FAQ – Housing & Campus Life

A. IUJ is located about 230 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, and 100 Kilometers south of Niigata city, in the city Minami Uonuma. The nearest town is Urasa (location map). It takes about 90 minutes to get to Urasa from Tokyo by the Joetsu-Shinkansen or Bullet train (directions). The Joetsu-Shinkansen and the Kan’etsu Expressway provide easy access to Tokyo and Niigata City. Free shuttle-bus service connects IUJ with the town and the Urasa JR railway station. A special IUJ Saturday bus takes students to shopping in Muikamachi.

A. IUJ offers 3 single student dormitories and 1 married student apartment on campus. These buildings are just steps away from the cafeteria and gymnasium, and classrooms. Each single dorm has a bed, desk, private bath, telephone and Internet connection. Most have a nice view of our mountains. Dorm life is an essential and valued part of the IUJ experience because it fosters true global understanding and international community values.

Each dorm has shared lounges, kitchen facilities, storage rooms, and laundry facilities. All facilities are open to all residents.

The married student apartment are small 2-room facilities housing just 18 married couples (school-aged children are not allowed). They have a bedroom, private bath, a kitchenette, balcony, and living area. The units are unfurnished. Competition for these apartments is high and a lottery selection process for 1st year students takes place each October.

Priority is given to 2nd year students who were unable to bring spouses the first year, single parent students, and couples who are both IUJ students. IUJ reserves the right to make other priority decisions.

Those with children should find housing off campus. IUJ is happy to introduce landlords with affordable housing on the IUJ bus route.

A. The local town of Urasa has several apartments located on the IUJ bus route or just a few minutes walk from it. Local real estate agents can assist in finding suitable housing. In general they are small units of 2-4 rooms and range in cost from 40,000-75,000yen/month, plus utilities, key money, community fees, etc.. 

Students are required to live on campus their first year unless IUJ is unable to provide suitable housing. Usually, this means we are unable to provide housing for family members.

All IUJ students without accompanying spouse/children should live on campus.

A. Yes. Students are expected to live on campus as part of the IUJ experience and training.

One of the wonderful things about IUJ is its international community. The rich cultural diversity provides ample learning and experiences outside of the classroom. Not experiencing this 24-7 international immersion would be a missed opportunity!

Please note: In addition to IUJ’s own policy, some scholarships require on-campus residency.

A. It is estimated that students need a minimum of 100,000 yen a month to live on campus, including:
Single Student Dorm Fee – 32,000 or 35,000 or 39,000 YEN depending on dorm.
Utilities – 3,000 YEN (variable);
Meals in the cafeteria – 2500 YEN (variable); and
Copy, printing and other educational expenses – 20,000 YEN (variable)
13,000 food, entertainment, etc. (Variable)

For more details, please see https://www.iuj.ac.jp/oss/budgeting/

With careful planning these costs can be reduced.

A. IUJ boasts 
– a large gymnasium used for many evening sports clubs, 
– a weight room and aerobics room facilities, 
– outdoor tennis courts with night lights, 
– a cafeteria and 24-hour open Snack Lounge, 
– a school store with daily living needs for sale (including postage, dry cleaning, film developing, etc.), 
– a library (open until midnight) 
– computing facilities open 24 hours a day, 
– computer lounges in the dorms fully connected to the on-campus network and internet available 24 hours a day, 
– Common-use kitchnettes in each dormitory (that are cleaned by the students who use them)
– laundry facilities
– prayer rooms and religions meeting rooms
– and more!

All are accessible free of charge (fees for laundry are applicable)

A, The IUJ shuttle bus  makes frequent daily trips to town – shopping (including Halal, vegetarian and international spices availability), banking, restaurants, and train station. Transferring to the local train lines or buses, students can travel to anywhere in Japan, including our neighboring towns where more diverse shopping is available.

Each Saturday, the IUJ bus takes students to Muikamachi where shopping at AEON, K’s Denki (electrical appliances), the Daiso 100 yen shop. Various restaurants including McDonald’s, KFC, Sri Lankan curry, Ramen, Sushi, etc. are available. On Sundays, the bus will take you to the train station in the morning so you can explore Nagaoka, Ojiya, etc. And to a different shopping area with Gyomu-Supaa (some Halal products, international soups, seasonings, etc.), nice grocery stores, drug stores, 100 shop and various restaurants. 

A. IUJ graduate students are very active in and out of class. Some of the featured clubs are (list is just examples, and not all-inclusive).

CAREER CLUBS
– Finance Club
– Consulting Club
– Global Concerns Forum

HOBBY/Sports
– Photography
– Onsen goes (hot spring lovers)
– Basketball, badminton, Volleyball, pingpong
– Martial arts of Aikido, etc

Various religioun affilieated groups are also organized including muslim prayer groups, Catholic sunday services, and Christian services. While religious freedom is promoted on campus, religious propoganda is not.

OTHER
Every year, new clubs emerge based on the interests of that group of students, and the leaders’ initiatives.

A. The IUJ community is active with various events on campus, often hosted by the “GSO” and range from movie nights, to social parties, to sports activities (evening fun and tournaments), to career or culture clubs. Activities around the HOUSE system (10 teams) add a lot of fun and interaction that helps with cross-border friendship and networking, and make campus life extra enriched.

Off campus, get ready to enjoy amazing festivals from the Fire Walking festival to the “Naked Man” festival, fireworks displays and various community events and stage shows.

UMEX, a volunteer group from the town, often arranges events for small groups which include hiking trips, festival trips, kimono wearing experiences, mountain vegetable picking, BBQs etc. etc.

Please be very involved in camps life to get the most out of your IUJ experience.

A. No, not the first few terms at least.

The academic demands are very time consuming. Most 1st and 2nd term students cannot work but must keep concentrated on their studies.

Once settled, some students might get to be Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants or work in the library or on the computer help desk. IUJ faculty and library/computer staff will have information on this. There are also opportunities as “Facilitators” for our various corporate-oriented Non Degree Programs

Working in the community is not likely, except for teaching English, or other languages. IUJ does not facilitate this.

Accompanying spouses should not expect to work. Getting a work permit on a Spouse Visa is possible, but should not be the reason the spouse is coming – supporting the student is why those on Spouse Visas of a Student should be coming to the area.. Plus there is a language barrier and transportation issue when working off campus. On-campus employment for spouses is not available.

Please note: Some scholarships do not allow students to work including: JICA, ADB, IMF, World Bank. Check your scholarship rules and follow them closely.