Details

• Japan
• MAECO-22
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

The most important and also most annoying part of the preparation is the Certificate of Eligibility (COE). This document is very important when you travel to Japan. The process is quite time-consuming and very intransparent. As soon as you receive this document, you can apply for your visa. I would advise you to call the embassy and explain your situation. It helped me a lot because they were able to give me an extra appointment to apply for my visa. Additionally, I would not book the flight too early, because you might have to reschedule it depending on how long the COE takes. Bring a printed version of the COE to the flight, because the immigration office asked me for it. Other than that, there is not too much to do. I flew directly from Frankfurt to Tokyo for around €900. If you have the choice, you can choose Haneda Airport instead of Narita. Haneda is significantly closer to Tokyo. I also tried to learn Hiragana and Katakana before arriving in Japan, and I think it was very helpful.

2. Accommodation

I stayed in a private shared house called Sakura House in Hiroo. The location is really amazing because you are within walking distance of Keio, and all other parts of Tokyo are relatively close as well, although nothing is really close in Tokyo. The rent changed with the exchange rate, but it was around €600–650. This is definitely not the cheapest option, but keep in mind that we paid a lot less for public transport because we could walk to the university. The house is full of other young people, and you will most likely have an amazing time there. I would definitely recommend staying there.

3. Academic life at host university

I was slightly disappointed by the academic life. Most courses are quite dry and offer little interaction. The variety of courses is also quite limited. However, the courses are fairly easy, and it is possible to accredit a lot of ECTS. I took four courses and was able to accredit a total of 32 ECTS. I think it depends a bit on how you want to approach your exchange semester. If you are really interested in the academic side, I would not recommend Keio that much. If you would rather spend your time traveling, you will have a very good time at Keio. I also took some Bachelor’s courses that I could not accredit, but I learned a lot. I definitely recommend taking “Introduction to China-Japan Relations.” The teacher is very nice, and I learned a lot. I also took the beginner Japanese class. I would definitely recommend taking this class. It appears to be very hard, but as you cannot accredit it anyway, it does not matter. However, it really improved my stay a lot because you will be able to communicate much more. English is not widely spoken in Japan. So even though it can be annoying, take Japanese.

5. Every day life in the host country

The public transport works very well, but it is relatively expensive. Download the Suica card if you have an iPhone. If not, you can get a physical card. Most of the social activities were through the shared house. We had a very nice community there. I recommend the izakaya “Sumire” in Shibuya. We spent many nights there. In the beginning, I thought about joining a gym, but they are quite expensive, and we then found out that there are public gyms in each ward of Tokyo. I would definitely recommend going there. Gyms in Japan are quite an experience because they work very differently from those in Europe. I also started training martial arts in Tokyo. If you are interested in trying it, you can go to the gym “T-Grip” close to Ikebukuro. They have an amazing BJJ coach who speaks English. This was definitely the highlight of my Japan experience because I made friends with many Japanese people there.

6. Testimonial

I really believe everyone will love Tokyo. There are so many amazing aspects of Japan that everyone will find something they love. Social interactions with locals can be challenging, so I would advise joining some sort of activity where you will definitely meet locals. Personally, joining martial arts was the best decision. I would also say that my travel experiences were really amazing. I visited almost all of the Japanese islands. If you enjoy hiking, you should do the Kumano Kodo Trail, and visiting Hiroshima is a must.