I’m planning to move to Japan with two close friends, and we’re all hoping to study at Hokkaido University starting around october next year. We’re looking to get our undergraduate degrees (and possibly graduate programs later).
All three of us have supportive parents helping us financially, and we each have our own savings (for example, I have about ¥1,000,000/$7–8k saved right now). Ideally, we'd like to live together, and we’d prefer an apartment over dorms. We’re cool sharing a space, and we’re budgeting roughly $1,000 USD (≈¥150,000) per month total (about 350 a piece per month).
Some things we’d love advice or experiences on:
Student life in Sapporo: What's it like for international students?
Rent & housing: Is our budget realistic for a shared apartment? What should we expect for apartments vs. dorms?
Living expenses: What's the average monthly costs for utilities, groceries, transport, the like?
General tips: Is there anything you wish you knew before studying/living in Sapporo?
We'd just appreciate any sort of advice here, whether it be resources, personal experience, just looking to hear from people, thanks.
Note: We're all fairly intelligent students, I graduated from highschool a year early with a 3.9, one of my friends has a 3.8 and the other a 3.4 I believe, the 3.4 friend would get his undergraduate in biology while the 3.8 and I would get ours in the MJSP.
by thepresidentofcuba