This is a day in the life of a Japanese university student
This is Yusuke, a 22 years old Japanese University student, living in Yokohama part of the greater Tokyo area
And it's time to get up for class
He lives in a two-story house with his parents as it's within commuting distance to campus
In fact, it's a fairly common in Japan for people to continue to live with their parents even after graduation
Well into their adult working career and like most Japanese salarymen, he also prefers to take a bath at night
So he forgoes a morning shower
So Yusuke is your typical fourth year Japanese college student with a good balance of school coursework, part-time job and social life
Which will all get into later in this video
So he skips breakfast in the morning, but makes time to feed his cat before he goes to class
His house is about a 10 minute walk to the nearest train station
Which is not bad at all and as a student
Yusuke is able to purchase a teikiken which is a commuter pass allowing him to take
Unlimited rides on the specified route between his home and school
So Yusuke should be coming soon and it's actually the end of the line
so I don't know whether the train is gonna be coming from this end or
This end so we'll just have to see. I'm guessing it'll be coming from this end
Good morning! Yusuke, where are you going now?
So you Yusuke takes a train and bus to get to campus with a total commute time of about 1 hour and 10 minutes door to door
And since this campus doesn't have direct train access most students take the bus from the closest transition to get to campus
Yusuke, is it always this crowded?
He said that the university has a ryo - which in English means,
Dorm only a limited number of students can stay there. So many students are not living with their parents at a commutable distance
Will rent apartments near the campus
This is Yusuke school, Keio University
One of Japan's top universities. So Keio, like many Japanese universities, don't just have one large campus
But rather is made up of multiple campuses shown on
Fujisawa campus where Yusuke attends is one of 10 plus campuses spread throughout the greater Tokyo area
A student study focus will dictate which campus he or she attends
And since Yusuke is a policy management major, he attends at this campus
Yusuke why is the campus so quiet?
Do people drive to school?
What percentage drive?
So it's customary in Japan to take off your shoes when entering the house to keep it clean. And this also applies to some public
Facilities at the school most gyms in Japan just like this one. You need to bring a second pair of indoor shoes
I personally appreciate how clean it is in Japan
This campus has a pretty nice gym. Open to all students. He said that you need to pay at other campuses
So I guess it really depends on which one you go to
Do you do that every morning?
So, what are we doing now?
In his fourth and last year at university
He can opt to take an easier schedule. As his future job once he graduates has already been decided
In fact
It's typical for Japanese
university students to start their formal job hunting process in the winter of their third year and by summer of their fourth year most people
Have guaranteed their future job
Well, just as long as I graduated in March
As you can see this area around me right now is just like
Individual pods where students can study we have to be a little bit quiet because this is like a no-talking zone
Hopefully you guys can hear me
Now he's going to his first class of the day
What class is this?
It appears that taking notes on the PC is common these days in Japanese universities
Generally a student's class semester grade is based on assignments, presentations, group projects, and one final exam at the end of the semester
But... one interesting aspect about the Japanese University grading system is that many teachers don't let students know
How each category is weighed so students can't calculate what they need to score on their final exam to earn a
specific mark for the class
Yusuke, is it comon to skip class in Japan?
He said that some classes allow for 3 absences which many students use. But departments like Medical School
which have strict mandatory class make it difficult to skip
Yay lunchtime! So he's meeting up with his friend at the Gakushoku - also known in English as the school cafeteria
Damn they left their belongings unattended at the table and he has his MacBook in there. Wow. Japan is so safe
If you look closely all the food is priced under five dollars making it affordable for all students
Many Japanese cafeterias you order a main dish and pick up a small dish and then pay the total amount at the end
It's pretty amazing how nutritionally balanced and well thought-out these meals are on campus.
Oh! And it looks like the tea is free here, too
So Yusuke is having lunch with his friend right now
You see how inexpensive the lunches here are on campus and they have a pretty good selection
Yusuke got the Katsu curry with vegetables on the side not bad. So how did you two become friends?
Do you two always eat here?
Alright, so where do you go then?
At the campus store, you can buy stationery, books, food and daily necessities. Oh wow, that's Reji's manga!
Do you buy textbooks here?
So, where are we going now?
While many first second and third year university students have 15 to 23 courses hours per week
Seniors have much less like Yusuke who has only 9 courses hours per week
So he takes advantage of his extra free time to train in Karate and even has created an online karate training program
Which he promotes on his social media channels
So today Yusuke only has three hours of class and the other six hours the day after tomorrow
Meaning he only goes to campus twice a week
So this is his last class of the day, but since I can't film inside of this one, I'll just wait outside
Oh there he is leaving campus with some of his classmates
Wow a big line at the bus station again! So where are you guys going now?
Do you study a lot?
How many hours?
So far that wasn't so bad
By the way Nabepa means hotpot party in Japanese
It's a common winter food in Japan and many friends and families alike gather to eat hotpot at each other's homes
Before going home, they need to stop by at the supermarket to get ingredients for the hotpot
The beautiful thing about Japanese hot pot is that it's so easy to prepare
Most supermarkets offer a selection of premade soup flavors. Boil that in a pot and then just add whatever meats and vegetables the group like
I guess they decided to go with the Kimchi Chigae Nabe tonight
Are you guys all the same age?
Among students, it's more common to drink with friends at home rather than outside
Oh and most students these days drink Chuhai
Which is Soju mix with carbonated water and usually lemon flavor but these days there's all sorts of flavors offered
What are you drinking?
What's that?
So, what are you guys gonna do after University?
Do college students drink a lot these days?
CIRCLE are a big part of Japanese university culture
There are many different CIRCLEs to join. There is tennis circles, basketball circles, dance circles
And the list goes on
Many members will join and practice together
While other members will simply join the circle to make friends and attend drinking get-togethers held outside of practice
And usually there's a lot more drinking events than practices
So college drinking games in Japan are quite unique when compared to other countries
Japanese students don't usually play games like beer pong, but instead favored rhythm style drinking games and well if you lose you drink
Let's watch!
Just in case you don't know. The table with a futon blanket is called Kotatsu - it has an electric heater on the underside of the table
And a futon blanket draped around to keep the warmth
It's a very common in traditional Japanese homes, but you'll only see it brought out in the winter
So basically, they're gonna be playing this little rest of the night, maybe until the last train comes and they'll all go home
But this is like basically the day in the life of a Japanese University student. What do you guys think?
If you guys wanna check out Yusuke's social media
Then I'll definitely leave a link in the description so check that out!
And if you want to see what I'm doing on the daily. Check out my Instagram account.
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