I'm currently an NUS student on an exchange programme at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS). I decided I want to document any helpful information on this blog regarding my student exchange programme (SEP), as well as for me to remember the (administrative) details of my SEP as well :) I think information like costs etc are very helpful in general, so hopefully this helps anyone who comes across it as well!
Some info about me:
Major: Sociology
Minor: Japanese Studies
Semester that I'm on SEP: Y2S2
***however I was a poly student, so I get 1 semester exempted! Technically I'm in my Y3S1 right now, but for convenience purposes, let's go with Y2S2
While applying for my SEP at NUS
I applied in my Y1S2 (the first semester you can apply for SEP). NUS students are given 5 options each, so I chose: TUFS, Ritsumeikan, Rikkyo, Kwansei Gakuin and Uni of Cali. We can't rank our choices but I placed TUFS as the first one anyway, because I knew a senior who went there and since she seemed like she had a great experience I felt more familiar in a sense with that uni. Not sure if my "ranking" helped at all though.
Ritsumeikan and Rikkyo are also in Tokyo, while Kwansei Gakuin is in Osaka. I was leaning towards getting a uni in Tokyo because I prefer the city, and there's a million and one things you can do in Tokyo, whether it's shopping, eating, Disneyland, or day trips to surrounding prefectures. NUS is partner with many other universities in places like Kyoto etc too but those areas felt too country for me.
Anyway, I submitted my application on 28th February and got an email on 12th May, saying to check my allocation on the student portal. No interviews whatsoever, which I think is the norm in FASS.
And I got allocated TUFS! :)
Preparing for SEP
I only received an email on 15th September after that to start preparing my SEP documents to send over to TUFS, and to submit them in November. So I had plenty of time to find a professor to write my letter of recommendation for me, do my health tests, fill up all the necessary forms for my visa etc. Pretty straight forward.
After submitting my forms in November, I basically waited until next year when I received my acceptance email from TUFS in late January, then I had to wait again until late February for TUFS to courier the official acceptance letters to NUS. I only managed to apply for my visa in the first week of March I think, but the Japan embassy in SG is quite fast and got me my visa within like 5 working days or so.
It was a pretty tight and stressful moment, because I was flying off to Japan on 18th March to tour Japan for 2 weeks first with my boyfriend, before moving into my uni dorm on 1st April. So I was glad the visa process was quite fast.
It was around this time that my Japanese student buddy (Akane) in TUFS emailed me as well, and we managed to exchange Facebook & LINE information so I could ask her plenty of questions.
About Module Mapping
I know NUS recommends us to do module mapping for our classes at our partner uni waaay in advance, but I only managed to do so once Akane linked me to all the right places to look at the available classes for the upcoming semester. Can you imagine all these while (from last year May till I got to know Akane) I was just left wondering if I could even transfer any valid classes back to NUS for my SEP semester LOL. It was a rather terrifying long wait!
Anyway, I just submitted any potential classes I thought would fit and by the end of it all, I had submitted about 19 options :') The max module mapping requests you can send is 20 btw, but I kept changing my mind and some of the classes I sent for got rejected for the level I wanted, etcetc.
To keep it short, classes in Japan work differently from classes in NUS (or Singapore in general). You actually get to shop for/try out the classes for the first 2 weeks, and only register for the classes you want after that. Classes in TUFS are 1.5hours each, once a week, and are worth 2 credits. Applying for classes is very easy, you don't have to fight for slots or anything, you will usually get the classes you choose.
16 credits in TUFS = 20 MCs in NUS (one semester's worth).
I ended up taking 10 classes in TUFS (all taught in English). So it's about 20 TUFS credits = 24 NUS MCs.
This is my TUFS timetable:
Here's a brief breakdown for my NUS module mapping.
TUFS
12 credits SC (8 credits L3000, 4 credits L2000)
8 credits JS
20 credits total
=
NUS 16 MC SC (L3000 12 MC, L2000 4 MC)
8 MC JS
24 MC total
It's kind of complicated how it's calculated, but I had many email threads with the SEP coordinator about it so hope this helps if anyone needs it!
About my TUFS dorm
You can't choose which TUFS dorm building you get allocated to, they have 3. All dorms are single rooms. I got allocated to Dorm 1, which was the first building that got built, aka the oldest. Don't be phased by that though, the facilities are all pretty clean and well-kept.
The differences between the 3 dorms is this: Dorm 1 and 3 have a private bathroom (toilet + bathtub/shower) in each of our rooms. Dorm 2 only has a toilet, no bathtub/shower, you have to shower in communal toilets instead.
Monthly rent for dorm 1 is 22,000 yen, dorm 2 is 21,000 yen, while dorm 3 is 46,000 yen (+ a one-time 30,000 yen fee for card key money).
They're pretty lax about visitors for dorm 1 and 2, and friends/family come visit or sleep over all the time. For dorm 3, they're super strict. There are residence managers and I've heard that visitors have to sign in each time they enter. I've also heard that it's because it's so new, so they want to maintain it well and make sure no one ruins the building.
Here are some photos of my room.
When you first enter:
There's a mini-kitchen (stove, sink) and a nicely-sized fridge.
Opposite my mini-kitchen (where the bagpack is hanging) is my toilet.
My study table.
Left: My bed. Only fits 1 person lol.
Right: My closet. It's actually right by the door when you first enter my room.
My balcony.
& the view in Spring! You can see cherry blossoms. Taken on 1st April when I first moved in.
Administrative Stuff
As for things like registering for national health insurance, making your bank account, getting your residence card, registering at the city hall etc, all of these things will be done on your orientation day. TUFS actually will get a bus to charter the exchange students to the city hall to settle all the administrative stuff.
As for phone, it's up to you. Usually Japan only has SIM cards for 1 year or 2 year contracts, and they don't have anything less than that. I personally didn't see the need for making phone calls in Japan, so I decided to get a data SIM. Tourist data SIMs in Japan, the ones being sold at places like Yodabashi Camera or Bic Camera, are really expensive and not worth it.
After doing some online research, I decided to get mine from Sakura Mobile. It's a 7GB data monthly plan, and costs about 3980yen monthly. There was a 4420yen registration fee though. You can choose from 2 payment methods: credit/debit card online, or convenience store payment (they'll send you a smart card for you to do so).
Water + Electricity Bills
Here's the fun part. I'm also still keeping tabs on my spending, so jotting it down is great.
Water bill for 1st Apr - 9th May: 1,978 yen
Electricity bill for 1st Apr - 16 Apr: 2,026yen
Electricity bill for 17 Apr - 17 May: 4,058 yen
Food in the TUFS cafeteria
Relatively cheap. My favourites are the Butamiso Yakiniku Don, or Spaghetti Meat Sauce. Usually only 300+ yen each. I also love the chocolate & strawberry cakes, just 108 yen!
Grocery Shopping
Most people do their grocery shopping at Ito-Yokado, a supermarket at the Musashi-Sakai station. Musashi-Sakai station is 2 train stops away from Tama. It's also the station where you'll have to take to if you wish to switch trains to head to Shinjuku.
My grocery shopping cost fluctuates, but I usually spend 1,000 - 2,000 yen each time.
Monthly Budget
Personally, I've set aside 2k SGD for every month, so I expect my exchange (Apr - July) to cost 8k in total. I believe it'll fluctuate from month to month, since some months I do more heavier travelling than others. I did an impromptu day trip to Nikko during Golden Week and the transport was crazy -- I believe the Shinkansen from Nikko to Shinjuku cost 4,000 yen.
In general, transport is very costly. Going to the city area (e.g. Shibuya) costs 540 yen ($7) one-way. I believe transport takes up a lot of my budget lol.
Train passes aren't practical because 1) as exchange students, we are not entitled to student passes. 2) no train pass makes sense for the lines that we take from uni into town, since we have to keep switching to different lines.
If you plan to do many day trips out of Tokyo, especially on days where you have no classes, be prepared to allocate more budget for it. I'm also into going to concerts, and concert tickets ain't cheap! Really depends on what you like to do in general.
Left: Day trip to Chichibu (Shibazakura festival)
Right: Day trip to Nikko (Toshogu Shrine)
Shopping
My favourite places to shop are at the Forever21 in Shibuya and Shinjuku lol. yes I'm basic af. But I also feel that the Forever21s in Japan have fashion specially catered to the kawaii Japanese women demographic, and the items they sell are significantly sweeter or more harajuku edgy. I love it! Plus, I always buy from the sales section, and get crazy good steals all the time :) I've gotten tops for 540 yen, 299 yen, 1-for-1 promotions, cute hair ties for free, etc.
Just some stuff I've bought (yes, I love pink):
Also, I managed to set up my Yahoo Auctions account to purchase stuff from there :) It's relatively easy to link it to your Japanese bank account to pay for stuff. I've bought Shellie May/Duffy stuff and Dua Lipa concert tickets through it. Absolutely hassle-free!
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I'll add more to this post in time to come :) Feel free to ask any questions!
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