Enquiry, robotics in Japan

[silas101]

My name is Silas, I'm 17, I am currently studying my A-levels in year 12 (13th year of education) in the UK, i study Maths, Physics, ICT and General studies. I study the Japanese language at a beginner level outside class. My interests are Robotics, Computing, Travelling and language.I am already fluent in one language other than English. I aim to study robotics and/or Animatronics in university after My A-levels.

I have been involved in many courses involving robotics and would be very delighted to get an oportunity to study it at a higher level. After a lot of research I am convinced Japan would be the best place for me to study in this field since Japan is currently the world leader in the field of Robotics and will be for many years to come.

I have been advised by my careers advisor to contact the Japanese embassy and consulate in the UK, to find out if i can be provided with any more information on studying robotics in Japan. I would like to know if there are any British based japanese companies that are involved in robotics, or interested in sponsoring a devoted, hardworking student. I would also like to know if there are any scolarships awarded by the japanese ambassy or any japanese company/organization.

By studying robotics in japan i aim to learn more about the japanese culture while also attaining the best education possible in the field of robotics.

Attempts i've made:
Tried to contact sony howard springer(funny i know): email address error.
Contacted Jetro: still waiting for reply
Contacted jasso: gave me a list of scholarships
Contacted Toshiba scholarship: no luck - email error again
Contacted local careers advisor: Promised to contact me in a few days - nothing yet

Totally Confused, i can see this step having a huge impact on my future if i succeed, but toally confused at the moment.

Thanks (ありがとう) for any advise/support you will give.:-)

[dreamer]

Here are some local schools that I know are involved in robotics since they were at the robo Japan 2008.
東京工業大学: http://www.titech.ac.jp/home-j.html
日本工学院: http://www.neec.ac.jp/index.html
東京理料大学: http://www.tus.ac.jp/
神奈川工科大学: http://www.kait.jp/
千葉工業大学: http://www.it-chiba.ac.jp/

You also have honda's asimo project that might interest you, maybe they do offer scholarships:
http://www.honda.co.jp/ASIMO/

[silas101]

thank you
i'll make sure to check each of them
just send about 12 e-mails to different universities
waiting for replies.

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Biped Robot Research in the World
http://staff.aist.go.jp/s.kajita/bipedsite-e.html

Laboratory's of Osaka University robot research seems to be top in Japan.

News about a mass production of a robot suit.
http://robot.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/2008/04/17/1001.html

[Charles Barkley]

Rather than just sending off a bunch of random emails in which you probably haven't demonstrated any real knowledge about the admissions programs, scholarships, etc, you really should first devote the time to online research, then talk to an advisor at your high school, then begin applying for scholarships.

You can start your online research by looking at back posts on this website, perusing the JASSO website, etc. Another place to start would be your local consulate/embassy in England. Contact them and make an appointment/get information via email.

Finally, work on your Japanese language skills. Already having a second foreign language is all well and good--except it won't help you at all in Japan if your Japanese isn't up for studying there. Some schools may conduct classes in English, but don't count on it. Do your homework, study Japanese, and don't send emails out that sound as panicky as your post here.

[dreamer]

Indeed...most people I met at the JR2008 did not speak very good english so we had to speak japanese with them (Some were students, others were researchers/teachers).
I hope you did send your emails in japanese and not in english since it is likely to be considered as spam and deleted.

[silas101]

I didn't send my emails in japanese (not good enough yet) but i understand what you mean. I just got a really nice reply back from a university i mailed. The most positive reply i've had.
"Hello Silas Adekunle.
Your hope has been understood well.
And, it is a selection good as the school to research the robot.
It is a course that I recommend. "
Its just really encouraging, he then goes on and tell me that usually most robotics is thought in japanese and he suggested that i go to a japanese language school for a year, then "The production technology of the robot is learnt at the Nihon kogakuin college first." "Afterwards, the theory of the robot is researched in Tokyo University of technology." I'm ready to give up time to learn japanese (maybe at university level) first before doing robotics.
He sent me 3 links
Japanese language school: . jst.ac. jp
The college: .neec .ac. jp/cie
The university: .teu .ac .jp
I'll look through them and see what i can do.
Thanks for the Advice aswell Charles, i talked to the head of my school today and they've never sent any student from our school to japan whereas we have transfer students from over there to here, so its something they'll be looking into for me. The little japanese i know; I practise Everyday with the transfer students, just so you know i'm serious about this and not some aniime fanatic ^.^.
Any advice would be welcome once again.
ありがとう