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I am PhD student at a US university (QS ranking>500). I have completed my 2 years here. I am thinking to quit the PhD here and move to the University of Tokyo. The reason behind this is my PhD advisor, his lack of supervision and biasedness towards other students has compelled me to do this. I feel discouraged and demotivated most of the time.

I have talked with one professor from the University of Tokyo, he is happy to take me. He is a renowned person with a lot of research papers and citations.

Do you think leaving the US and moving to Japan is a good idea? Many of my friends think that the US has better opportunities, but the Univ of Tokyo is one of the best world universities.

PS I am not a US citizen.

ransa
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  • Is it possible to work with someone else at your university? Maybe you could switch or have a joint adviser (two people supervising). That would be easier. – cgb5436 Dec 24 '21 at 02:58
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    I think there is a missing step in your reasoning between "my PhD advisor isn't great" and "I'm going to move to Tokyo." :-) [More concretely: are you a Japanese citizen? Do you want to work in Asia long term?] – cag51 Dec 24 '21 at 03:04
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    In any case, only you can decide whether this is a good idea for you personally, but you might check out our archives, such as the analogous question for India and this one about Asia generally. – cag51 Dec 24 '21 at 03:07
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    Hard to answer. But Tokyo univ. is probably better, in general and on paper, than a rank 400-500 QS University. – Dilworth Dec 24 '21 at 03:24
  • Even ignoring the big question about "why Tokyo", how can you be sure that a high profile professor in Tokyo will be more helpful/involved than your current professor? – kodlu Dec 24 '21 at 04:15
  • It's hard to give advice only based on the information provided in the question. It looks like OP is merely thinking about the prestige of the University and professor, and does not have any particular love for Japanese culture/language. If this is the case, OP is going to find themselves deeply isolated and depressed in Japan. Living there requires a SERIOUS commitment. Anyway, for the time being it's impossible for foreign students to enter the country due to COVID restrictions (if I'm not mistaken, only students with a MEXT scholarship are allowed). I think OP needs to reconsider. – djohn Dec 24 '21 at 04:21
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    The University of Tokyo is an excellent institution, but my understanding is that whether or not you are Japanese can make a big difference in the quality of your experience there. If you never been to Japan (or East Asia more generally), you may find it challenging to fit into the culture, even just at the University. – Buzz Dec 24 '21 at 06:00
  • Is there somebody you trust you could talk this over with? This is something very much too complicated for a post here to give you good adivce. In two minutes of thinking about it I cam up with 50 questions that might affect the choice. My guess is it would require an hour or two conversation to get a good handle on it. – Dan Dec 24 '21 at 07:13

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This question is impossible to answer sincerely because it depends on a lot of other parameters of which we have no knowledge. However, judging by the limited information you provided, and only by this information, I would say that doing a PhD at Tokyo University with a professor you get along well, is clearly much better than doing a PhD at a "QS rank 400-500" university with a professor you definitely do not get along well.

Tokyo University is the top university in Japan, or among the top, and this provides you both the infrastructure to do excellent research and the prestige to be able to continue further in your career.

Comment: I disagree with the comments provided to your question, depicting the life in Japan as potentially challenging for you. The OP has written explicitly that they are not a US citizen. Therefore, there is nothing that hints to the fact that Japan would be a "foreign and strange cultural experience", while the US would not be a strange and difficult cultural experience for them.

Dilworth
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