Is Japan a good place to study marine biology?
Posted by GrimTalesVamp@reddit | marinebiology | View on Reddit | 9 comments
I'm american going for my bachelor's in marine biology and want to study and work in Japan for my masters since I want to study deep sea creatures including octopus but the search has been next to non the rest of my top 3 is Norway and the UK but I want to try Japan first
You do have any university recommendations for japan?
WhiteRabbitStandUser@reddit
Is your last name Kujo by chance?
marinebiology-ModTeam@reddit
Your post was removed as it violated rule #8: Responses to identification requests or questions must be an honest attempt at answering. This includes blatant misidentifications and overly-general/unhelpful identifications or answers.
MaverickDiving@reddit
Okay. Wow. I don't know what all these people think they know about Japan's academia, but I'll give it to ya straight from someone who did their masters here and is partway through their PhD.
You will have the best chance of getting into a program by researching which advisors might be best and reaching out by email. Establish a repertoire and then see if they will accept you as a student. Not all, but plenty of professors have a pretty high level of english or at least understandable, so collaboration is actually quite easy. I came here with very little Japanese but have built it up decently over the years. Translation apps make so many things easy here now, but having some Japanese will help you make friends. Not required for every program.
There are plenty of english programs, even at the top schools like Kyoto and Tokyo University. Some Japanese will make daily life easier, but not everything will require it. Pretty much all the graduate schools publish work in English, too, so expect to be an english editor for whatever lab you end up in.
There has also been a recent push to open up more scholarships to foreigners to study here. I've gotten plenty of funding for my projects and a livable stipend. As long as you're putting in a decent effort and positioning your projects for publication, it will likely get funded, and scholarships will be available.
Work culture and workload entirely depend on the specifics of your project. It seems any project that's in the wet lab needs a ton of data while field experiments aren't as much. My projects involve diving, so there's only so much of it I can do in a season, then it's just analyzing the data. That being said, it is probably on par with any program anywhere.
For any marine bio program, I'll recommend Kyoto University's satellite campuses at Shirahama (Seto) and Maizuru. I've also had the pleasure to collaborate with labs at Kobe University, Kochi University, and the University of Tokyo.
Network like crazy. It's been a strength to be outgoing here and ready to collaborate. Had amazing opportunities to expand my research and go on paid excursions and conferences. Plenty of english conferences are held here as well.
Careful taking advice from strangers about this. So much discouraging comments in here with **very little basis in the reality of studying in Japan. Talk to current students of professors themselves instead.
Sadly, I can't say much about a bachelor's, but since it's marine biology, you'll need at least a masters anyway, and that's what I can speak to personally.
Studying in Japan has absolutely been the best decision of my life. It hasn't exactly been easy, it's had it's difficulties, but all in all, it's been a wonderful time for me and I've been able to freely study my passion projects along side the commercial fisheries that brings in the grant money.
mom0007@reddit
I would suggest Bangor University in the UK for marine biology, Southhampton, Bristol, St Andrews, Hull all cover marine biology but most of those employed in the research field here seem to have gone to Bangor or Southhampton.
Go on Google Scholar and look at where the researchers covering those topics went to university and what companies or university they work for.
Thebest advice is get a good start in the basics before thinking about a masters. Don't specialise initially as your interests will change with the course.
mom0007@reddit
Do also note marine science isn't amazingly well paid. Scentists with the same skill sets in any other field will be paid almost double what a marine scientist makes. Most work is done at a desk with only a few field trips.
Patmarker@reddit
Southampton in the UK is great for deep sea bio. As others have said, you’ll struggle in Japan if you don’t know the language!
k_h_e_l@reddit
If you don't speak Japanese/are ethnically Japanese, there will be cultural and language barriers that will probably be unpleasant at best. There are plenty of American (or even western world located) labs at major oceanography schools that do work with cephalopods. Look for a good PI (whether or not you go abroad) and that will shape the majority of your grad experience imo.
flippythemaster@reddit
Do you speak Japanese? That seems like it ought to come first if that’s your goal. If not your options are likely to be pretty limited and fall within the narrow sliver of international schools within Japan. You may be better off going to school in the USA and getting your major in a language you speak and seeing if there are any summer exchange programs you can apply to if you want to get the experience of being in Japan. But even then I would still recommend learning Japanese.
Selachophile@reddit
FYI, my understanding is that the work culture of Japanese academia can be especially brutal.