There is a message in my inbox about once or twice a week asking for advice on how to study architecture in Japan. Many of the people who followed through and ended up studying here have ended up becoming friends so I am genuinely happy to get those messages. Still, I notice I am becoming repetitive in my response so to indulge my laziness I wrote the major points down here. If you have any questions not covered in the text below, feel free to drop a line.
Every mail I get has three big questions. I try to answer these and add a point or two more that nobody asks about because its kind of unexpected. Based only on my experience this is what I know about studying architecture in Japan...
ENGLISH?
sure, you bet. no problem. You can study in Japan in English if you want to. Among the top universities I imagine all of the professors can speak in English by now. The students on the other hand may not, and that is where it gets complicated and the point of view of the professor changes the outcome. In some classes professors will summarize discussions in both Japanese and English. In others the language is set and only a bit of translation is offered - that can go in either direction. Its tedious to sit for an hour listening to a group talk in a language you can't understand, but I see it all the time. In my own classes I teach one undergrad course on sustainable design entirely in English and its fine, but in a master's course I need to say the same thing twice, once for each language. When it comes to one on one time with a professor, for studio or thesis then its no problem at all. English is more than enough. In the major schools you can do your thesis in English as well, no problem at all.
Outside of school is another thing altogether. Japanese education includes 6 years of English in elementary school and more in high school, and its part of all the entrance exams for university. This seems to be symbolic. If you go to a restaurant English is only common in the tourist areas. Trains and buses are at least labeled in English now, and Tokyo is getting ready for the olympics so there is more and more of it. So you can survive here no without any Japanese if you want. I absolutely recommend taking trips to places where there is no English though. That's where all the interesting things happen.
If you really want to study only in English the most hard core place recently is at the University of Tokyo, under the guidance of Yusuke Obuchi. He keeps it all English all the time. He also is doing some kick-ass work with computational design and fabrication.
SCHOLARSHIPS?
There are many scholarships depending on where you come from, but the one that always comes up, and the one that I used to study here is called the monbukagakusho. It needs to be applied to from your own country, takes about a year to get through, and is pretty competitive. But it pays full tuition plus a living stipend that is enough to live in Tokyo on. This is the fund I used to pay for my PhD at U of Tokyo. It was not quite enough for me because I had a family, but was awesome just the same. Definitely recommend it.
SCHOOLS?
Architecture is popular in Japan and there are quite a few universities with an architecture program. The best ones are the University of Tokyo, Keio University, Waseda University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama Graduate School of Architecture (Y-GSA).
For the connections, U of Tokyo is the best, and if you are into computational design its also awesome. Very similar to the AA, and getting better (Kuma is also a professor there, a great way to get into his office if that is an ambition). Keio at SFC is based on project-based learning. Shigeru Ban is here, so you can imagine the students travel around building in disaster areas a lot. He is just one professor though and other profs do different things, like building zero energy houses, etc. This is the most relaxed school I have taught at so far in Japan. Waseda is more conventional in the sense that it feels more like a Western university to me, with more or less regular studios, etc. I dont know the others so well except by reputation, so I rely on google to fill in the gaps.
THE QUESTIONS NOT ASKED
Nobody ever asks me what a laboratory is. I'm not sure if it is unique to Japan or not, but it has huge consequences to the education experience. Basically when you apply to a university the person who decides your life for the duration of your study is the head of a lab, which you have to apply to when you apply to the school. This means you have to contact the professor as soon as possible in the process. If you have an idea for research it should match what your professor is interested in or s/he will likely push to change it. What it comes down to is that students in a lab are all working on one big project that the professor is guiding over the long term. Students come and go, but the work is constant and usually ambitious and interesting. The professors kind of need your work to fit in to their big idea in some way for it to make sense for them. When you apply it is useful to keep this in mind.
Labs rule the Japanese world the way studio does in the North American system. The reality of what this means is that while there are studio courses nobody really cares about them. Sometimes there are a few students who take it seriously, but the real work is whatever the lab is doing. At Keio this is exaggerated because our students are building and that takes a lot of time and planning and travel. It means there are no summer breaks (we build overseas during breaks, usually), and that a lot of time spent in the lab is focused on production. Our graduates are great at project management and adapting to surprises. They are not as strong at design though, because they don't really get to practice much. They will have to develop those skills in an office.
The big upshot of all this is that the professors are leading the show. If there is going to be a cutting edge it will be on them, not the students or the school as a whole to find the way forward.
Closely related to this is that Japanese architecture schools are mostly all founded on engineering and science. That means the master thesis is not a design but actual research. With data. Data! Architects are not normally trained to do research so its kind of hit or miss in my experience but if you are creative it is an amazing opportunity. If the lab you are in is a good fit you might even get to do work on the cutting edge.
If you really want to focus on design I hear that the University of Tokyo allows students to do a design project instead of a paper. Apparently Keio has the same deal, but I've never seen a student go that route in the last 5 years here.
Acclimatizing to the research led approach to architecture study is something I see students from overseas struggle with a lot. When they get it sorted its pretty cool. When it goes well its because the student has a clear idea and/or talked to their lab professor as much as possible before applying.
keio university's architecture program is probably the best kept secret in the country. Hidden away on a campus an hour from tokyo the curriculum is wide open and connected to a campus-wide project aimed at community-driven innovation. students of economics can take courses in architecture and vice versa but we all are expected to take part in real projects somewhere in the world. there are a few starchitects on the faculty but mostly we are hoping to make a difference.
87 Comments
Hello! I was having these questions in mind:
1. Do I need to thoroughly learn how to read and write in Kanji if I am to be an Architect in Japan?
2. Do they hire people from other countries (Im from the Philippines) for apprenticeship?
I would be so glad if you could answer my inquiries. Im sorry if these questions seem stupid. Thank you so much.
if you want to be an architect in any firm that is primarily working in japan than yes you need to be able to read and write in japanese. Nobody speaks english here. For internships, yes you can get a position, but it's usually without pay. Don't expect it to lead to anything either. Many people are in any case turned away even for free work. There are too many candidates with exceptional skills willing to work for free in exchange for the opportunity to live in japan for a few months and to work with a starchitect.
First of all i just want to thank you for giving your time to answer the questions
I'm an architecture student i'm going to graduate this summer, i'm considering applying for Japanese scholarship, and i'm working currently on my research proposal for master's degree, but i kind find my self lost because i'm not sure if it's the relevant topic that could interests japan, Would you please give me some glances about what kind of perspectives should i undertake or focus on to meet the interests of Japanese architecture schools.
note: I'm thinking about vernacular architecture!!
you are applying for MEXT?
damn, i wrote an answer but it was apparently lost in the ether. My basic advice is to try to be as specific as possible. vernacular architecture is very broad. If you mean old buildings, there are probably professors interested in them, but not explicitly for their own sake. Population is crashing here, so there is a likely chance old buildings will be connected to that social issue. As far as it goes, the old vernacular houses are cold in winter and sweltering in the summer, often not well built, and dangerous in earthquakes, so there are probably labs you can join that will consider those issues. If you mean current vernacular I guess the entry point could be something like robotic factory production and mass customization. Or the effect of zoning and choices in urban form, etc. Best advice is to find a professor and contact them if you can, and if not then read as much about their work as possible in order to put together a proposal that will fit their lab work. Your ideas will probably change once you actually get started on it, but you should have a reasonable start in mind...
Thank you so much for your post. I'm very interested in studying architecture in Japan( for PhD). My thesis in master degree is research-based, it's about kinetic facade and its effect on energy consumption, also i wrote an article about kinetic facade. Now, I'm writing another article for an international conference, also I have IELTS band 6(in all skills).
( also i can do energy modeling by Honeybee and Ladybug)
Do you know which uni is more appropriate for me?
and, Do I have a chance to get a scholarship?
The comments above answer your questions a few times. Good grades will help with the scholarship. Monbusho is competitive, so try to be one of the top students in your country (not joking). Find a professor who is doing similar work to what you are interested in and contact them. PhD is a serious commitment so you should spend some time finding a prof who can guide you in your field. I know nothing about your topic so you will need to find it with google on your own I am afraid. Still, it is likely that someone is doing similar work. Only catch is that it may not appear in English as most technical research in Japan is conducted by those with less interest in communicating in English. Engineers are particularly focused that way. You may get lucky. I suppose it is a good rule of thumb that if you cannot find what you want to study in English that you will need to learn some Japanese to do the research in Japan. Luckily google is so easy to use, you will probably find out what you need to know in less time than it took for me to write this post. Good luck.
Good day Dr. Galloway,
Your posts and responses to the previous comments were full of great information, and would help a lot of people who are interested in studying Architecture in Japan.
I'm an incoming third year undergraduate student from the Philippines and I've always wanted to study Architecture in Japan. I would like to ask how Japanese universities teach the course. Are they heavy on the research paper output or models? Do they conduct field trips or any activity similar to it?
I also want to ask if there are universities that accept international transfer students for the Architecture course or do they have to go back to freshman year? The university sites that I've been through do not have any transfer student admissions section so it's very difficult to know anything about that topic.
Thank you so much in advance.
There is not much to add to the previous posts. In simplest form, depends on the professor. In general physical models are the norm, though there is a recent slow migration towards 3d modeling.
The lab structure dominates graduate school, and to some extent undergrad education in the latter half of the program. You will do field-trips yes, but it's Japan so lets be honest, everyday life is a field-trip in itself. In Tokyo there are world class buildings seemingly at every corner. Like any world city, really.
Transferring is not something I have seen or heard of. It may exist, but I am not the person to answer this, sadly. Perhaps you will get some credit for a course or two, but I kind of doubt it. Architecture school would be hard to start in the middle of since so much of the output is connected to the work of the lab, and that means you start as a junior member and then become senior member in the year before graduation; it would be hard to lead a group project in the lab without having done it as a junior member.
As far as output goes, some classes have essays, sure, like history, etc. There is not so much theory since it was killed by modernism and only peeks its head out from the ground every once in a while. As a result theory is mostly learned by osmosis rather than by coursework. Nice if you don't want to write a lot.
For a MArch degree it is expected that you do research, not a design. In case you are thinking about undergrad I believe students do a design for final year (I only teach graduate school for studio so again I've reached my limit of knowledge of the system). Undergrad would also be in Japanese most likely, in which case I dont know how it would work.
You may consider looking for a school that takes in exchange students, and go back for grad school if you like it. Perhaps your school is connected somehow to a school in Japan? I would start there if you are thinking about this seriously.
Thank you for this post it was helpful.
Im studying my third year of interior architecture in EMU university in northern Cyprus but im planning to start my master in japan and lately i was searching a lot about it, but while i was reading I didn’t see anything about interior architecture,is there just architecture or they have interior courses too? Like is it included in architecture?to be honest i don’t know about how they teach here has architecture faculty which includes architecture and interior architecture i will be so thankful if you help me with this ,I really want to see that are there any chances for me are is
there any good scope for interior architecture or not?
Thank you again
there are interior design schools yes. Google will answer the details. They may not be in English. If you cannot find any then I would assume it is not common at the very least. I sadly do not teach interior design and do not know any interior designers. Our office does interiors, but we are all architects...
best of luck to you.
adding to the previous post, if you are interested in interior design simply as a profession you may find better luck searching for technical schools, or senmon-gakko. These are not universities and have a very different approach to what I have described previously as far as the way the schools are set up. I dont believe you can get a scholarship to study at these since they are not recognized academically so it would maybe be better to find a university that has an interior design program than to go to the tech school, but this will depend on your aspirations.
As I said, I don't know if universities teach interior design. But the senmon gakko do, and there are several with English landing pages even with a quick search on google.
I cannot add anything more than that since it is well out of my experience.
Greetings Dr. Will
first of all thank you for this blog, it made things clear for me.
I just completed my bachelor of architecture degree and want to do masters in urban planning, university of Tokyo have such course in English. So, i wanted to ask what are the exams do i have to give for studying in japan?
I am uncertain of the exact exam for this. Although my PhD is in Urban Planning I did it with a professor of architecture who was just moving to a newly formed faculty, so my exam would be different. The answer is that it depends on what you mean. If you are going in on MEX Monbusho scholarship then you usually will be there for 6 months as a researcher, where you will be expected to study the old exams they have in the library. If they are anything like my entry exam you will find it challenging but mostly familiar. If you mean how do you start the process of getting into the U of Tokyo, I would say the first thing you should do is contact a professor, and ask him or her. I am not sure how U of Tokyo runs exams for people from overseas who are not going there as MEXT students, if that is your plan. But they will be able to answer you. I should point out that urban planning at U of Tokyo is very much focused on a very specific view of urbanism and tends to lean quite a lot on Machizukuri. It literally means town-building, and is rather a broad approach to the city that is entirely about communicating with local residents to understand their needs and then helping them to get those needs met. Very low-scale, low-key, and in the big scheme of themes perhaps low-impact as well. Some of the projects taken on will have a big effect and much of it is very interesting and important work. However it is not design in the sense that you would see in the west, from offices such as West 8. It is also nothing like the technocratic policy-heavy work of urban planners in north america.It is worth learning and I think fascinating, however it is quite a leap into a more sociological view of the world than is the norm in the west, at least in my opinion.
Thank you for the reply sir. yesterday i submitted my research preliminary application form to embassy of japan in my country
first preference was UTokyo under prof. Chiba Manabu and second preference Tohoku university under prof. Harda Eiji. Could you please give me some advice for first screening and interview, how difficult are the questions and what they ask in interview?
i dont know Harada. Manabu Chiba is a relatively famous architect in Japan, previously working as assistant to Tadao Ando when he taught at U of Tokyo and since then has developed his own research lab. Some of my classmates were in his lab, working on basic urban analysis. Since he is in architecture faculty the tests for entry to the faculty will be more about architecture than planning. As far as interview questions go, so you mean the interview at the embassy? In my case they asked why I believed my plan fit the research field of the professor I was studying with, what I would bring to the school, and what I expected to do in my time there. If your application is the same as mine was (in 2004, so it may not be comparable) that should all be in the research proposal you submitted, in which case it will be about deepening your explanation and your motivations/ambition. I found the interview to be straightforward. I already spoke Japanese and my professor at U of T had already agreed to be my advisor me so I had the luxury of being relaxed. I understand that aspect of things is not the same anymore. Even so, try to keep it as honest and clear as possible and not be too stressed over things. In my experience I always do better when I am relaxed. YMMV.
Thank you sir i would do some more study on my topic and be well prepared for the interview and about Japanese language i have learned hiragana and katakana, can speak some sentences and read Japanese writings.
Dear Will,
I am very grateful for your thread in studying architecture in english in japan. Please excuse me if I am asking questions that you may have already covered.
My questions are as follows:
1. Are there any "Undergrad" (BA) programs offered in Japan that teach only in english?
2. Are there any legitimate (for ex- MA) courses in english about the history of Japanese architecture till the present? either in Japan or elsewhere or even online?
Your response to drmichaelbates clarified a lot of things in regards to this question. It was so insightful but left me wanting a solution.
kindest regards,
Eraj.
Hello Eraj. 1.There are undergrad courses in English, but I dont know of any in architecture. This may be simply my ignorance speaking. There are many good reasons that they will not be common, most important one being that an undergrad degree will usually be a part of a professional accredited program and as a result you need to learn structures, math (architects in japan are engineers first, designers second), contracts and law, and all the other stuff that architects learn to get their license. All of these naturally are in Japanese and learning them in English would not be particularly useful to anyone. 2. About history courses, I know there are architectural historians in Japan, but I have not heard of any courses in English explicitly. Again the reason is that history is about the past and language is central to the entire concept. You would need to be able to read the Japanese texts and study all of the things that historians look at to find hidden narratives and almost all of that will be in Japanese. Even so, I imagine you could join a lab and work in English under a tutor who speaks English and make your way through a degree somehow. It would perhaps need to be limited to a typological study or something like that, and avoid the language issue as much as possible that way. Not easy, but I could imagine it being possible. Who that professor might be I dont know. It may not be a proper historian, since their standards are higher than architects ;-) I would advise that you see what you can find via google and work from there. It would be a better source than I am.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply my query. 1. I've asked google but it doesn't have an answer in regards to undergrad degree's in architecture (in english) yet!! and your reasoning makes a lot of sense. If I find something I'll be sure to post it on here. 2. Great advice yet again. I will look into the possibilities of a lab/studio, though I will need to fully grasp the difference first.
Hello, and thanks for your post!
I would like to ask you if know any professor, or school of architecture, interested in research about the use of living organisms, like fungus mycelium.
I am looking forward to study a Master of Architecture, in english, related with Bio (biology) Integrated Design.
Thanks again!
no i have no idea unfortunately. You will need to make use of the google machine.
Hi Dr. Galloway. Thanks for this wonderful post. I am an architect who lives in China but registered in Australia. I am looking at the possibility to do a Practice based PhD in Architecture. I wonder if they offer such a program in any Japanese universities for practicing architects. I suppose it is a PhD to reflect on your own mode of practice at the same time it can be speculative as well. This also allows practitioners the option of doing it part time and present to the panel every 6 months or so, while keeping touch with our supervisors. After reading at your posts and replied to others, am I right in saying most of the PhD in Japan is about a master - disciple relationship? Let me know if you have come across any practice based PhD in Japan. Thanks!
ive only heard of that kind of PhD happening when professors do it while teaching - using their practice in their own offices and otherwise - in order to get their academic credentials up to the level of their colleagues. It is not common. Other than that I have not heard of anything like that, which is not to say it does not exist...
Dear Dr Galloway, thanks for giving so much advice from your previous posts. I am a registered architect practising in hong kong graduated from University of Singapore back in 2005. My husband will be posted back to Japan and i am planning to re-locate to Japan. I am approaching 40 next year, and i am in a dilemma of searching for architect job or taking phD. I passed my JLPT N3 exam, but i can't communicate in Japanese conversations. My school did not require me to take do a thesis for master course as i chose to be specialised in urban design, but i did a dissertation on public housing shared spaces and my year 4 project was a tsunami rehabilitation project which require much research work. I'm worried that i cannot get into phD course as i have graduated for so long, and without a thesis. My interests are urban design, public spaces and disaster-related project, but i am worried these areas will not help my future career after graduation. Do you think so? As i will be staying in Tokyo, i am considering University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology or Waseda. My first preference is University of Tokyo, but it seems difficult to enter, and i cannot find any information on the entrance examination. May i know if you have any recommendation on school or professor? I would also like to know if there are any architectural firms which require less working hours and takes in foreigners?
Sorry for the long paragraph. Thanks in advance!
I can offer some general comments and hopefully the specifics will reveal themselves once you are in Japan. As far as the PhD and a masters without a thesis, if the dissertation is the requirement to complete a masters degree I presume it will be acceptable, as an academic research project - assuming it was of a high standard et cetera. In Japanese schools a masters degree is often a research project without a design, only a written paper. So in that sense it should not be too out of place... As for the time spent working as an architect and not in academia I am not sure how that is taken to be honest. My professor at U of Tokyo definitely preferred to have PhD students who had worked for a few years after finishing masters degree. On the other hand, a 15 year gap would be an outlier within Japanese norms, I believe. It is hard to say what the reaction would be without going through it. Sorry I cant guess any better than that. As far as finding work after getting a PhD, that is always going to be a challenge to be frank. The degree is a requirement for a serious academic position, but it is also very competitive and finding a good job is not easy by any count. Academia is rather cut throat, tbh. If you produce a lot and build a good network you can slowly make your way forward and build a career, but none of it is automatic, especially for a foreigner. About finding work, Nikken Sekkei is a pretty good corporate office with a large foreign staff. Many graduates from U of Tokyo and others will go there after masters degree. With a PhD I dont know if that is better or worse as a qualification. The connection that U of T will give is very valuable, but a PhD is not really needed to do design work, if that is your ultimate goal. As far as who to contact for PhD, the entrance exams from previous years were all in the library, and I used them to study with. I dont know what is available online. As a mature student I suspect you will be able to pass the exam simply because you have a lot of experience. I found that to be the case when I did it (although it was not easy by any means). As for who to contact, I would contact the professors directly. If they are looking for PhD students you will have a chance to get answers from them. Apart from the architecture school you may also want to contact profs from the Urban Design lab at U of Tokyo. For other schools I would probably also look at Keio SFC professors and see if they are looking for PhD students or not. Hiroto Kobayashi for instance does work with disaster and resilience, as you can see in previous posts in this blog. Hope this helps.
Thanks so much for your advice and information, Dr. Galloway! i will research further and hopefully i can see a clearer picture of my life and career in japan.
Hello Dr. Galloway, I want to apply for the monbukagakusho undergraduate scholarship for Architecture. However I am confused on where to start. I have been told about recommendation, but I was wondering what would be the best way to get one that would help me get the scholarship.
Sorry to say I only have the obvious answer at hand. I made use of my network, such as it was. Luckily I had a prof who went through the same process years before me and got an intro, which led to another, and eventually I was sitting in front of the person who would become my advisor. It took a bit of time and effort and really was a matter of following up leads and some luck. It was a different time though, a bit more informal than now from what I understand. The advice I usually give is simply to find professors who share your interests and to write to them. Getting an answer is always the hard part. If you have connections start there as well.
Hi,
I am a Maths teacher and am interested in a midcareer change into architecture. I have a few questions about studying architecture in Japan.
1. Are there any postgraduate architecture programs that are taught in English and consists of both undergraduate and postgraduate contents? I am fully aware that I am coming from a non-architecture background and would not qualify for most postgraduate programs.
2. How well recognised are Japanese architecture degrees worldwide? Would it be recognised in countries like the U.S., U.K and Australia?
3. Approximately how long does it take to gain accreditation as an architect in Japan? Would this accreditation be internationally recognised?
It is difficult to find information on this and your help is much appreciated. Thank you very much.
1. for undergrad it is not so easy to find english language architecture education. There are ways to finesse that at KEIO SFC for example, but you would not graduate with a degree that you could use to go forward, since you would finesse it by joining an architecture lab and avoid the Japanese courses that cover law and contracts and structures, which would only be in Japanese. So no accredited degree as an outcome. There may be other options. Check Waseda, Keio U of Tokyo, IIT, Geidai, Meiji University, etc and see what they have on offer. Those will be the main ones that have English curriculum as a matter of course. My guess is for undergrad it will be spotty if not entirely absent. For grad school see all of the information above. Lots of options. If you want a post-grad professional degree I have not heard of one in Japan. You can do that in North America I know, but for other countries I have no idea. Try Google. 2. As far as how those degrees travel, my experience is they work OK in Europe, not so much in North americium. For UK and Australia, I'm not sure. Could go either way. Many graduates from Japan go to those countries and work. Some get their licenses, so it must be possible but I again have no idea of the process since I havent done it. 3. To get a license in Japan you need to get an accredited degree then work for 2 years, take an exam, then work for 2 more years and then you can stamp your own drawings. There is more to it than that, but broadly the process is as described. Tests are of course all in Japanese. Not English. 3b. How a Japanese license is recognized in other countries, I would say simply that it is not. Whether you can get reciprocal recognition depends on the country. Check the country you want to work in.
Hello sir,
what is the pattern of the MEXT?
Thank you!
apply in your own country. check MEXT at your nearest consulate or embassy. It will explain everything.
Thanks so much for all of the information.
Do you need to live in Japan for the full duration of a PhD? I live in the United States, and I was hoping to continue living here for at least some portion of the program and work remotely.
I dont think you need to live there all the time, but entirely remotely would be quite a strange thing. I had to sign a form every month to prove my presence in Tokyo, and then they gave me my financial aid. That is probably still the case. If you are paying yourself, and your professor didn't mind, some remote work is probably possible, but then why would you want to do a PhD in Japan to begin with? Japan academia is generally hands on and location based, unless you are doing something with computational design and its all in the cloud? The world is full of variety and I would not say it is impossible, however I have never seen it happen. Try contacting some professors and see what they say...
Dear Dr. Galloway, thank you for this summary which helped a lot a while back. I would like to inquire further concerning my son who became an architect last year. With marriage considerations, and in this covid atmosphere, he accepted a long-term job offer in agricultural irrigation. That was when we learned that he had dreams of studying in Japan for a masters and had actually been learning Japanese to that end. He is now despondent and thinks he's lost his career (1.5 yrs. work experience and loved it)
I am trying to understand if there still a pathway for him to a masters in Japan, in urban farming, for example, or another developing field? I am an engineer myself so I cannot provide him a vision. But I do believe he deserves a hope and prospects.
Thank you in advance. I hope you can respond.
wow, that is a very difficult question. In all honesty I don't know. Nothing is impossible. Urban farming is certainly a popular topic though I know of no architects who are studying it as a research project (that may change soon, if it has not already). It is possible to study agriculture in Japan with monbusho scholarship I am guessing, however that does not lead to architecture by any direct route. Most likely the way to do architecture in Japan is to start again with another degree, Masters or PhD. Some time is lost, but all experience is valid, so nothing is wasted. With all of the other stuff, family and covid, etc, I cannot comment meaningfully. For what it is worth, I was married and had children during masters studies and through Phd as well. Concretely speaking, I would simply contact the universities and see what the options are directly. If your son is thinking about applying for monbukagakusho scholarship then check the Japanese embassy in your country and they can say what requirements they have. Those are the sources that will give you a correct answer and much better than me.
Greetings Mr. Galloway. I read your post about architecture courses in Japanese schools, and was rather curious about YGS-A's way of training. Do you have any experience within their course and do you think it's better than those of other schools?
I'd also like to ask if there are other schools that offer a good architectural course outside of the Tokyo Metro?
its a great school. I know a few of the people working there and can at least attest of their sincerity. The school is in Yokohama, which is not that different from being in Tokyo, in the scheme of things. It has an experimental bent, which is unusual for Japan, in my opinion. The only other school that is similarly different (but in different ways) is Keio at the SFC campus. It would be a good way to get an introduction into the famous offices I imagine. About schools outside of Tokyo, I dont have any direct experience with any, which is probably clear in the biased way I focus on Tokyo region schools. I do know that Kyoto University is quite good, but that is the only one I really have heard anything about. It does not mean there are not more schools out there, only that I don't know about them. One thing to keep in mind is that if you speak Japanese there are more options available but if you want to study in english it usually means going to one of the ivy, or ivy-related schools where that is normal. Y-GSA is one of those ivy-adjacent programs, no doubt.
Thank you for posting!
I would like to ask about studying architecture in Japan. Is there any way for me to enroll with small-scale money?
Also, can I enroll with a basic learning of the Japanese language? Sorry for barging myself in like this.
My plan is to have a part-time job to pay my own tuition fee since i came from a not-rich family.
Sir is it possible?
hi! I hope everyone is doing great! I wanted to hop on here to ask about the giga program at Keio! I’ve been accepted, but after being accepted to another school in Canada, I’m not sure wether or not it’s a good idea to haphazardly fly to Japan to study a program that I’m not sure is good or not because there is limited info about it? So if anyone knows anything please tell me! I really do wish to study in japan (not just because of anime and many\ga and “aesthetic” of it of course) so I would like to know a bit more!
GIGA is not an architecture program (I guess you know that). I taught a course on architecture and sustainable design within it up until last term for GIGA, and I would say it was a good first year course and worth the time investment. From what I understand it is relatively good as a program if you want to get a broad introduction to several subjects and find your own way. I have not heard that it is a brilliant program nor a bad one from students or professors. It is in English and that limits the content a little compared to what is on offer in Japanese, but the campus is great (designed by Fumihiko Maki in a rural setting) and the students are all very good (future leaders of the nation - no joke). Perhaps you already know this, but Keio is in any case a very good school, created by one of the founders of modern Japan. If you are thinking to linger in Japan it opens doors (it is like Columbia or Yale or Oxford in terms of status). More than that, in my opinion the main selling point of the SFC campus is that everything is based on project-based education and that means if you are pro-active and interested in taking part in real projects there are a lot of opportunities to do so. I dont know of many schools in the world that offer that.
I have 2 question
1st. For undergraduate MEXT stipend is 1,17,000 yen.Now my question is; Is it enough to live in Tokyo with All accessories cost for Archi. projects etc?
2nd. After undergraduate program ; If i have good CGPA.What are my chances to get scholarship from European University (for classic architecture)?
It is a bit on the low side, but possible if frugal. Tokyo has not experienced inflation for decades so costs are not as high as you might imagine. That said, I would plan for close to half the stipend to go towards rent (MEXT students often have access to housing as well - if you get the scholarship check that out - it is a very good deal). Food and the rest depend on your tastes. Tokyo h as amazing food at low cost but if you want to eat western food every day it will be expensive. Personally I gave up on most of the foods I ate as a kid in Canada after living in japan for a few years. Never missed it. The cost of materials question is hard to say. It depends on what you want to do. Basically it is possible, but not without limit. You would need to be frugal on that count too. About the 2nd question, I dont know. It would depend on how good you do, where you are from and where you want to go I imagine.
Dear Dr Galloway!
Thank You so so much for creating this post - it really is a source of information that is nowhere to be found on the Japanese sites .. or hidden very well from the non-japanese speaking students ;)
I guess I have some more questions - I would greatly appreciate Your advice, as I have no one else experienced in this topic I can turn to
I got accepted into the interview/ exam stage of mext scholarship
recruitment embassy track in my country. I am planning to apply for a phd program at University of Tokyo, Waseda, Keio or Tokyo Tech. I am preparing a research proposal on urban design related topic. It is an elaboration on my master thesis as I 'd like to go in depth on Post disaster urban design and rebuilding cities (on examples from Japanese cities after II world war and the great Tohoku earthquake and in comparison to European cities after II world war). A little bit about my language abilities: I have only started learning Japanese so probably no chance at carrying out the pdh in japanese - only english. I would ideally hope to be working with a laboratory where english is the primary language of conducting research - is this feasible?
Could you please recommend any laboratories, research teams? (Is it also possible to work under your supervision?
Also reading previous replies I am a little bit confused about the recruitment system: after being recommended by the embassy do I still have to pass any additional exams (as mentioned e.g at University of Tokyo?) Or is the embassy recommendation enough to enter the university after contacting the professor?
Is it really difficult to get accepted into the program?
Also Any tips for the interview? :)
Thank You so much!
Basia
hi , Dr. Galloway,
I'm from India and I'm new to the world of architecture and designing . And I want to study architecture at Japan , from bachelor to PhD in architecture . As for now I'm an intermediate / or in 12th grade and I have few knowledge about studying aboard and architecture . So can u please suggest me some university and scholarship site which is affordable for any middle class family and does we have to give an entrance test to get into an university or is it enough ,if we have passed our JEE or NATA exams ? . And also do we have to appear for exam for getting a scholarship and is English enough for me to survive through the whole courses ? And is it difficult to get an scholarship there , sir ?? I heard its competitive , ( already stressing out
so sorry my words were unfinished , and if I got the chance to study there , should I get a job in an architecture office or something like that to gain more knowledge about it? and please forgive me if I didnt made any sense with my words or mistaken . So sir, any tips and advice for a newbie before going to Japan and to ace all the exams
For undergrad I would not recommend studying architecture in Japan. If you are fluent in Japanese then yeah, it is fine. The English language system is instead set up for graduate students. MArch or PhD is possible in English.
Getting into the schools that teach in English is indeed competitive. In my case I got the MEXT scholarship, competing nationally with people in all fields, not just architects, so it was not particularly easy. I still had to take an entrance exam after getting the scholarship, along with everyone else applying to the university. As I understand it, some programs do not have the exam requirement, but don't trust me on that. I would assume there is an exam, to be safe.
As for how to pay for it, I was only able to go to school in Japan because of the scholarship. Check some of the posts above about the process. I've covered it multiple times. You may also be eligible for the Asian Development Bank scholarship. I am not sure what the process for that is, but I do know that several students have studied in Japan with it. None of the people I knew were studying architecture however, so do look into it properly.
About working in an office, yes you can do that, once you graduate. It's generally normal for some year or so after you graduate and many people will stay for longer, getting a visa from their employer if they have something they need (an ability to speak a local language, etc). For when you go back, I would also take care to look into all issues that you might face as a foreign-educated architect returning home, from acceptance of degrees for licensing, to recognition of work experience overseas, etc.
Hello sir I am an architecture student in my 2nd year. I have gotten my associate's in architecture. I want to study in Japan or Tokyo or in any part. I really like the culture but is there a way for me to apply to any school? I know you are an architect and may not know, but any help is good.
i think your answer is in all of the material above. Unless you are wondering if you can get credit for your studies to date? In that case, probably not, though it doesnt hurt to try.
Does admittting to an art school in japan can make you an architect?
geidai has a good architecture dept. Otherwise no, not really. Some artists take on the role of architects but are not really architects, though I would say that is in any case a very special case, like with Hiroshi Sugimoto.
hello Dr. Will, I'm a first year student doing Bachelor's in Interior design from India. I'm passionate about Architecture and was thinking about doing Masters in Architecture from Japan and eventually settling in there. I'm also learning Japanese. I wanted your advice on should I study Maths of 11th and 12th grade( as I didn't opt for Maths in senior High School)? Or what other things should I study to get me more around architecture? Will I be liable to get a job in Japan after completing M. Arch from Japan? Should I have some work experiences as an Interior designer before coming to Japan? And anything else you think are important to know if I want to study and eventually work as an architect in Japan with a bachelor's in Interior design in India. I hope to receive your reply.
Thank you.
-Shefali Rai
if you are applying for march then you probably will be basing your entrance on your bachelor grades and high school will not be part of the consideration. This is my assumption though, as always do double check. If you are applying for MEXT scholarship it may say something on the Indian website that will give a hint about the process. Based on my own experience I did have to give a transcript of university grades, but I dont recall anything about high school. The entrance exam at the University of Tokyo for PhD was the same for Masters, so I can say that at least when I attended there were several structural calculations on the exam, as well as a few questions on building code, history, philosophy etc. I could do the math, but chose to do the bldg code questions because they were easier. By the time you go through the process it will certainly be an entirely different situation, but you can get a sense I suppose of the nature of what they are looking for. As for going to work after graduating with a masters degree, yes it is very common to stay after that for a few years. Do note that very few people stay for more than a few years. I would say mostly because Japan is frankly a hard place to move up the ladder if you are not ethnically Japanese, and in many cases the working culture is not very supportive or rational. Its a great experience and the experience travels well though, so this is not entirely a negative...
Hello Will! Can you please tell me which exam subjects I have to write to get into Japan’s architecture bachelor degree? Do I have to prepare for any Math, Chemistry or Physics exams? I know about EJU, but will I have to write anything expect for Japanese? Does this depend on the university?
I dont know the precise answer to this question unfortunately, so take the following with a VERY large grain of salt. If you are planning to enter Japanese undergrad as a regular student then yes you will need to have a lot of math and science and it will only be in Japanese. undergrad is extremely competitive and tests are not for the feint of heart. Most Japanese study at cramschools for years to get into their university of choice, and its a serious grind. As mentioned above a few times now, as far as I know there is no undergrad degree in architecture that is conducted in English. I may be wrong, but it makes sense, considering it is an accredited degree and there is no logical reason to teach Japanese law, structures, history, etc in anything but in Japanese for a Japanese population. There are roundabout ways to get to architecture subjects in English in undergrad, however they would be more like studying architecture as a side topic, or as a historian or similar, and not lead to a professional degree. Again I could be wrong but so far I have not found anything suggesting otherwise. I hope this helps.
Thank you very much for your help! This information will definitely help me
I would like to know if there are any architectural diploma course that a civil engineering graduate can join in Japan?
It depends on what you mean exactly. You can take a master of architecture degree, building on your civil engineering degree. You will need to check if that counts towards licensure as an architect in your own country. There is of course always the challenge of being accepted into an architecture program. That said, it is not so strange in Japan to have an engineering background, as the architecture license here is more like an engineering license than an architecture license. Until recently it was a matter of choice whether a person practiced architecture or engineering with the architects license. Lately it is more complicated, but in any case the practice of engineering is not as isolated from architecture as it is in other parts of the world.
Hi Dr Galloway,
Thank you so much for the eye-opening information. I just found out about your blog after searching for universities that provide architecture courses for master's studies (research). I'm from Malaysia and I want to apply for monbukagakusho:MEXT SCHOLARSHIP 2023. In order to apply for the scholarship, I do need to provide the statement of the proposed study in Japan.
Do I need to have a supervisor in the first place in order to provide my statement of the research theme as the supporter? Usually in Malaysia, the students need to find a university and supervisor with the proposal for master's research before applying for a scholarship.
Looking forward to knowing your advise. Thank you!
I would ask the embassy or consulate directly to get the correct answer. As I understand it, the supervisor is not explicitly required anymore, but I also hear that it helps to have someone who has agreed to be you supervisor so you can at the very least write your application in the best way. But again, please dont rely on my advice on this point since I am now only repeating what I am hearing from others and it is not my direct experience. The system is evolving and it is best to double check yourself.
Dr Galloway,
My son has completed 12 years of school education in Sri Lanka and also graduated with Diploma in Architecture (RIBA Part 1) after studying 3 years full time in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, he has 2 years working experience as an Assistant Architect. Now he wants to do Masters in Japan. Please let me know whether he is qualified to apply any Master of Arch in Japan.
On the face of it, it sounds like he is, but its a 3 year degree, instead of 4, so maybe not. My advice is to contact the universities directly. You will get the best answer from them rather than from me. Good luck!
Hello Dr Galloway,
I am currently studying architecture in Germany and I started not to long ago, but my end goal is working in architecture in Japan. I've always wanted to study there but I am super confused about the whole process, I thought maybe you know a bit more about this part. I saw there are some programs offered in English, but when I check the admission site it usually says you are required to take the EJU test, which also includes a Japanese language proficiency test.
In school, my grades weren't the best either, but I have been in mechanical engineering for a year, and my math/physics skills are pretty good, so I also wondered what emphasis is placed on high school grades when applying? Is it based more on high school grades or on your current skill set? Thanks for any help in advance!
i would read through the material above for more detail but the upshot is that it is easier for grad school than undergrad. undergrad is generally a professional degree which means law and contracts and all of that stuff, which naturally enough is not going to be in English. My advice is to apply from grad school. Similarly, accreditation is always going to be a problem unless you stay in Japan forever (which frankly speaking happens only very very rarely for lots of social and cultural reasons), so be sure to check if your education in Japan will count back home. A masters degree may be recognized. Undergrad without the professional courses is probably not going to be recognized anywhere...
Good day, Dr Galloway
I'm a mext 2023 hopeful, I hope to pursue a doctorate degree in architecture. I've done my research (gone down numerous rabbit holes on the internet) and I've got my top 3 schools - University of Tokyo, Keio University and Waseda University. My major issue is I know these schools have English labs but I can narrow down the professors that teach in English, the websites don't really help much in this sense. The only thing I see about English courses is the G30 courses for masters students(and I don't belong to that category). I don't know if you have any input or can point me in the right direction regarding this.
Thank you for taking time out to answer the the numerous questions here and I look forward to your reply.
i would contact the professors you want to study with. They can help you through the process.
most profs at those school will speak English btw.
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