Why people choose Bunka Fashion College
Japan’s first fashion school
Bunka Fashion College was founded as a small dressmaking school in 1919. Most Japanese wore a kimono at that time. Approved as the first dressmaking school in Japan in 1923, the College has produced about 300,000 alumni, and has played a significant role in fashion education in Japan for about 100 years.
Recognized as the most prestigious fashion school in Asia
In 2015, the College placed second in the global rankings of the best fashion schools by the fashion news website “The Business of Fashion” and the business magazine “CEOWORLD Magazine.” It was selected as one of the global best 25 fashion schools by the fashion website “Fashionista” in 2018, the only school in Asia to have won the honor. Bunka Fashion College gains recognition as the most prestigious fashion school in Asia.
Bunka alumni working on the world stage
Bunka Fashion College has produced many great designers working on the world stage. We have helped raise Japanese fashion to the world’s top level, and continue to send out talent to the forefront of the fashion world.
[Meet some of Bunka alumni being active in Japan’s and international fashion industry]
Hiroko Koshino / Kenzo Takada / Junko Koshino / Yohji Yamamoto / Chisato Tsumori / Junya Watanabe / Keita Maruyama / Junichi Abe (kolor) / Hisayo Hidaka,Hideaki Miyahara (Scye) / Akira Minagawa (minä perhonen) / Jun Takahashi (UNDERCOVER) / NIGO / Hidenori Kumakiri,Masayoshi Toda,Yusuke Wakabayashi (beautiful people) / Yoshiyuki Miyamae (ISSEY MIYAKE) / Hiroyuki Horihata,Makiko Sekiguchi (matohu) / Tamae Hirokawa (SOMARTA) / Keisuke Kanda (keisuke kanda) /Hiromichi Ochiai (FACETASM)/ Takuya Morikawa (TAAKK) / Norio Terada (YOKE)/ Ryota Iwai (AURALEE) / Kanae Higashi (rurumu:)) / Shimpei Goto (MASU) etc..
Spacious campus in the heart of Tokyo
Bunka Fashion College is situated in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s busiest metropolitan centers, intersected by many railway lines and full of skyscrapers. With easy access to Shibuya, the epicenter of Japan’s fashion culture, the campus comprises of a building with twenty floors above ground and one underground floor. The College is a gathering place for those engaged in the industry, providing access to information on the latest fashion trends around the world.
A wide selection of courses
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Gaining a general ability and knowledge of garment creation
Fashion Creation Department
Garment Creation is a two-year course, in which students can gain a general ability and knowledge of garment creation. Those who have completed the course can move up to an advanced garment creation course in the third year, to develop high level specialist skills.
Intensive Garment Creation is a one-year course designed for graduates of specialized vocational schools, junior colleges, or universities to learn the foundations of fashion and more advanced skills and knowledge. -
Becoming a specialist in planning and production
Fashion Technology Department
Creative Design Advanced Diploma is a four-year course to nurture superior talent to play a leading role in the planning and production stage of the apparel industry.
There are also three-year courses, in which students can gain a broad range of fundamental and professional knowledge and skills to develop their own areas of specialization. -
Aiming to be an expert in business and distribution
Fashion Marketing and Distribution Department
Global Fashion Business Advanced Diploma is a four-year course to nurture fashion business creators to work on the international fashion stage.
Foundations of Styling and Distribution is a two-year course, in which students can learn the fundamentals of fashion and fashion marketing and distribution in the first year and move up to specialist courses to develop their own areas of specialization in the second year. There is an extra one-year advanced course available. -
Becoming a professional in fashion accessories and textiles
Fashion Accessories and Textiles Department
Fashion Textiles is a three-year course, in which students can develop specialist textile skills.
There are another four courses, in which students can systematically learn advanced knowledge and skills on their area of expertise: Millinery Design, Jewelry Design, Bag Design, and Footwear Design. Those who have completed each course are entitled to move up to an extra one-year advanced course, which has been newly established.
An environment that helps develop your ability
- Well-equipped facilities with such a high quality that even professionals appreciate them
- Bunka Fashion College’s spacious campus comprises of a building that has classrooms, training rooms, research laboratories, and computer rooms on every floor. They are well designed to cover every aspect of the fashion industry, ranging from planning, design, production, to distribution. Each training room is equipped with equipment and tools which are similar to those used in the workplaces of the industry, to develop work-ready graduates.
- Courses in specialist fields are designed to allow students to become what they want to be
- There are many occupations in the fashion industry. They include specialists in the planning and production stages, such as designers and pattern makers, stylists, and those engaged in the distribution stage, such as buyers. We at Bunka Fashion College have a wide range of specialized courses to help you become what you want to be, which are well designed to enable our students to pursue their chosen paths as professionals.
- Fully supporting the learning of all levels of students under a tutoring system
- Around 90% of new entrants to Bunka Fashion College have no experience in garment creation. We introduce a tutoring system in which a teacher takes charge of a class to pay close attention to individual students. Through the system, we fully help students build basic skills and become ready to enter the industry.
- Helping you settle into life in Japan
- Bunka Fashion College has four dedicated dormitories . There are resident dormitory managers or mothers in each dormitory so that students can enjoy their school life without any worry in terms of health and security. Many international students have started off their lives in Japan from here.
Classmates coming from different parts of the world
About 20% of the students of Bunka Fashion College are international students coming from different parts of the world. You can study together with them and compete with and encourage each other in an international learning environment.（As of October 2023）
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China- 362
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Korea- 109
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Taiwan- 51
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Hong Kong- 10
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Indonesia- 5
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Thailand- 6
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England- 3
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USA- 4
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Vietnam- 2
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Russia- 3
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Malaysia- 7
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France- 2
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Sweden- 1
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Singapore- 1
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Poland- 1
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Ecuador- 1
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Spain- 1
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Czechia- 1
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Israel- 1
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Kyrgyzstan- 1
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Chile- 1
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Argentina- 1
Comments from international students
SONG Shuang
Fashion Distribution Department Two Year Retail Planning CourseEmployed at: Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings (Japan)
At university, I studied as an international student I 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 felt intuitively that everything I wanted to study was there. In the first year, we studied business basics and market research quite widely, and I had the experience of actually making a jacket. 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.
ZHU Jie
Apparel Design department 3rd yearEmployed at: Arpege Co., Ltd
I majored in fashion at university in China, and I felt that I need to learn the fundamentals more thoroughly. I knew that many famous Japanese designers were alumni of Bunka Fashion College, and I had read some of the College’s textbooks, and I really wanted to go there, so I came to Japan and enrolled. Japan is very clean and the food is tasty and safe, so it is very easy to live here. I feel that the basics that I learned in my first year are really helping me now in my third year.
PILGRIM Bonnie Kate
Retail Planning, the second year of Foundations of Styling and Distribution
When I was in high school, I had experience of living in Japan for a year as an exchange student, and I really wanted to come back. I got interested in Bunka Fashion College when watching videos on the website, and I decided to enter the College. I gained the knowledge of fashion and learned Japanese through group works and lessons in the College. I took part in the College’ fashion show as a model, and I have really good memories of working late into the night with my classmates to prepare for the event. It was a valuable experience that allowed me to come into contact with different kinds of people and different ways of thinking.
NSINGI Nsinao Morangi
First year of Fashion Textiles
BUNKA FASHION COLLEGE TOUR || TEXTILE DESIGNBUNKA FASHION COLLEGE || TOKYO VLOG #2
I studied fashion at high school in my own country, and I got interested in textiles. 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.
