different expectations are in a Japanese university laboratory compared to an English one. Some of the protocols were very different to those I was used to in the UK, as were the working hours.

• Japanese people appreciate you trying, even a simple phrase in Japanese will impress a Japanese person. Also, there are so many different places you can visit on weekends because the trains are so well organised. Go on weekend trips and see the countryside too. 

• That you have to make the most of it while you can because anything can happen.