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Doshisha MBA

First week at Doshisha

I just finished my first week as a graduate student at Doshisha University. A lot has happened and I got many new friends here.

I’ve joined my first student circle, the kendo club kenrenkai(剣練会). Went to a seminar by a Google manager. I had courses in Accounting, Critical and Analytical Thinking, Business Economics and Strategic Management. They have many fancy names but seems basic so far. Exactly one week ago we were welcomed by the president and the deans of the school. There were speeches, songs, and prayers. Yes, Doshisha is a school-based upon Christian principles. But more about that later. Here are some pictures!

Doshisha University
Japanese level check
Kyoto

Ueda Yuba Factory!

During my first week in Japan, I went to a Yuba-Factory! （上田湯葉）

For those of you who aren’t Japanese, Yuba（湯葉）is a kind of food made from soybeans. The process of making it is quite simple. Basically: soy milk is being boiled and the fresh layers of skin above it are being taken away and made into different end products.

I went to the two factories with the hopes to see the process of a Japanese manufacturer in real life. While there, I could follow the whole process from putting the beans into water overnight to taking them out and into the processing machine. There they are mixed with hot water(I believe) and put into pressure. A dried soybean rest products come out at the bottom and the company gives it away for free to the local community! A clear example of lean production of not letting anything go to waste, and improving the company’s CSR and status in the community.

Grinding soybean to powder

The soymilk is then being led through pipes to the working stations where  Yuba is being taken out, and folded into the actual Yubas different shapes! 100% handmade. When the skin has been taken away, you can fold it in your hand and hang it up for a while for the immediate moisture to disappear. You can also just put in through a bamboo stick and then hang it to try and become a snack. A third version is to take the skin and put it in a plastic bag for cooldown. I learned that they also make Tofu, soy milk, and other products as well.

I thank my friends of the Ueda family for taking me here!

Yuba team

Hompage: Ueda Yuba Co. Ldt. They also have a couple of restaurants specialized in Yuba in Kyoto.

They even let me try to make some myself! 🙂 

Getting instruction
Scholarships

Opening a Japanese bank account

A bank account is usually the hub of your financial transactions. The same is true for Japan, If you live and study or work in Japan for a long time it’s essential to have it.

Basically you will need your:

  • Residence card
  • Passport
  • Money to deposit
  • Hanko (Personal seal)
  • Patience
  • (Japanese friend)

I choosed to open a bank account for the JR post bank. It doesn’t cost anything. They have offices in all cities of Japan. The bank is allways equipped with a post office. But the first and formoste reason for this bank is that I got the JASSO scholarship, and they will put in no other than a JP post bank account. By doing this I also hope to cut my transaction costs while not having to depend on withdrawing cash from my Swedish bank account all the time.

Opening up the bank account is requires quite some time. It took about 45 minuties even with the help of a Japanese friend. There is a lot of information to fill in, in Japanese. They also want your adress and phone number. And most importantly your Hanko! When I finally left there I realized that I didnt have to deposit any money either.

In the post office I went to they had an English pamphlete that explained in detail how to fill out the Japanese application form!

I got an old fashioned bank book and a cash card a week later in the mailbox.

Doshisha MBA, Kyoto

Finding my accomodation and bicycle in Kyoto

Since I’m a student of Doshisha University I wanted an apartment close to Imadegawa campus in northern Kyoto. Doshisha itself cannot help graduate students with student dormitories. So when I came to Japan, my head was full of ideas of what kind of place I wanted, AC, internet, location, pricing, the amount of tatami etc. I really believed myself to have planned this quite rigorously. Most of my friends and classmates live close to school in apartments and dorms they have found through accommodation agencies around Doshisha.

What happened to me is however completely different. Something randomly occurred and changed everything. To make a very long and interesting story shorter:

During my bachelor studies, I was a mentor for a Japanese exchange student in Sweden. Now while I have arrived in Japan, his family kindly offered to help me find an apartment in Kyoto. They gave me a list of apartments around Doshisha but also mentioned that they had an old Japanese house in the outskirts of Kyoto that has been empty for quite some time, so they offered me to stay there! After going to the place and having a look, I found the deal amazing! And the bath has a control panel…! I have thus moved to Yamashina-ku (eastern part of Kyoto) behind Higashiyama. It takes about 35 min for me to commute by bicycle to school.

My new home!

Oh talking about bicycling, I went to Eirin. A chain-store company with funky shops all around the city. It just happened to be working a guy from Finland there who spoke both Japanese and English perfectly. I spend about an hour in there and came out with a second-hand mountain bike!

My bike!
Kyoto

Getting a mobile phone in Japan

It’s been one and a half week since I came to Doshisha University. The pieces of my life puzzle have rapidly fallen into place. During the first days, I thought getting a phone was of most importance, so I searched on the internet without finding any good results. Having to go to one of the large phone operators offices seemed to be the case. I and my friend Ueda went to both AU and Softbank and asked them about the plans and contracts they were offering. A lot of the marketing was focused on selling the new iPhone 6.

All in all, since I’ll be staying here for two years I decided upon a 2-year contract with AU KDDI with one of their Android smartphones. It took probably around 60 min to sign the papers, waiting, letting the clerk put on the protective film, waiting, installing and explain the functions of the phone, then I got the phone! I got a 7 GB/month plan with limited calling since that will suit me the best. My upcoming accommodation will probably not have internet installed so I prepared for the worst case. I can always upgrade it to 10 or 13 GB later. The cost will land on about 8000 yen/month including the phone and internet. We are talking about 192 000 yen in just phone costs during my stay here, ouch!

The Japanese phone system with locked-sim cards really feels ancient and costly for the consumers compared to the Swedish system. The service level is however completely different from a similar Swedish store, Japanese customer service aces!