Details

• Japan
• BaIBWJap-19
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

significantly cheaper that way. I flew from Vienna to Kansai Airport. For getting to Kobe from the airport, it depends on your accommodation: if you’re staying on Port Island, take the ferry followed by the train; if not, there’s a direct shuttle bus to Sannomiya Station, which is more convenient. Pack light if you’re arriving for the spring semester — it’s already quite warm in Kobe by April. Finally, plan your finances ahead of time: set yourself a realistic budget so you know you’ll have enough for the semester.

2. Accommodation

I’d definitely recommend student residence over private accommodation. It’s significantly cheaper, and you get to meet a lot of other students right from the start. Location, safety, and proximity to university: Both main options — Sumiyoshi and Port Island — are about an hour from the university, so travel time is roughly the same either way. That said, I’d lean toward Port Island since it’s closer to the city center. Tips I wish I’d known beforehand: I stayed in the Port Island residence myself and would recommend it over Sumiyoshi — it was cleaner and more recently built.

3. Academic life at host university

Overall, I found the courses at Kobe easier compared to WU Vienna. I took almost exclusively courses from the KIMAP (Kobe International Management) Master Program, which I’d highly recommend — it brings in international professors from all over the world and involves a lot of teamwork. Most courses are graded based on papers, presentations, discussions, and class participation rather than exams, which contributes to the lighter workload. Grading itself is fine, but not very transparent — for example, I received my final grade for one course in September, even though I’d finished it three months earlier, and there’s no real breakdown of how the percentage is calculated. That said, the courses were interesting and very international. KIMAP in particular has a large international student population, so it’s a great way to meet people and make friendships from all over the world. If your goal is to meet more Japanese students instead, I’d recommend taking economics courses rather than KIMAP ones.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport to the university is fairly expensive compared to other costs — getting there and back by train and bus can add up to around 7 euros a day. You can walk part of the way to cut costs, though. Safety-wise, Japan (and Kobe specifically) felt very safe overall. There are also plenty of clubs to join at Kobe University, ranging from tennis to country music — I joined the tennis club myself, though I didn’t attend too often since I was traveling a lot. My biggest recommendation would be to connect with as many international friends as possible and travel together — I went on a trip almost every weekend. Also, make time to go out to restaurants with classmates and build those connections; networking like this is honestly one of the best parts of any exchange.

6. Testimonial

My exchange in Kobe was all about deep international friendships, immersing myself in a truly unique culture, and successfully navigating a new academic environment. It was an unforgettable experience I’ll carry with me.