Asian MBA in JAPAN

Question

I have received offers from Hitotsubashi University   & Waseda Business School  
I have not noticed any review regarding B Schools in JAPAN & Korea...

Can anybody let me know whats the overall review of these B Schools?

Jock4MBA · Answer

Interesting choice. May I ask about your Japanese language skills. What level do you need to complete an MBA at Waseda and Hitotsubashi? Japan has good unis, but seems to neglect Bschools development compared to other countries. Most Japanese Bschools attract only domestic talent and the brightest students are likely to go abroad. Do both programmes offer scholarships? I think tuition and living costs are rather dear.

subhabrata1986 · Answer

I know a bit Japanese, but only basic (actually very basic).

I want to complete PostGraduate MBA degree.

What I heard about JAPAN B Schools, both the colleges are quite good in quality but in JAPAN MBA values less than experience which is a bit traditional view. But Hitotsubashi have a good employment rate & all these employments done by US/WU companies.

Both programs do offer scholarships, but the tution is 30% as compared to US colleges.

But where I differ from your view is

In case Japanese companies do value experience more than degrees, logically it may not attract domestic talent much.
Hitotsubashi MBA have 50% of international application in class every year.

Though I am not sure about MBA of JAPAN, but I am giving this a genuine thought.

Welcome for feedbacks

alistar · Answer

I was also considering an MBA in Japan.
Waseda, Hitotsubashi and Ritsumeikan.

I think globally, Japanese MBA programs are under-recognized. This is mostly due to the fact that their best schools only teach in Japanese (U of Tokyo, Keio), which makes it harder for international students with low Japanese proficiency to attend. Only recently (last 10-15years) have some schools adopted English language MBA programs.

MBA programs that are not taught in English never get ranked in global surveys regardless of how many CEO's they pump out.

I think that if you intend to work in Japan, then a Japanese MBA would be just as good as any other MBA. But if you intend to work in Europe or North America, then you're better off going to a 2nd Tier MBA school there. Keep in mind, that if you want to work in Japan, you will need to speak Japanese quite well. Most companies look for a JLPT level 2, even though some companies are trying to make English their main language of communication.

A.

felicia1302 · Answer

I am also considering to take MBA in Japan...
From what I learnt in a Japan Educational Fair held not so long ago in my city, Japan has Global 30 program where 13 universities in Japan will provide several courses in full English..
Some of those universities also offer MBA in English..
I'm going to try Doshisha and Waseda...
There's also International Unversities of Japan which also have all English program but the location is a little bit isolated..

@subhabrate2986  Do you mind sharing your experience getting a scholarship offer from Waseda?
It's one of my target university so it would help me a lot...
Thanks in advance

BM · Answer

I lived in Japan for quite some time and considered graduate school there for a number of fields. Waseda has an MBA program, but it is not ranked highly. Tokyo University does not offer an MBA degree (they suggest a two-year MSc in Economics with a business concentration instead), but Keio University has recently partnered with HEC for a double MBA program for 2012. That is probably your best bet.

And to truly experience everything Japan has to offer professionally, personally, and in terms of education, a competent level of Japanese is definetely recommended!

And to truly experience everything Japan has to offer professionally, personally, and in terms of education, a competent level of Japanese is definetely recommended!

ArtEast · Answer

I would strongly recomment you not to accept any of these offers, but better check some other schools , for example Cranfield in UK.

Not only Japan is a specific country, but even MBA here is quite different from what many people have in mind.

Both schools are famous in Japan, but if you intend to get a good job here, you must spend a lot of time learning Japanese.

You will never be treated same as Japanese, for years, and especially in job placement. The only chance to get a luck is working for an international company, but they also prefer local Japanese people with international experience, or International people with local experience in business (you will not gain it during MBA)

I have been living in Japan for 11 years already, also I did a research and then a Masters course at one of famous universities. I never looked for a job as a started a company here, but all my classmates are all gone back to their countries, except several people. One Spanish guy got a good job offer, but it was from his friends farther, and company head office is in Spain. The other Russian guy is now wokring in consultancy, but he is unhappy with salary and working hours and every day commuting to/from Tokyo (1 hour one way)

Japanese MBA will never be international. This will be useless .

BM · Answer

I generally agree with his ArtEast's assessment of the situation in Japan.

ArtEast · Answer

If you guys are still thinking of MBA in Japan, there is one more good option - consider Globis school. It is not ranked actually that much, but I met some people graduated from it, and they were so glad to have studied there. School has a very good alumni network in Japan, it will offer full time and part-time English programms from 2012. I am visiting them on Jul 24 , will report with photos!

Tokyo2020 · Answer

If you are looking to work in Japan or for a Japanese business expanding abroad - getting your MBA in Japan makes a lot of sense. In my opinion the best program and the most difficult to get into is Hitotsubashi's ICS. Hitotsubashi is basically the London School of Economics of Japan, the university has a long history of teaching commerce in Japan.

To understand ICS, take a look at the founder Hiro Takeuchi (Hitotsubashi Grad then became a Harvard MBA professor in the 1970's) - he basically transplanted Harvard's case study method of teaching business to Tokyo in 2000. The head finance professor - Tom Ito - is a Harvard MBA and just retired in 2012 as head of Investment Banking (for Japan) at UBS. The head marketing professor - Yoshi Fujikawa - is also a Harvard MBA and successful consultant. The Strategy professor - Ken Kusunoki - is a Hitotsubashi alum and a famous author on strategy in Japan (his books are top-sellers on Amazon JAPAN). I researched all of these schools but found the quality of the faculty at Hitotsubashi to be world class. Please check it out for yourself and look at the background info of the faculty.

I looked at IUJ and it's beautifully located in Niigata but you are very far from the action in Tokyo. Almost all of the jobs will be found in Tokyo so it helps to be in the city (also top talent for professors and guest lectures are largely in Tokyo).

Now if you want to work in Europe or the US you are better off getting an MBA there. That being said I know folks who have interviewed in Tokyo and were hired under the understanding that after a year in the Tokyo headquarters they would be sent to the U.S., Europe, etc to help run the business there.

As has been mentioned, Japanese is a huge plus. They have Japanese language classes at ICS but don't expect fluency within a year. Now - having said that - I also know several guys from India that spoke very limited Japanese and were hired into the Japanese IT and Pharma industry.

Good luck to you on your MBA journey!

aMBAinJapan · Answer

I agree. I did Hitotsubashi and this is definitely the best return on investment, given the price of the tuition fees.

MBAbot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club MBAbot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Asian MBA in JAPAN

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards