ICU offers a wide variety of courses that satisfy UC requirements. I took Economics: International Trade, Persuasion and Language, Media Identity and Formation, and finally Biological Foundations of Mind and Behavior. The campus is A LOT smaller than UCLA’s, and it was quite nice to see familiar faces on a daily basis and start to recognize people over time. Classes are run on a period basis, which brought me back to my high school days of having a 1st-6th period. I took all of my classes in English, and I did feel like my classes were more doable since a majority of the students were Japanese and learned English as their second language.
Throughout my stay I lived in Dialogue House which is an on campus dormitory primarily for international students staying for one term. The rooms are HUGE. Each dorm is a double (no triples like UCLA) and comes with 2 beds, 2 desks, a private bathroom, and a refrigerator/microwave combo. Bedsheets, pillows, foot mats, blankets, plates, and utensils are all provided by the dormitory and are given back at the end of the term. I became really close with my dorm-mates and every night we would meet in the floor lounge to do homework or talk into the early hours of the morning.
Japan has one of the best public transportation networks worldwide. From trains, buses, monorails, bullet trains, bikes, to cars – there is an abundance of ways to get around Tokyo. The best and most efficient way to travel is the train. The JR lines provide service throughout the entirety of Japan and covers miles and miles of railways, although private lines do exist in every city. My university was closest to Musashi-Sakai Station, so I used the Chuo line every time I wanted to travel around Tokyo. Once on the train, it is common courtesy to allow elderly people or pregnant women priority access to use the seats. You may have seen videos of people crowding into the trains and pushing people, and while that does happen – it usually only occurs during rush hour in the morning and at night.
One of the best things about public transportation is Japan’s utilization of the “Suica cards.” Suica cards are rechargeable cards (can only be recharged at train stations) that can be used for trains, monorails, buses, and many other restaurants/stores like 711 and Matsuya. A lot of my friends and I decided to rent a Suicle (a bicycle renting service) for ¥2500 a month to avoid taking the bus to the train station and paying ¥220 each way. Aside from the financial benefits, it was refreshing to ride a bike and not rely on the bus to get to the train station. Once at the station, there is a lot for Suicles to be dropped off and exchanged at our own convenience.
On top of buses and trains, many cities had their own monorail system designed to help people travel throughout that specific city. If you are looking to travel outside of Tokyo, there is the “shinkansen” (bullet train) that serves as an alternative to flying domestically within Japan. These bullet trains run at speeds of over 200 km/h and have revolutionized travel. I had never used public transportation regularly before coming to Japan and I hope the U.S. can implement something similar to make travel more efficient.
One-Way Tokyo 