Location
  • Japan
    • Nagoya
Term
Academic Year, Fall, Spring, Summer
Subject Areas
Asian Studies Business Humanities Social Sciences
Need-based funding, Merit-based funding, General grants/scholarships, BIPOC funding
Health & Safety

Program Details

Program Type
Provider
Degree Level
Bachelors
Housing
Host Family
Language
English

Pricing

Price Details
Contact IES Abroad or see website for details.
Jul 07, 2022
Apr 10, 2024
15 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Yearning to immerse yourself in Japanese language and history near the heart of cultural Japan? The fourth-largest city and the hub of Japanese manufacturing industries in Japan has plenty of festivals, traditional arts, and sports to enjoy.

Be sure to visit Nagoya Castle and Atsuta Shrine, two beautiful and culturally significant landmarks, to help you gain a better understanding of Nagoya, where there is truly something for everyone.

Experience all this city has to offer whether through direct enrollment or intensive language study, as this thriving city becomes your classroom.

Video and Photos

Diversity & Inclusion

Today, and every day, we celebrate who you are and who you will become. We take pride in simply getting to know you, and look forward to adventuring through this incredible world with you.

Studying abroad as part of the LGBTQIA+ community can present unique opportunities and challenges in exploring a new culture, so we have compiled resources on sexual orientation, gender identity, and allyship to help prepare you and support you along the way.
Going abroad, whether this is your first time or your umpteenth, can be a trip both literally and figuratively. Seeing something new or being someplace unfamiliar has its own challenges, especially when it comes to mental health and physical accessibility. With IES Abroad, you won't handle these concerns on your own.

We have not only compiled resources on mental health, physical health, and self-care to help prepare you and support you along the way, but we also have a dedicated Student Affairs staff that are available for you to contact from the United States and once in your host country.
Going abroad, whether this is your first time or your umpteenth, can be a trip both literally and figuratively. Seeing something new or being someplace unfamiliar has its own challenges, especially when it comes to mental health and physical accessibility. With IES Abroad, you won't handle these concerns on your own.

We have not only compiled resources on mental health, physical health, and self-care to help prepare you and support you along the way, but we also have a dedicated Student Affairs staff that are available for you to contact from the United States and once in your host country.

Impact

As part of IES Abroad's Global Good Commitment, IES Abroad employs sustainability measures in the following ways:
-Moving toward more sustainable Headquarters and Centers abroad
-Producing printed materials mindfully
-Hosting events and conferences in LEED-certified buildings
-Purchasing carbon offsets for staff air travel
-The formation of the IES Abroad Sustainability Team - a dedicated group of volunteers responsible for implementing sustainable practices across our organization. The team comprises of members across our Centers, departments, teams. It is truly a global effort, and we are better for it.

Popular Programs

crowd walking in front of a red building of traditional Japanese architecture

Immerse yourself in Japanese culture through full-time enrollment at the Center for Japanese Studies at Nanzan University. In addition to a required intensive Japanese language class, you will choose from a range of English-taught course offerings in Business, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and enjoy hands-on instruction in Japanese arts such as ikebana, shodo, hanga, and sumie. Students with advanced language skills are encouraged to enroll in seminars taught in Japanese with local students.

group of students smiling in front of a castle in Japan

Immerse yourself in Japanese culture by spending the summer studying abroad in Nagoya! Practice your language skills when you order sashimi at a local restaurant or ask for directions to the subway station. Interested in learning about hanga (woodblock printing) or ikebana (traditional flower arranging)? Our program offers you the chance to learn about Japanese culture with hands-on classes. You can also participate in course-related excursions around the city and to the historic city of Kyoto.

Program Reviews

4.78 Rating
based on 23 reviews
  • 5 rating 78.26%
  • 4 rating 21.74%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Academics 4.5
  • Support 4.8
  • Fun 4.55
  • Housing 4.8
  • Safety 5
Showing 1 - 8 of 23 reviews
Default avatar
Hamin
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Life in Nagoya, where you could meet actual Japan

Before I provide my review, I would like to highlight that I speak Japanese well, which made my life in Japan easier than for others. My study abroad with the IES Nagoya program was enjoyable. Since it involved direct enrollment at the Japanese school (Nanzan University), I really needed help filling out tons of applications. However, IES guided me through filling out all of the applications, and there weren't even many things to do at my level. Even though I could speak Japanese, I was definitely worried about adjusting myself to the new places. However, IES provided field trips to its students, which was actually an awesome experience for me. I took thousands of pictures on those field trips and even experienced many authentic Japanese places that I couldn't visit just in Nagoya. Adding more here, Nagoya is just the perfect place if you are first visiting Japan. Nagoya is a city with good authentic Japanese food, historical sites, and even a well-managed downtown area where you can enjoy East Asian culture with your local friends. In terms of learning, Nanzan offers great language classes where you can actually improve your Japanese skills. They also have a program where you can meet other Japanese students and exchange your own culture with them. Since you cannot meet local Japanese students in class, that program was really helpful for me to make some Japanese friends with whom I could practice the Japanese that I learned in class. I chose the homestay program while I was studying abroad, and I would say that was the highlight of my stay in Japan. You can engage with your host family who are willing to exchange their culture and help you practice your Japanese while you are at home. That helped me to understand Japanese society and people more deeply. I learned lots of etiquette that I need to know to live in Japan.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
I would say the whole grilled fish even with the head and tail while I went on a field trip to Kyoto with IES abroad. We went to the luxury Japanese traditional restaurant where we actually experienced the course dishes in Japanese ways, but since it was my first time visiting that kind of restaurant, it was hard to adjust to the dishes from there. That whole grilled fish was definitely a shock for me. Even in my friend's dish, the fish had eggs in the stomach so there was not much meat part to eat. I was shocked but it was quite an enjoyable and unique experience to me.
Pros
  • get to know Japan more deeply
  • cultural emmergence
  • develop language skills
Cons
  • language barrier
  • have to be extroverted for all times
  • cultural shock
53 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jessalin
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

My Japanese improved greatly, and I made friends!

I went abroad to improve my Japanese, and I was not disappointed. The Japanese program is intense and rewarding; it took a lot of work, but I learned a lot! I loved being able to learn alongside other passionate students. The professor's were caring and helpful, which made it easier during difficult classes. One of the ways IES was helpful was the practical advice about the area, and the time spent with other international students. I especially liked having the orientation before the classes started so I had adjustment time. Also, the trips they coordinated were really fun and helped me learn how to travel safely so that later I was able to do my own trips as well.
The only thing I found a bit frustrating was it was nearly impossible to participate in clubs at the university. But overall, the program was amazing.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
Items I still don't know the names of. IES gave me the opportunity to try a lot of traditional Japanese food, and I learned that a lot of Japanese food has really different textures.
185 people found this review helpful.
Read my full story
Default avatar
Jacob
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

One of the best Decision's I have ever made

I studied abroad with IES Abroad Nagoya in the Spring of 2019.

The IES abroad program at Nagoya is amazing. the staff for both the program and the university are very kind, and very helpful. they understand all of the struggles you might go through while studying abroad. Nazan also has counselors for international students.

Nagoya is a small but very nice city. In the areas where you will live, host family or dorm, there are very little foreigners so you don't have to worry about being treated like you know very little to no Japanese. it's also a very convenient city to make trips from. There are a lot subways, trains, and bus lines in the area to go almost anywhere of interest. And you can easily take the bullet train along the eastern coast which goes all the up to Hakodate and all the way down to Kagoshima. The airport is also a major one so you can easily take a domestic flight to a lot of cities.

The trips you are broad on are amazing as well and super generous. You get to go to some really cool locations, stay at very nice hotels and Ryokans (Japanese inn), and eat very good food.

The convenience and cheapness of the public transport system in Japan really encourages you to explore. I've made many solo trips. If your Japanese level is good enough, you can go almost anywhere.

Overall, this program completely change me. I was able to grow a lot as a person, a student, and a professional. My Japanese ability also skyrocketed.

I highly recommend this program for anyone who has the chance.

194 people found this review helpful.
Julia
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Studying Through IES in Nagoya: The Experience of a Lifetime

If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be studying abroad in Japan, I wouldn’t believe you. My application process was surreal: I’d looked up a countless number of photos, blogs, and reviews of study abroad in Japan, and I couldn’t believe that I was applying to go to a country so different from my own. When I applied and found out that I was accepted into IES Abroad’s Nagoya Summer Program, I was ecstatic: I was going to Japan! I had a new perspective about the photos, blogs, and reviews that I’d seen and read. I would gather my own memories and photos just like those in the past who’ve studied abroad have done.

What I loved the most about studying abroad through IES is the support system that I had from the minute I was accepted and even now as an alumna. I remember feeling butterflies (a bit from excitement, a bit from nervousness) when I thought about my upcoming study abroad trip, but my advisor sent me a weekly newsletter and answered all of my questions (no matter how small or unimportant they seemed to me!).

The minute my plane touched down in Nagoya, two IES staff members greeted me in the airport. This was such a relief for me, as I had never been in a foreign country before--let alone one where the native language isn't English! The staff members were so polite and helped me and two of my fellow participants to the hotel that we'd be staying in for the weekend. On the train ride there, we introduced ourselves and talked about various aspects of American and Japanese culture (in a mix of Japanese and English) and just our initial reactions at being in Japan. It was comforting to have them there with me, and they assuaged any lingering fears or worries that I had about being in a country so far from home.

My first weekend in Japan was an orientation guided by two IES staff members. They gave us emergency resources, talked about some cultural differences and difficulties that we might face, and organized a traditional Japanese meal for us. It was a perfect transitioning weekend that helped me and the other participants become comfortable with our new home for the next 6 weeks.

I won't lie and say transitioning to life in Japan was easy; being in a foreign country for the first time, especially when you don't speak the official language fluently, is tough. Tasks that I wouldn’t give a second thought to in America like doing laundry and buying groceries were challenging. My advice to overcoming these challenges is this: observe how your Japanese classmates carry out their day-to-day lives and never be afraid to ask for help.

My time in Japan was short, but I felt like I had seen a lot and learned a lot about the places that I visited. Because of IES, I was able to see my host city in a new way, through several different cultural events like the community Tanabata celebration and the TAO drum performance. I also explored more of Kyoto than I ever thought I would; Kyoto is such a historically and culturally rich city with an abundance of shrines, temples, and historical landmarks, and our weekend field trip to Kyoto allowed us to visit a handful of the most famous landmarks in a short span of time. Although I was extremely tired after the trip, I'm glad that I had the chance to see so much of such a beautiful city. IES Abroad field trips supplemented an already incredible study abroad experience by helping me to see more of Japan, both geographically and culturally, than I ever thought possible.

One aspect that I loved about IES is that they organized these field trips and events, but the time commitment was never overwhelming. I still had free time so I could hang out with my new friends and go to karaoke or a local ramen shop, or plan small field trips of our own to museums and castles.

As far as academics go, Nanzan University provided a rigorous and highly beneficial language learning environment. We had classes 5 days a week, around 3 hours a day with a 15-minute break in between, and then homework on a daily basis. What I loved about Nanzan was that they provide so many opportunities for international students to interact with Japanese students, both inside and outside of the classroom. Every Friday, our sensei would invite Japanese students to our class and we would start off the class by having conversations with them for 20-minutes. There were also daily events such as the Japan Plaza where you could go and get homework help or just informally converse in Japanese, and other frequent events such as Coffee Hour where you could converse and play games with Japanese students. They also organized several field trips (some just for international students, some for international and Japanese students) to various places such as Shirakawa-go, a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site nestled in the mountains, and even a sumo championship held in Nagoya! The environment that Nanzan University provided was so inviting and fun.

If you attend, I highly recommend staying in the International Student Dormitories. For the girls dorm, you’re guaranteed one Japanese roommate, plus up to 2 other roommates from anywhere in the world! The dorms are more like 4-bedroom apartments with a shared bathroom area, kitchen area, and common area. The guys dorms are single rooms, but there is still at least one Japanese student on each floor, so you won’t lose the opportunity to converse with native Japanese speakers, even when you’re settled in for the night.

Despite only being in Japan for 6 weeks, it felt like a lifetime because of all of the incredible people that I met and places that I saw. Overall, I highly recommend studying through IES Abroad if you’re looking to get the most out of your time abroad and explore every nook and cranny of your host country, with the support of a genuine and caring staff.

179 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Maya
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Summer in Nagoya

Participating in the Nagoya Summer--Language and Culture program at Nanzan University for seven weeks this past summer truly transformed my Japanese language ability and increased my confidence. Initially terrified to travel alone for the first time in my life, I was incredibly nervous, but the IES facilitators provided so much support that I was ability to immediately make friends and quickly come to call Nanzan University home. By both intensively studying Japanese and being fully immersed in Japanese culture every day I was able to improve more in my language ability then I ever could at my home university in the US. I left the program conversationally fluent and able to navigate the city by myself. I made lifelong friends with both other international students and the Japanese students at Nanzan. We still keep in touch to this day. This program made me realize just how much I love studying Japanese and has motivated me to continue to further pursue these studies.

182 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Sarah
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Spring Semester in Nagoya!

Living in Nagoya was an absolutely amazing experience I will never forget. Living in Japan and with a host family, I was able to use my Japanese all the time and because of that, my language skills greatly improved. Traveling and seeing Japan was one of the highlights of my experience. Every city I visited in Japan was not only beautiful, but also, had something unique to offer. The people I met in my daily interactions and at my university were extremely kind and helpful.

184 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Charles
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A Truly Immersive Experience

The IES experience was truly beyond what I expected from studying abroad. While we were given great cultural classes in addition to our regular classes, they assured that students were truly immersed in exploration, creating international friendships, and having a working understanding of the language and social aspects. The trips included many cultural experiences that even normal Japanese people do not get to do (i.e. very nice tea houses!).
Even when I was going on side trips with friends, Nagoya's location is perfectly located so that you can easily get to visit tourist favorites, such as Tokyo and Osaka, with ease. It also is a big city with many attractions within itself, but you get the feeling of it being legitimately Japan. Especially among my friends who were really searching for actually learning the culture and improving their language skills, Nagoya's Nanzan University the best program fit.
If you're still deciding which program to choose, you won't regret choosing IES Nagoya!

What would you improve about this program?
Many students weren't taught well of the social environment and nuances, so it could create for an awkward transition when meeting people, making friends, or even just socializing in general.
196 people found this review helpful.
Emily
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Incredible Semester in Nagoya!

I really couldn't have imagined my experience without going abroad with IES! IES provided so much support and opportunities for all of us during the semester. My friends who also studied abroad at Nanzan (but not with IES) were always really jealous of all of the incredible performances we saw and field trips we went on as a part of IES! Furthermore, the upper levels at Nanzan for Japanese studies are incredible, I learned so much and my Japanese improved dramatically. Would DEFINITELY recommend this program, and I do!

Choosing this program is such an incredible investment in your life and future! :)

178 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers

To an extent, yes. The minimum requirement is that the student be able to read and write all hiragana and katakana characters. That is the requirement to place into the 300 (lowest level) New Intensive Japanese course. All international students enrolled in Nanzan University's Center for Japanese Studies are required to take the New Intensive Japanese classes and will take a placement test upon...