Info about the general exchange process, how long I had to prepare in advance etc. Note that if you're that single person who's won the Japanese government scholarship it's different.

Background info/requirements:

• I'd taken 3 semesters of a 6-semester (3-year Bachelor's) Japanese degree before I went.

• Exchange students always pay "home tuition costs", so since Swedish Universities are free the exchange school was also free. I still had to pay for living, apartment, transportation, etc costs.

• No scholarships available for people going on exchange outside of Europe, not even for disabled students. There is a Japanese Government Scholarship; in Högskolan Dalarna's case only 1 person can get it per year and 4 people applied for it the year I applied (I didn't win).

• English is the working language of the exchange process. So all papers from the Japanese school are in both Japanese and English.

Before the exchange:

• 2016 Sept/Oct: Learned I could study abroad (free tuition, wife can come with) thanks to Miyagi University of Education (MUE)'s PPT they showed us Japanese degree students. 15 students were at the PPT showing, 1-3 of those were already living in Japan.

• 2016.11.21: Mailed in my study abroad application from/to the Swedish school. Applied for all 3 possible exchange schools, all 1-year stays. Miyagi was my top choice because among other things I'm almost blind and need a small / disability-friendly school.

You had to write a plan of which classes you were planning on taking in order to finish your degree as if you weren't going on exchange, then write "these courses will be replaced by the exchange school's courses where able". Ex. "Autumn 2018: Japanese III: Intro to Translation, Spring 2019: Degree Thesis".

• 17.01.01: Started getting a student loan in advance, so I'd be able to pay for plane tickets, show proof of funding for the VISA etc. were I to be accepted.

• 17.03.16: Got the Email saying I was accepted for nomination from Dalarna to the Miyagi. (The chance of the exchange school not accepting you after this is almost 0)

• 17.03.24: Online meeting for future exchange students. Almost all the info was already on their site. I think 60 people were nominated to go on exchange in general; around 10 were at the meeting I went to.

• 17.05.12: Got the first Email from the exchange school, it explained what I had to send in to get the Certificate of Eligibility (COE; pre-VISA stuff for Japan):

1. School application form (attached in Email)
2. Certificate of good health (attached)
3. Pledge ("I won't break school rules or get into debt") (attached)
4. Signed Academic Transcript (automatically mailed to my house by Dalarna staff)
5. Screenshot of current bank balance (no balance history needed). Mine had about $6,000 USD and I had no proof of any funds past that. Someone else had about $2,000 and just added a screenshot proving they were getting student loans. Both worked fine for getting a VISA.
6. Photocopy of Passport
7. Three photographs (3×4 cm = $12)

The school application paper asked for my "expected class list", there wasn't a class list on their website so I had to Email them to ask what to put. It's not what you're actually going to take, it's just a placeholder; your actual classes will be chosen at the school itself after taking a language placement test.

Getting the certificate of health completed took 5-6 weeks. The exchange school only gave me around 3 weeks so I just kept asking for extensions and it was fine. I went to my local clinic and got a general checkup (basic hearing test, eye test, muscle/motor movement test, EKG, normal blood test; on the eye test portion, don't write your specific glasses prescription: just write "average, poor" etc. That was all done within 40 minutes, then the guy forwarded me to the hospital where I got a tuberculosis check (= blood test). Even if you're disabled you can still go to Japan, don't worry.

• 17.07.14: Wooden Dalarna horse ("dalahäst") arrived, sent by the Swedish school to all exchange students. It's your mascot while abroad.

• 17.07.21: Got proof of insurance and my insurance card automatically sent to me from the Swedish school. 24-hrs health + break-in insurance that covers the week before/after your school stay.

• 17.08.18: Got basic info that I'd be staying in the student apartment building "Sanjo 2" at Tohoku University (MUE doesn't have its own apartments).
• 17.08.29: Got the COE in the mail from Japan; mailed it along with my and my wife's VISA applications to the Japanese embassy in Stockholm.

Needed for the student VISA:
1. COE
2. 3x4cm photo (x1)
3. VISA application (found on embassy website)
4. Note with your phone number & Email in case there are any problems
5. Your passport

Needed for the dependant VISA (= wife/husband living with student VISA), as we eventually found out:

1. VISA application
2. Note explaining my wife was applying for a dependant VISA at the same time I was applying for a student one
3. Note from me and/or someone else saying we'll help pay for my wife's living costs + take care of any debts she may acquire while in Japan. Only necessary because she had no money in her bank account.
4. Bank balance screenshots of my wife + anyone who signs the "I'll support her" note
5. Note from the school that my wife will be living with me in student apartments there / they "invite" her (along with me) to Japan.
6. Her passport

• 17.08.31: Call from the embassy. My VISA was complete, but the embassy's website had wrong/missing info (we were actually supposed to get a COE for both me and her at the same time) so we needed more papers for my wife's. Frankly, only one of us getting the COE was faster, cheaper and easier (= no $100 "proof of good health" needed, etc).

• 17.09.01: Got info about bedding rental, and exact apartment room number. "Can't move in/out on weekends or holidays." Period of stay: 17.10.01 to 18.09.15 (= 11 months; VISA's good for 15 months).

• 17.09.02: Bought plane tickets. Had to wait until the last minute because 1. didn't know when we'd get our VISAs, 2. didn't know what day I could move in earliest (= Oct 3rd). 22,716 SEK for 2 people.

• 17.09.05: Call from the embassy, papers for my wife's dependant VISA weren't enough again.

• 17.09.19: Call from embassy, VISAs were done. Picked up the VISAs.

• 17.10.03: Arrival at Narita Airport in Japan; met with the other exchange student from Högskolan Dalarna; bullet train to Sendai. The exchange school picked us up at Sendai Station and took us to the school / our student apartments.

During the exchange:
(nothing yet)