Motivation
When I think about my motivation for participating in exchange it's hard to articulate. One type of answer is that it was an exciting opportunity to study at a different institution surrounded by a new culture and people, while gaining valuable life experience and credits toward my degree. My other answer, is that this experience and the framework semester exchange provides is something I have genuinely always wanted to do. For me 'wanting to go on exchange' was less a process of learning about it about then deciding to do it, but more so an activity which aligned so deeply with who I am as a person and who I want to be.
Personal Development
Exchange was... everything. I gained new friendships, appreciation for my host city and country's culture, appreciation for the countries of my fellow exchange peers, and even greater appreciation for Brisbane and Australia.
I could have stayed in Tokyo for the entirety of my exchange and had an amazing time, but for me it was a priority to see the country and I'm so glad I did. Part of that was learning to trust myself and be decisive around where I would stay, where I would go, how I planned my transportation, etc.
I wanted to make friends with local students, and I was able to do this by participating in the UTokyo Women's (Field) Hockey Club. I had never played hockey before, but the team was so kind and welcoming toward me it enriched my experience greatly. Apart from the other fellow exchange students I knew, there were now familiar faces of local students around campus giving me a greater sense of community while on campus. Through going along to practice I was able to have fun and learn a new skill, as well as practice my Japanese and make new friends.
In some ways my exchange feels like a totally separate chapter of my life, however one of it's lasting impressions on me was the eye opening experiences. What I mean when I say that is because of the people I have met and lessons I've learnt I make different and new associations between things I would not have before. To list a few examples I have a greater awareness of countries I have never been to before because I now know people from there, I have a greater appreciation for the privilege I have as a native English speaker, and there are so many new foods I have now tried.
Academic Development 
I thoroughly enjoyed my classes at UTokyo. I do a minor in Advanced Japanese, and had completed all my Japanese credits at UQ before I went so only did courses correlating
to the International Relations Extended Major (Arts) portion of my degree. I wish I had done a Japanese course not for credit - but I don't regret the courses I did do.
They were in seminar style, so collaborative one class per week. The assessments were also refreshing in the sense there weren't just essays. There were reflections, discourse analysis, diplomatic cable, and there was a journal article analysis as well.
UQ required us to do 7 courses = 14 credits (tani) to equate to a 4 courses = 8 credit UQ semester. I found this workload pretty manageable, especially since I probably managed to not do university work during the first half of the semester's weekends.
Professional Development
I was lucky enough to have connections in Japan via my high school Japanese teacher who was working there. I was able to meet people through her and one of her colleagues I met was a UQ alumni who I was able to gain advice from and has helped me shape my ideas for my future career path. Additionally another international UTokyo student I had met had done programmes I am interested in so was able to get advice.
I think in general being in a new country requires a level of independence and confidence to navigate a different lifestyle and have resilience. Building cross-cultural connections and understandings is another skill I have developed, and hope to continue developing in general but especially for Japan.
Budget
Coming with 10,000 - 15,000 AUD would be my recommendation, or 15,000 - 20,000 AUD if you want to do a lot of travelling, only eat out, and buy a lot of things.
Transport: Public transport is more expensive than in Brisbane, and adds up if you use it a lot. There was an option to get a commuter pass as a student, but I didn't end up going through with the option (probably should have, but if you do this do it sooner rather than later).
Accommodation rent: My total amount ¥344360, the move in and move out months were a different rate but normal months was ¥69800
Food: I ate a lot of meals out, but also on campus in the cafeteria where meals cost between ¥350-¥800. And shopping a few times a week was between ¥1000-2000 per trip.
Travel: I went to a few different places, and this is probably where I spent the most money on the bullet trains, taxis, accommodation, and/or flights.
It's helpful to always carry cash in Japan, the ¥1000 notes are the most useful as well as ¥100 yen coins. Carrying around ¥10000 in cash (in mostly note form) was a good amount to have on you. I mostly used cash to top up my PASMO card (public transport card, IC card).
I used a WISE card for my travels, which was pretty good. It has multiple currencies and a decent exchange rate. I carried around a physical card, so I can't speak on the cardless payments.
In Japan there's many ways to pay, I used a combination of cash, WISE card, my PASMO card, and PayPay (which is a money transferring app you can get once you get a Japanese phone number).
Accommodation 
There were a few options for accommodation. I was lucky enough to get accommodation at Komaba Main, where I had my own bathroom, but a shared kitchen on each floor. The other komba options include Komaba B, C, and D where there is a shared bathroom and kitchen. There is also Komaba Annex where each room has its own stove and bathroom.
The other UTokyo accommodation was Mejirodai International Village - which was closer to Hongo campus and about 40/50 minutes from Komaba. It depends where most of your classes would be for which is best for you so it's important to research.
Highlight
In the beginning of December I went to Saihōji (Kokedera) Temple in Kyoto, and it was so incredibly gorgeous and peaceful. By then the leaves were all different colours - green, orange, yellow, and red. The ticket was about $40 but I'm so glad I went.
Advice/Top Tips
Have a priority of what you want to do before you go - travel, develop language skills, study, network - whatever it may be have a clear idea of what you can achieve. But then be flexible as unexpected changes may happen which mean you don't achieve achieving all your goals.
Since you are living in your host city it is easy to say, "I'll go there next time", or, "Catch up with you next time," but the truth is everyone is so busy and you want to try so many things that there might not be a next time while you're still on exchange. Or the next time might be just as you're about to leave. So while you are there for a while, understanding your time short and it is valuable so spent it with the people you want to connect with and doing what you want. There's not always a next time never felt truer than while I was on exchange - especially since I was there for only one semester.
Research everything - but be aware you can't learn everything form your research. But knowing what to expect can make new situations feel much more manageable.
Give yourself a grace period, because when you first arrive you instinctively want to compare everything to where you came from, but try to reframe from doing that to take in all the little moments for what they are without analysing them too much.
