The tuition for one academic year was about three times more expensive than that was at Doshisha University, a private school in Japan. The cost of living was about one and half to two times more expensive in the United States as in Japan. In general, education and living is more expensive in advanced countries than in developing countries, and in larger cities than in smaller cities. Japan is now one of the major powers in the world, and the cost of living is higher than in many other countries. Therefore, it is not much more expensive, and in some cases, less expensive, for Japanese students to go overseas to study.
Transportation is about the same as or even cheaper than it was a quarter century ago.
For students of developing countries, it is very expensive to study in a university in advanced countries. Tuition and cost of living are a great deal higher than in their home countries. However, advanced countries and universities have scholarships for those students, which students should investigate. Japan has some scholarships, and almost all the foreign students at Doshisha University have some type of scholarship. Many universities have established exchange student programs.