Just as I am about to start writing this article for the Embassy, the friends whom I have met at Osaka University have arrived in London. They have come from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Romania, Bulgaria, England, and the United States. The eleven of us have different ethnic origins, different backgrounds and upbringings, and yet we were all brought together by one commonality - passion in the study of Japan and its language. It has been over sixteen months since we said goodbyes in the suburban town of Minoh, but our friendship has never faded. It was Japan that brought us together, and it is our time in Japan that makes us stick together.
I was in my second year of the BA (Hons) Japanese Studies course at The University of Manchester when I applied for the Monbukagakusho (MEXT) undergraduate scholarship. I had known about the scholarship since I was a child, as my mother was also a recipient of the scholarship when she was studying Japanese. Having heard many stories about the wonderful time she had as a student in Japan, I decided to try my luck and applied for the scholarship. On the application, I had put down Kyoto and Osaka universities as my top choices, as I had previously participated in homestays in Kansai and felt a personal connection to the region.
The application process comprises the application form, a written assessment and an interview at the Embassy in London. While the application form was relatively straightforward to complete, I was terrified at the thought of having an interview conducted in Japanese. In reality, Mr Okamoto, the Education Attache at the Embassy, was very friendly and made me feel at ease. Only a week after the interview I found out that I had been nominated by the Embassy to MEXT in Tokyo. It was decided that I would attend Osaka University for the year abroad.
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During my year at Osaka University, along with other MEXT and Japan Student Services Organisation (JASSO) scholars, we were exposed to a wide variety of classes and plenty of opportunities to study Japan in different aspects. In stark contrast to our mode of study in England, the Centre for Japanese Language and Culture (CJLC) at Osaka University offered intensive language and culture classes every day from 9 to 6. I seized this opportunity and eventually I took more classes than we were required to. We also had the opportunity to study alongside local Japanese students. One of the classes I took was Introduction to the Japanese Legal System, which was taught at the Faculty of Law on the Toyonaka campus. There we discussed the Constitution and issues on ethics and human rights, which gave me an insight into how the law affects people’s daily lives in Japan. |
MEXT scholarships are available for UK undergraduates enrolled on Japanese Studies courses in the UK who wish to study in Japan for one year as part of their degree.
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Other classes I took included comparative and modern literature, early modern history, politics, as well as language classes in grammar, conversation and Kanji.Through these classes, my proficiency in the language improved greatly, and the efforts and enthusiasm of the tutors at CJLC was a great driving force towards this improvement. Many students chose to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test whilst in Japan and many passed with flying colours in the Levels 1 and 2 exams.
On several occasions we were offered heavily discounted overnight trips to Hiroshima, Wakayama, Mie and Kagawa prefectures. The tutors at CJLC led these trips and we visited places such as the Itsukushima-jinja, Ise-jingu and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. On the trip to Kagawa prefecture we were offered the best seats in the Kabuki theatre, and we enjoyed the performance immensely. On another occasion we also watched the Spring Sumo tournament at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. If it were not for the Monbukagakusho scholarship, I don’t think we would have been so lucky as to have been offered all these opportunities to experience so many different aspects of Japanese culture.
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MEXT scholarships are an excellent opportunity to integrate fully into the Japanese community as well as secure a solid knowledge of the Japanese language.
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With the generous funding from MEXT, many of the scholars were able to use the scholarship to travel within Japan during the university holidays. During the long Spring and Summer breaks, I travelled to the Tohoku, Chubu, Shikoku, Kyushu regions, as well as Okinawa. On one of my travels I was overpowered by the wonderful hospitality of some Japanese people. I was planning to board a train in the mountains of Tochigi prefecture when I realised that I only had a 10,000yen note and did not have enough change to buy a ticket. The old lady who worked at the ticket office (there were no ticket machines) contributed towards my ticket to Nikko. As I was waiting for the train (it was delayed by about 15 minutes) on the platform by myself, the old lady reappeared again, with a steaming hot cup of coffee in her hands. 「寒いから」said she, and gave me the coffee. I had given up caffeine for Lent, and I couldn't help but drink that coffee, filled with kindness and hospitality; it was the best coffee I've ever had.
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While studying at Osaka University and living at the on-campus hall of residence, I also participated in a host family programme. It was slightly different from the conventional host family programme in that I did not live with the family, but instead we would meet once a month to talk and it was a great way for foreign students to experience the local social life. My host father is a neurologist and he was actually working and teaching at the Osaka University hospital. On my first visit to their home, we made Takoyaki together and I played video games with the 11-year-old daughter and the father. This summer I returned to Japan and visited the family. Having heard that I recently turned vegetarian, the host mother decided to make an all-vegetarian dinner - an amazing feat especially in Japan.
Having spoken to other students who have spent a year studying abroad, many agree that spending a year living and studying in the country they are passionate about has been the best time of their lives. For us this happened in Japan. Even now, sixteen months since we were last together in Japan, we are still reminiscing about the wonderful time we had living and studying in Japan.
To students who are considering applying for the scholarship, I have one piece of advice - just go for it! I had doubts on my language ability at the time of application, but I suppose my efforts and enthusiasm were reflected during the interview. And although many MEXT scholars spoke much better Japanese than I did, I only saw that as a motivation to study harder and put in more hours into learning the language. The MEXT scholarship has given us great opportunities to explore the country and study with the best language tutors, and I cannot recommend enough how important it is not to let this fantastic opportunity slip away. |
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