About Us

What is SSAJ?

The Singapore Students' Association (Japan), or 在日シンガポール留学生協会 in Japanese, looks after the welfare of Singaporeans who are pursuing their studies in Japan. A majority of our members are students who pursue their undergraduate studies, graduate studies, doctoral studies, as well as exchange programmes. We are based in Tokyo, and aim to look after the welfare of Singapore students across Japan. We are supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore in Tokyo, the Japanese University Graduate Association of Singapore, and the Singapore Global Network. We have been active since 2008.

Our Exco

The SSAJ Executive Committee, or Exco, consists of SSAJ members who serve one year terms in a variety of roles. The Exco currently consists of the roles of the President, Internal Vice-President, External Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. All of these roles are put up for election during the SSAJ Annual General Meeting held each year, and are open to all members. 

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The tl;dr of each role:

President: Oversees the vision, direction, and operations of the Exco

Internal Vice-President: Leads the organisation of SSAJ activities and co-manages its social media platforms

External Vice-President: Liaises with external partners for sponsorships or career-related opportunities

Treasurer: Manages the budget of the Exco, handles funding requests, and holds onto the reserves

Secretary: Handles administrative matters of the Exco including minute-taking, maintaining the website, and co-manages its social media platforms.

Our Members

Any Singapore citizen or permanent resident enrolled in an officially recognised educational institution in Japan, including but not limited to Universities, Junior Colleges, Professional Training Institutes, and Language Schools, are eligible to be members of SSAJ.

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Students enrolled in officially recognised educational institutions in Singapore and who are residing in Japan with a visa allowing a stay of more than ninety (90) days, are also eligible to be members of SSAJ. (The translation: students on long-term exchange programmes in Japan can join us!)

Constitution

We abide by the Constitution of Singapore Students’ Association (Japan), which you can find in the link below. Any amendments to the constitution must be passed by a simple majority at the Annual General Meeting.

Goals for the 2020-22
Executive Committee

Empowerment

We want to empower you with the resources to run their own events and initiatives:

Be it funding, skills, or publicity, we want to be there for you, so that you can make your ideas come true. These could be as simple as a board games night and as complicated as a Pokemon cosplay marathon; you’ll never know your limits until you share your ideas!

Regionality

Going beyond Tokyo:

While most of the Singaporeans studying in Japan are Tokyo-based, we are hoping to better engage people living outside the capital. If you’re living outside of Tokyo, we've launched regional chats to better build the SSAJ community.

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*If you are already an SSAJ member - the sign-up link for our new chats can be found on our communication channels! 

Orientation

Welcome to Japan:

We've launched the 4th edition of the "Student's Guide to Life in Japan", i.e. your beginner's handbook to navigating the web of paperwork, getting a phone number, registering for your My Number card... There may be a fair bit of things to do when you first move in, but we've got you covered! Anything you need to know about living in Japan is in there!

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We're also reviving the SSAJ Family Programme (that’s right, kazoku 家族) to give new students a familiar touchpoint especially when they first arrive in Japan.

Informality

Interact with your fellow Singaporean students:

We’re not saying you shouldn’t have a diverse group of friends, but sometimes you just want to find someone else in the country who has shared your 2-week-long 1am cravings for kaya toast. 

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We hope to create a network of informal chat groups for all sorts of purposes - think casual anime chats, gaming chats, batch chats (e.g. batch of autumn 20/21), and regional groups. 

Awareness

Dispelling myths about studying in Japan: 
We are working on a Study in Japan portal for Singapore-based students. On the portal, we will consolidate information about English and Japanese courses, as well as scholarship options for studying in Japan. In the future, we also hope to set up booths and share our experiences at Higher Education Fairs in various schools in Singapore. If you have information that you would like to contribute or recommend, please contact us!

Meet the 2020-22
Executive Committee

Past Executive Committee Members

Contact Us

Email

You can reach us at general.ssaj@ssaj.net. We will strive to get back to you in 3 to 5 working days.

Social Media

You can reach us through a variety of different social media platforms. We have both external-facing and internal-facing platforms.

To get access to the internal-facing platforms, please do sign up with us! Note that only SSAJ members can get access to the internal-facing platforms.

You can follow our external-facing platforms below: