Japanese for University Students in Japan

The registers of campus life

Most international students in Japan hold a student status of residence, arranged through the university, and everything else follows from it: whether you can work, how many hours, and which office handles your paperwork. Those rules are outside this guide and change over time, so confirm them with your international office. What does not change is the language pattern of the campus, and it is worth seeing whole before learning the pieces.

Professors and office staff receive full polite Japanese, with itadakemasu ka and yoroshii deshō ka. Senpai in your circle get desu and masu, even when they use casual forms back at you. Classmates in your own year start polite and drop to casual once someone suggests it. The learner mistake runs in both directions: being casual with a professor because they were friendly, and staying stiffly polite with classmates who have already invited you to relax.

Academic vocabulary with readings

The words below appear on the syllabus, the registration portal, the notice board and the office signs, and most of them are kanji compounds that you will hear before you can read. Learn the reading and the word together, because a professor will say rishū tōroku aloud and a notice will print it as 履修登録. A few, such as zemi and repōto, are clipped loanwords with meanings that differ slightly from the English source: a repōto is any written assignment, and a zemi is a small seminar group attached to one professor that often lasts until graduation.

Following a lecture and asking a question after class

Lectures are mostly one-way, and the useful Japanese is the framing the lecturer uses: shusseki o torimasu means attendance is being taken now, raishū wa kyūkō desu cancels next week, and kuwashiku wa shirabasu o mite kudasai sends you to the syllabus for the details you were about to ask. Listen for those frames and for any sentence with shimekiri in it, and let the rest of the content come from the slides and the handout.

Questions are usually asked after class, at the lectern, not during. Approach with sensei, ima yoroshii desu ka, name the exact place you lost the thread, and ask for one thing. A professor's reply is often short, so have a second sentence ready that confirms what you heard. The mistake is asking a vague question such as whether the exam is difficult; ask instead what the exam covers or whether the report topic is free.

Office hours in the professor's room

Office hours happen in the kenkyūshitsu, and the visit has a shape: ask in advance, knock and say shitsurei shimasu, introduce yourself by faculty and year, state the topic in one sentence, and leave with thanks for their time. Professors are used to international students asking for help with Japanese expressions in a report, and most will do it if you bring a printed draft with the sentences you doubt marked.

Bring one question that needs judgement, such as whether your structure works or whether your sources are enough, rather than questions the syllabus already answers. Sōdan shitai no desu ga, I would like to consult you, is the phrase that tells the professor this is about their opinion, and it is how Japanese students frame every office visit.

The email skeleton to a professor

Email is where international students most often sound rude without meaning to, because a short English-style message with no name and no greeting reads as abrupt in Japanese. The fix is a skeleton that every Japanese student uses: a subject line that says what and who, the professor's name with sensei on its own line, a one-line apology for interrupting, your identification, the reason for writing, the request as a question, a closing request for their consideration, and a signature with your student number.

Notice that the request comes near the end, after the professor knows who you are and why. Notice also the closing kanō deshō ka, would it be possible, which asks without assuming the answer. The example below asks for a one-day extension because of illness; swap the middle two rows for any other purpose and the rest stays the same.

Reply to the professor's answer even if it is one line. Go-henshin arigatō gozaimasu, thank you for your reply, followed by what you will now do, closes the exchange properly and is the step most students forget.

Registration, credits, deadlines and reports

The first weeks of every term are paperwork, and the paperwork has a small vocabulary that repeats: whether a course is hisshū or sentaku, how many tan'i you need, when rishū tōroku closes, and how a repōto must be submitted. Ask these questions at the gakumuka or of a senpai in your faculty, and ask them early, because the registration deadline is the one date the office will not move.

When something goes wrong, the words are tan'i o otosu, to fail a course, and sairishū, to retake it. Saying them plainly is better than the vague expressions learners reach for; the office needs the term to look up your options. The reply will usually contain a date and a form, so listen for made, until, and yōshi, form.

Circles, clubs and senpai speech

Circles and clubs are where most friendships and most Japanese practice happen, and they come with a speech habit: the kōhai, the junior, uses desu and masu to the senpai, and the senpai uses casual forms back. This is not coldness; it is the normal shape of the relationship, and it relaxes over time. Visit a few with kengaku dekimasu ka, may I come and watch, before joining, and introduce yourself as a shinnyūsei, a new student, so people know to explain things.

Two fixed phrases carry the day-to-day: otsukaresama desu on arrival and departure, and senpai as a form of address instead of a name when you are unsure. When a senpai invites you to a nomikai, a drinking party, the invitation will be casual; your answer stays polite whether it is yes or a reason you cannot come. Casual forms below are labelled.

Group work and presentations

Group assignments start with yakuwari buntan, dividing the roles, and the fastest way to be useful in a Japanese group is to claim a concrete part and a date. Research, slides, the script and the delivery are the usual pieces. Ask a Japanese group member to check your Japanese in exchange for your English or your data skills; it is a fair trade and it is how most mixed groups actually work.

The presentation itself has a formal frame that students use even in a small seminar: an opening line announcing the topic, ijō desu to mark the end, and go-seichō arigatō gozaimashita to thank the audience. Questions from the professor are answered with go-shitsumon arigatō gozaimasu before the answer, which buys a second to think and sounds composed.

Part-time job hunting as a student

A student part-time job, an arubaito or baito, usually begins with a phone call or a form, then a short interview. Before any of that, check that you hold the permission for activities outside your student status; employers will ask about it and will want to see your residence card. Rules on hours and permitted work vary and change, so confirm them with your international office rather than with the employer alone.

In the interview the questions are about availability, in days and time bands, and about your Japanese. Answer with concrete days. Two questions are worth asking yourself: whether shifts can drop during shiken kikan, the exam period, and who to tell when you cannot come. The dedicated job interview guide covers full-time interviews; the student version is shorter and friendlier, but the same politeness applies.

The student office and scholarship counters

The counters at the gakuseika and gakumuka handle certificates, address changes, tuition questions and scholarships, and they run on a courteous, formulaic Japanese that is easy to learn because it repeats. Open with what you want plus o-negai shitai no desu ga, and the clerk will take over with a form and a date. Certificates take days to issue, so ask hakkō made dono kurai kakarimasu ka before you promise one to a landlord or an employer.

Scholarship applications have deadlines and document lists, and the office staff will read them out faster than you can write. Ask for the list on paper with shorui no risuto o itadakemasu ka, then confirm the deadline separately. Bringing a senpai from the same country the first time is common and sensible; the staff do not mind.

Making friends across casual and polite

Classmates in the same year start polite with each other and move to casual speech by agreement, often in the first week, when someone says keigo ja nakute ii yo. Until that happens, desu and masu are the safe default, and the move to tameguchi, casual speech, is something you can propose yourself once you have talked a few times. The invitation to the cafeteria is the classic opening, and the phrase for it is a negative question, ikimasen ka, which is softer than a direct invitation.

Casual forms are labelled below. Notice how short they get: kuru? for are you coming, benkyō shiyō for let's study. The mistake is mixing the two registers with the same person in the same conversation; pick one after the agreement and stay there.

• Learn one classmate's name and year in the first lecture and use the name the next time you meet; names are remembered more than grammar.
• Sit with the same group at the cafeteria twice, then propose the switch to casual speech yourself if nobody has.
• Keep the senpai in your circle on polite forms even after classmates go casual; the two relationships are different.
• Answer a Japanese question in Japanese, even when the person switches to English to help you, and the conversations will stay in Japanese.