KCP International

As I mentioned previously, I'm returning to Tokyo after nearly 6 years of being back in America. I will be attending KCP International in Shinjuku for 6 months beginning in October of this year. Afterward, my goal is to remain in Japan for work, and ultimately attend Kyoto Seika for my Master's degree in Manga (I already graduated with my BA in Sequential Art in the US.) 

I thought I'd make an informative blog post about KCP. Keep in mind that I have not attended the program as of yet. Please also understand that I am from America, and thus this will be tailored toward those coming to KCP from the US.

What is KCP International?

KCP International is a Japanese language school located in Shinjuku, a business, entertainment and shopping district in the heart of Tokyo, Japan. KCP offers intense, full-immersion Japanese language study. The program is incredibly fast paced, with a typical Semester at KCP being equivalent to 12 credits at an American university.

Attending KCP International 

Feat. Financial Aid Advice!

There are two ways to attend KCP International: the direct enroll route, and via a sponsor school.

The direct enroll route is when a student applies DIRECTLY to KCP International via  their application link. The direct enroll route is for those who currently attend an university affiliated with KCP International, or for those who are not currently in school, who do not need FAFSA, scholarships, or other student aid.

The sponsor school route is for those currently attending an university that does not accept the KCP grade report as a valid transfer of credits, or for those who are directly attending one of the sponsor schools. There are three schools that you can be sponsored by in America: Lincoln University/CCIS, University of Idaho, and Western Washington University.

If your home school cannot offer financial assistance during your abroad program, you can typically receive aid via your sponsor school (such as FAFSA and Scholarships.) However, if you have any scholarships, double check that they are eligible for abroad/off campus programs. Most schools will inform you of changes to your financial aid, but not all. When planning to go abroad, it is best to speak with your financial aid adviser and find out if any of your current awards will be reduced or taken away while abroad (and find out if they will be reinstated upon your return.)

Additionally, please be sure to speak with your registrar or study abroad department prior to cementing plans to attend KCP, and ensure that your academic credits will be accepted by your home school.  Dealing with school officials can be stressful enough without surprises like a year-plus worth of non-transferable credits!

Courses and Academics

There are 6 levels of Japanese courses offered at KCP International. Each level is covered in a single 2 1/2 month long semester, and can be taken one after the other, given that you pass each course successfully. During your first semester at KCP, a "culture course" is offered every Saturday. This side course is taught in English, and involves trips around Tokyo and other areas of Japan.

Academically, each Japanese language course is worth 12 semester/18 quarter credits, and the Culture course is worth 2 semester/4 quarter credits. This means that if you were to take all 6 levels of Japanese at KCP, you could learn 6 years worth of Japanese language in just 2 academic years. 

As intense as KCP comes off as, according to the website, class sizes average around 15-20 students, with 2-3 teachers per class. Small class sizes with multiple teachers are ideal for allowing a stronger bond between student and teacher, often improving the overall learning experience. This means more one-on-one time between any students that feel they need extra help throughout the courses.

That being said, based on current and former student voices, as well as the head of my university's Study Abroad office, KCP is not a program for those looking to casually learn Japanese while experiencing life in Japan. It is an intensely fast-paced program that covers curriculum that would typically be taught over the course of a year at an American University, over the span of a mere 2 1/2 months. If you are not motivated and well versed in self-discipline, it is possible you will struggle. While KCP offers a fully immersive program, it is up to you to continue to utilize and improve upon your Japanese skills outside of the classroom. 

Visas

Do you need a visa to attend KCP International? In short, the answer is both yes and no. It all depends on how long you wish to stay in Japan!

If you are only attending one semester at KCP, you do not need a visa to enter Japan. You can enter on what is typically called a "tourist visa". Don't let the name fool you, there is nothing to apply for, so long as your stay is 90 days or less. However, you must have both a departure and return ticket before traveling to Japan.

For longer stays in Japan, you will need a student visa. KCP will help you apply for your student visa by doing all of the translation work and sending in the paperwork. Student visas have varying lengths, and what you qualify for will depend on the time of year you start at KCP, and how many semesters you want to attend. The longest student visa you can get for KCP International is 1 year 9 months. Of course, the visa is only valid so long as you are actively attending KCP.

The earlier you get your visa out of the way, the better. Keep in mind that it can take 6 months just to get your certificate of eligibility, saying that you are eligible to even get a visa. Considering the small things that can go wrong with issuing your official visa (such as a misspelled name), it is less stressful when you aren't left wondering if your visa will arrive during the week before you leave the country.

Housing

There are three housing options for KCP International: KCP provided dorms, KCP provided home stays, or you can find your own housing. When looking at housing, it is important to understand that the average commute in Tokyo is 60-90 minutes via train and walking.

KCP Dorms

It is difficult to provide information on specific KCP dorms, as they change from semester to semester. However, these are two recent/current KCP dorms that came up frequently on Google and Youtube.

KCP's Ikebukuro dorm is located near Sunshine City, and is approximately a 40 minute commute to school. The rooms are very small and narrow, but offer the amenities of a full apartment (bed, desk, bathroom/shower, kitchenette) relatively near campus. While the dorm provides a bunk bed, KCP students do not share rooms with anyone else.

Alternatively, Edogawa dorms offered large private rooms with a single bed, desk, bathroom/shower, kitchenette, and a relatively large balcony. In exchange for all of this space, Edogawa is located approximately 60 minutes away from KCP, but is near Tokyo Disney.

Some KCP dorms have curfews. Depending on what housing KCP has available (which may not be either Ikebukuro or Edogawa), you may not have as much freedom as you desire.

Homestay

Alternatively, you can ask KCP to set you up with a homestay. Homestays are where you live with a Japanese family in their home. This is the most beneficial option language and culture wise, as many host families speak very limited English, and you will experience Japanese home life. However, if you have any diet restrictions, I highly suggest a KCP dorm without a meal plan, or finding your own housing, as you have less control over your meals with a host family. Additionally, most host families will enforce a curfew, and some may even require you home at certain times for meals or chores. While homestays are incredibly beneficial, they are not for everyone.

You can only stay with a host family for your first semester at KCP International, so they are a fantastic introduction to Japanese life.

Self-Housing

The final option is to find housing yourself. There are many options for short-term housing, which is ideal for most students attending KCP International. 

There are three types of short-term housing you can get outside of KCP: Dormitory, Share House, and Apartments.

• Dormitory

Unlike KCP dorms, typical short term dorms through agencies such as Sakura House are shared rooms, with anywhere between 2-12 people. The most common arrangement is 2 people. These rooms are typically under 50,000 yen per person, and feature shared amenities throughout the building.

• Share House  

Share houses, also sometimes referred to as "guest houses", are typically private rooms with shared amenities, such as shared bathrooms and kitchens. These are ideal for anyone who does not want a roommate, but doesn't mind communal living areas. They range vastly in price depending on where the share house is located, and how big your living space is.

• Apartments

Short-term apartments can be rented through services such as Sakura House and Tokyo Room Finder. These are (usually) fully functional apartments, with a private bath, kitchen, and often comes with a free-use washing machine. Sakura House lists some that are "apartments" that lack private bathroom/shower units, and some that offer only a private shower with a shared toilet. They do, however, have a private kitchen.


As far as housing goes, Sakura House offers a great range of dorms, share houses, and apartments at various distances and prices. Their agency office is in Shinjuku as well, making it convenient for KCP students who may need to visit their office or wish to pay rent in person. Sakura House also takes credit card payments for rent, which requires payment at their office.

Tokyo Room Finder has a wide range of share houses, dormitories, and apartments as well, from various real estate agencies.  


Hopefully this information was helpful! I'll write more personally about my application experience, apartment hunt, and so on as my journey progresses. Right now, I am waiting for my Certificate of Eligibility for my Visa application. I return to Tokyo in just 2 months!

Let's Play Catch Up

ひさしぶりだね～

Once upon a time, I'm certain there were readers who wondered what happened after my hospital trip in Tokyo. Did she die? (Clearly not.) I actually wrote numerous blog posts that sat in drafts for these past 5.5 years, detailing the outcome of my doctor's visit, but long forgotten about. So, let's play catch up.

I went to the hospital in Tokyo, conveniently located a few blocks away from my school (Temple University Japan/TUJ) in Minato-ku. Due to my symptoms, I was worried that I had relapsed in Mononucleosis, but it turned out to be a severe case of allergies in response to Japan's sakura season. I was sent home with 5 different prescriptions (Japan tends to treat symptoms individually; heartburn, vomiting, coughing, fever, etc.), one of which I was also mildly allergic to, but clearly survived consuming it. (I am allergic to penicillin, and this particular medicine was in the same family.)

Despite receiving treatment and recovering from my allergies, the illness took a toll on me physically and mentally. My grades dropped and I became incredibly homesick. I struggled to come back from missed quizzes and poor-quality homework done while my head was in a feverish fog. All of this built up to a drastic and incredibly sudden change in plans: I was coming home 3.5 years early.

Of course, it wasn't entirely my illness that cemented this decision for me. While I had a fantastic experience in Japan and made plenty of life-long friends, TUJ was an overpriced school that did not meet my educational needs. The fact that missing 2 days of school could absolutely demolish my grades, left me questioning if this was the right program for me.

With some reluctance, I cancelled my plans to move into an apartment with my best friend, Michael, and booked a flight home for April 23rd, 2010. 

The day after I returned home, I was invited to help teach a "how to draw manga" library session. Throughout the following year, I did several presentations at my old Community College about what it was like to study art and language overseas.

In January 2011, I moved to Savannah, GA and began attending Savannah College of Art and Design, majoring in Sequential Art (comics and storyboarding, essentially.) This was a much better match for me, though they lacked any Japanese classes, despite offering a yearly trip to Japan for Sequential students prior to the March 2011 earthquake. The Savannah campus was huge, however, and I ultimately transferred to the Atlanta campus Fall 2011, where I lived until I graduated May 31st, 2014.

SCAD was an amazing experience for me, and improved my art by leaps and bounds. There were fantastic networking opportunities, and I have made even more friends from around the world thanks to their large International student body. My roommates were Sequential and Animation students from Singapore, and many of my other friends were from Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Dubai, Italy, and even Japan. I am incredibly humbled to be a part of the comics and animation community in Atlanta, and for the work opportunities going to SCAD has presented me.

Now, it's been a year since I graduated from SCAD and left Atlanta to return home to Spokane, WA. I applied for KCP International in Tokyo, Japan, and I was accepted. I leave for Tokyo in October of this year. My Japanese is rusty, but every day I realize I remember more than I think I do. Kanji is now a weakness, but I am certain my hard work will pay off. Every minute of Japanese study will count these next few months, and my weekly Japanese meeting will help boost my conversation skills.

Seeing as this post has become pretty ridiculously long, I'll end it here and talk about KCP and the application process in the near future.

またね！