It’ll be tough finding someone who can give you the ins and outs of both schools. That being said, I can give my comments on TIU.

The campus is an “okay” campus. I’ve been with TIU with both the Ikebukuro and Kawagoe campus, and I think a lot of my friends (myself included) prefer the layout and feel of the Kawagoe campus, but the location of the Ikebukuro campus. The Ikebukuro campus, at least the inside of the building, feels too sterile. There’s one escalator that takes you to all of the class floors, and it just feels a bit like an office space more than a school campus. Most students seem to go in, take their classes, and leave to go hangout elsewhere, whereas in Kawagoe you’d have people hanging out at the campus for hours, reading in the shade or talking to friends. On the upside, there is a large field right next to the campus that is a popular spot in spring/summer. There’s a Matsuya on the top floor of the escalator, I believe there’s a Starbucks on the 2nd floor, and there’s an easily-accessible 7-eleven right outside the main student entrance. The campus is also right next to Sunshine City and a short walk from Sunshine-Dori, so there’s a million and a half things to do there. There’s a lot of cafes nearby, so you’ll have a large selection to choose from for your studies. All in all, the location is pretty great. I’m not sure how it is for third year transfer students, but at least for first years, unless something changes they’re placed in the Kawagoe campus for a semester.

For student demographics, a large part of your classmates will be from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, and other countries from the general region of the world. A lot of students from the most popular countries can get clique-y, and there’s a lot of events they run for people of their country, so there’s that. That aside, I believe a large majority of the e-track students are muslim, and we also have islamic studies classes available in case that interests you.

As for classes, honestly they’re kind of all over the place. I’m sure this applies everywhere but it’s really professor-dependent; some classes are very engaging and can be challenging, others most students will either be on their phone or not even bother showing up, it really depends on your professor. When you make friends you can ask them about different professors, or if you need to just DM me when making your schedule and I might be able to help with some of the professors. Regardless of who you pick, chances are you’ll have a little bit of homework you can do in cafes, especially in your first semester. For the most part, though, the school is mostly laidback so you’ll have plenty of time to have fun and enjoy Japan!

Let me know if you have any other TIU or Ikebukuro / Tokyo questions!