... for vacation with my friends, but also, I'm looking into whether there are japanese universities specially designed for non-Japanese ppl (in other words: immigrants/speak english)? I wonder whether anyone knows a webpage of any of such schools or an address/telephone number?
And about my holiday there: does anyone know any decent hotels, not too pricey but still decent (with shower and all the basic reqs)?

try staying at youth hostels. they're basically hotels that are used by young people, kind of like YMCAs to a certain extent. my friends have stayed at some in Japan before when I was there and didn't seem to have any problem. the only problem with the hostels is that since they ARE for young people, they do have a curfew of 10:00. if you're not back inside the hotel by 10:00, then tough luck, you're spending the night outside. but, the youth hostels are the cheapest way to stay in Japan and they are located all over Japan (the world for that matter) try doing a search on google.com for youth hostels and you should be able to find their official website.
if the curfew bothers you, there are usually some pretty cheap hotels that have EXTEMELY basic standards (as in bring your own towels) around train stations. unfortunately, the only way to stay at one of these hotels is either have a friend scout one out for you ahead of time or test your luck by looking for one yourself when you get there.
hope that helps!
if you have any other questions, you can email me at [email protected] (this is Eyrien* by the way, for some reason I can't log in!) and ask them.

The International University of Japan offers graduate business programs especially to international students, with English as the language medium of instruction. The website address is www.iuj.ac.jp.

oh, one thing about youth hostels that wasn't mentioned in this post is that you have to share a room with other people. so it's advised that you bring along a money belt to sleep with. not implying that people would steal things when you're sleeping, but it's always safe to do so. if you're in a bigger city though, you may get lucky with finding a youth hostel with single rooms. and if you plan to stay at several different hostels it would be best to buy the membership online. it's only $25 for one year. you save $10 at each hostel you stay at, so it is worth it. i personally, did not stay at one, but we researched it too. i was lucky enough to stay with my friend's family up in japan.

Hey Eyrien, Guest and jpnallbuzzedsaw, thanks for replying with such detailed messages! Eyrien I'll email you later today because I have a few questions..
Btw does anyone know what a normal hotel costs? We're not low on cash so maybe we could pay up for normal hotels (no disrespect to youth hostels)? Anyone know what the average price would be and do we have to reserve in advance?
Guest I'm going to read that page you gave me in detail.. But a quick question: do you know what the requirements are? I live in Europe so it's a totally different education system...

Once again, thx for replying guys, I didn't expect that ppl would actually bother

"The International University of Japan offers graduate business programs especially to international students, with English as the language medium of instruction. The website address is www.iuj.ac.jp. "

Guest, I graduated from highschool and am about to enroll to college... that site seems to focus on students who have already acquired certificates of universities? At least the FAQ says they require foreign students to have a certificate from a higher education institute such as a university... weird though, graduate from one university to go to another? Already writing an email to them but thought you might know something...

hotels are costly. i stayed at two different hotels when i went up there in may. one of them was a business hotel in osaka. that one was 5500 yen a night. i'm sure you can get one cheaper because that included meal tickets (breakfast) and two single beds. the hotel i stayed in up in makuhari was a little more expensive. i believe it was around 8000 yen a night. i didn't pay for it, so i'm not too sure. both hotels though, you need to call for reservations. i was lucky because my friend's cousin worked at a travel agency in japan so he did all the arrangements. but hotels will cost around that much ... anywhere between 5000-30000 yen a night. depending on location and accomodations.

Well, the university I've mentioned earlier actually offers only graduate courses, that is, you have to gain at least a bachelor degree or any other equivalent in order to get in to do a master's. Don't think it would be suitable for fresh college graduates but that's the only one I know of which specially caters to non-Japanese students.

i really want to go there,enjoy teh enviroment?how bout u guys?any1 went there before,how was ur experience?

http://jdorama.com/viewtopic_1673_0.htm scroll down a bit.

The experience was as positive as dopin, hehe. I had planned well before the trip, tight schedule. I traveled there during the hanami week, The cherry tree viewin festival. A week in Tokyo.
Have to admit the timing was perfect and the waether as well! The weather was warm and sunny, unlike the day I left home for the airport, still cold I remember I had goose bumps at the airport, too excited.

Took a cheap local train to Tokyo station, a 70 min ride. I just looked at the enviroment as the train passed by it. I was confused and excited.
Leavin the station was a real shock! I saw a LOT ppl going here and there, like an ant army. Huge buildings. A very lively city. Everythin was "reversed", didn't expect that. I guess culture shock hit me. I would never crowds like that in my country!
I went chicken I would never meet my expectation to the itinerary I planned back home. I took it east and took a deep breath and headed toward the city with my trusty Tokyo map and proceed to the plan

I ate economically. Free breaklfast at the hotel. Had bento for lunch, ramen and udon for dinner, late night snacks include intanst noodles, and yakitori. Had a lot of soft drink, pocari sweet and fanta melon
Despite eatin economically I gained weight durin the trip

Watched some dramas on the tv in the hotel room. Didn't know anythin about jdramas back then, hehe! Love Revolution was widely advertised on the media especially on the street scene. There was ths thing "adult" button on the remote controller. I was thinking of pressing the button but I came to my sense, "I didn't come here to view porns!" Viewin japanese programmes was sure an excursion, sounded interestin and excitin despite I didn't understand anythin except "baka!".

Bought a Game Boy Advance at a gamin store in Akihabara. Haven't used GBA since I bought it...dunno I maybe bought it just to brag off with it "I bought this before it was released outside Japan!"
Bought some jpop, idol merchandise and a a few idol books Some Urecco issues, woo hoo!!!
Spent hrs at the arcades. Pachinko, *lol*

I followed the itinerary, everything went according to it despite the tight schedule. The only thing I really HATED was going back
I didn't want to go back! One week was too short! Stupid me, should have stayed for 2 weeks. I plan to travel to Japan again, within 3-4 years. This time thruout Japan.

i reccommend that you go to japan nicholl!!
after a year of studying japanese (elementary japanese, 1st year), i won a scholarship to study abroad for 1 summer (which was like 2-3 months). we (scholarship recipients) received our destinations a week or 2 before actually leaving to japan. 1 week was set aside in Tokyo for site seeing and orientation. the rest of the summer was spent with our host families.

well, once i knew where i was going, i wasnt all that excited, because i wanted to stay in Tokyo or Osaka, the big cities. there was a total of 3 or 4 of us that were going to the Okinawa prefecture. but after spending the summer there, attending high school and hanging out with okinawan teens, i absolutely loved it there!

not only did i have a host family but i became close with my host sisters as well. so i actually experienced japanese daily life.

so my second time that i went to japan, i saved up some money and was able to visit 3 of my friends in 3 different areas of japan. which include, tokyo, okinawa, osaka area (kyoto, kobe). all 3 areas are very different, but all interesting and fun!!! this time i went during winter break (so i was there for xmas, and new years), unfortunately i was sick while in the osaka area (too cold). okinawa was still warm even though it was winter, osaka was filled with a lot of old buildings and has a lot of history behind it, and tokyo was exciting and modern.

its been 3 or 4 years that i have been to japan. but i would love to visit again!, study a lot of japanese, and save your money!!! you'll enjoy japan.
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im too broke, cant even afford to visit my own country so how can i visit japan as well?
how desperate i am?? just about 90% i guess hehe
i do wanna learn more about japan, not bec. of anime and jdramas =P infact i am interested to work with jetpro n learn the environment, the culture, the religions, foods and such.. someday if i get accepted to work for jetpro i hope i can stay there as much as i can.
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amrayu wrote:

i reccommend that you go to japan nicholl!! after a year of studying japanese (elementary japanese, 1st year), i won a scholarship to study abroad for 1 summer (which was like 2-3 months). we (scholarship recipients) received our destinations a week or 2 before actually leaving to japan. 1 week was set aside in Tokyo for site seeing and orientation. the rest of the summer was spent with our host families. well, once i knew where i was going, i wasnt all that excited, because i wanted to stay in Tokyo or Osaka, the big cities. there was a total of 3 or 4 of us that were going to the Okinawa prefecture. but after spending the summer there, attending high school and hanging out with okinawan teens, i absolutely loved it there! not only did i have a host family but i became close with my host sisters as well. so i actually experienced japanese daily life. so my second time that i went to japan, i saved up some money and was able to visit 3 of my friends in 3 different areas of japan. which include, tokyo, okinawa, osaka area (kyoto, kobe). all 3 areas are very different, but all interesting and fun!!! this time i went during winter break (so i was there for xmas, and new years), unfortunately i was sick while in the osaka area (too cold). okinawa was still warm even though it was winter, osaka was filled with a lot of old buildings and has a lot of history behind it, and tokyo was exciting and modern. its been 3 or 4 years that i have been to japan. but i would love to visit again!, study a lot of japanese, and save your money!!! you'll enjoy japan.

Well said... I love my host family too... they are so kind while I am staying there for 2-3 months study exchange. They have daughter and son that is in highschool to, so I get to enjoy both guys and girls side of daily life there

if any of you are going to japan, can you bring me along . Also I dont know japanese but do people back in japan speak english too?

goin there next year!
^^
for a month!

why u go there juliana phang?holiday ya,visit as tourist or working there....btw i am in malaysia also KL,which part of malaysia is ur place?

so nice,good luck

If you want to enjoy the enviroment, maybe you can try Korea first . From my point of view apart from language and cultre Japan and Korea are quite similar in enviroment. Both countries have the four season and extremely beautiful during spring and autumn. Moreover going to korea is less costly as we all know everthing in Japan is expensive. If you plan to go during autumn period I would recomend Korea to you and if you plan to go during spring period I would recomend Japan to you.

amrayu wrote:

i reccommend that you go to japan nicholl!! after a year of studying japanese (elementary japanese, 1st year), i won a scholarship to study abroad for 1 summer (which was like 2-3 months). we (scholarship recipients) received our destinations a week or 2 before actually leaving to japan. 1 week was set aside in Tokyo for site seeing and orientation. the rest of the summer was spent with our host families.

hi,
i've taken first year japanese at college and was hoping on getting a scholarship to study in japan. i was wondering what scholarship u won. thanks

nicholl wrote:

why u go there juliana phang?holiday ya,visit as tourist or working there....btw i am in malaysia also KL,which part of malaysia is ur place? so nice,good luck

youth exchange
^^
get to stay with japanese ppl

my sister will go there also next year for scholarship programme, hope i can accompany her if i get enuff money and find a job there..