Bunka Fashion College: Student Life

Bunka Fashion College in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s busiest metropolitan centers, provides easy access to Shibuya, the epicenter of Japan’s fashion culture. The campus comprises of a building with twenty floors and one underground floor, with four dormitories; there are resident dormitory managers in each one so students don’t worry about health and security.

As a fashion student at Bunka Fashion College, life is vibrant, fast-paced, and creatively charged. The moment they step onto campus, they’re surrounded by fellow students dressed in bold outfits that reflect their individuality.

Classes are intense and hands-on, whether they’re sketching in design labs, cutting fabric in pattern-making studios, or collaborating on group projects. There’s a real sense of competition here—but it’s balanced by a strong sense of community. Everyone is driven by the same passion for fashion, and that energy is contagious.

Campus life extends beyond the classroom. The school frequently hosts guest lectures by designers, industry insiders, and alumni, which gives students insight into the global fashion scene. There are student-run fashion shows, exhibits, and student clubs focused on everything from sustainability to streetwear styling. The Bunka Gakuen campus is in Shinjuku, so between classes, it’s common to visit fabric stores in Nippori or grab inspiration from the streets of Harajuku or Omotesando.

About 20% of the students of Bunka Fashion College are international students coming from different parts of the world. “When attending a Japanese-language school, I went to Bunka Fashion College’s fashion show and was blown away by the creativity of the participating students and felt a desire to study at the College. There are more non-Japanese students in my class, so I’ve made friends with people from a lot of different countries. I’ve gotten a firm grasp of the foundations of Japanese fashion. After graduating from the College, I want to work in Japan,” says student Nsingi Nsinao Morangi, first year of Fashion Textiles. 

Song Shuang, Fashion Distribution Department Two Year Retail Planning Course student, now employed at Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Japan, says, “At university, I studied as an international student at Fukuoka for a year. While I was there I happened to see an introductory briefing about Bunka Fashion College. I was impressed by the professor’s talk and by the fashion… I wanted to become a buyer, so I elected to do the retail planning course in my second year. I had the chance to mix with people from a variety of backgrounds, and I think the environment there really helped broaden my outlook.”

In Japanese campuses, one of the key things a student should be wary of is the cultural expectation of conformity and group harmony, known as wa (?). Unlike Western academic environments where individual expression is encouraged, Japanese university life often values subtlety, hierarchy, and social cohesion. New students might feel pressure to join clubs or participate in group activities simply to fit in. Failing to respect these unspoken norms can lead to social isolation. Additionally, hierarchy within clubs or seminar groups (zemi) can be rigid, with seniors (senpai) holding authority over juniors (kohai), which might feel restrictive to those used to more egalitarian systems.