Admissions and Programs

Application for the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship

The Japanese Government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, or "Monbukagakusho") scholarship programs you can apply for before arriving in Japan are (1) Research Student, (2) Teacher Training Student, and (3) Undergraduate Student. They are called the "Japanese Government scholarship students" collectively. Application for these programs must be made through embassy or university recommendations.

[Qualifications for the Japanese Government scholarship applicants]

1. Research students
   

   Applicant must be a university graduate or prospective university graduate under 35 years of age. Applicants wishing to enroll in a master’s course at a graduate school must be university graduates who have completed 16 years of school education, or those who have completed 15 years of school education and are recognized by a Japanese graduate school as an equivalent to the former.

2. Teacher training students
   

   Applicant must be a graduate from a university or teacher training college under 35 years of age, an incumbent elementary or secondary school teacher, or a person with a minimum of 5 years teaching experience at a teacher training college (excluding incumbent university professors).

3. Undergraduate students
   

   Applicants must be 17 years old or above and under 22 years old, and have completed, or will be completing, 12 years of school education.

However, those who have previously studied as Japanese Government scholarship students must have several years of educational or research experience in their home country after returning from Japan. Please note that application methods and applicable countries differ depending on each program.

Applications from the following persons will be void:

• Incumbent military personnel or persons with civilian military personnel status
• Those who have a spouse who has been granted the Japanese Government scholarship (If a married couple makes an application, only one of them will be considered)
• Prospective grantee of a scholarship or grant from organizations other than the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho), including the government of their own country

1. Embassy recommendation
   This is a category where applications are made through the Japanese Embassy or Consular Office outside Japan.
   1. Application for Japanese Government scholarships through embassy recommendations. In general, applications for the scholarship for the following year are accepted through March to May at the Japanese Embassy or Consular Office (this may depend on the Embassy or Consular Office). Preliminary screening will be conducted by the Embassy or Consular Office in cooperation with the host country’s government, based on the application documents, written examinations and interviews. For details, please contact the Japanese Embassy or Consular Office concerned.
      
      [Link to Japanese embassies and Consular Offices (Ministry of Foreign Affairs website)]
      http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/zaigai/list/index.html
      
      Important!
      Previously, applicants were required to contact a faculty of the university they wished to enroll in, obtain an informal consent of acceptance and apply directly with the Embassy or Consular Office concerned. Please note that from the 2006 application, only applicants who have passed the preliminary screening at the Embassy or Consular Office need to obtain an informal consent of acceptance or a certificate of admission.
      
      
   2. Applicants who wish to enroll in The University of Tokyo
      Applicants who have passed the preliminary examination conducted by the Japanese Embassy or Consular Office and wish to enroll in The University of Tokyo are required to contact the graduate school concerned, confirm the conditions and documentation needed to obtain an informal consent of acceptance or a certificate of admission, and follow their instructions (conditions vary depending on the graduate school). [links to contact information of each graduate school]
2. University recommendation
   In this category, universities recommend research students directly to Monbukagakusho (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) as candidates for the Japanese government scholarship. The majority of applicants will be international students on the interuniversity student exchange agreement, and the scholarship term starts in October. With this system, universities on the interuniversity student exchange agreement keep in close contact with each other and make recommendations based on the assessment of the student’s academic pursuits and career path, and the accepting university undertakes the task of teaching and directing the student. Transfer to another university after arriving in Japan is not permitted.

Japanese Government Scholarship Procedures

⇒ Administrative office of your faculty/graduate school

Students awarded Japanese Government Scholarships receive a monthly stipend and airfare for return to their homeland. The procedures for receiving these payments are outlined below.

• Applicants need to visit the International Student Support Group (ISSG) office three or four times on average.
• Applications take around one to two weeks to process.
• Apply at least two weeks before your planned move-in date.

■Monthly Stipends

Procedure

• Visit the administrative office of your faculty/graduate school around the first five days of each month to sign an enrollment confirmation sheet that you are still enrolled.
• You receive your stipend near the end of each month that you sign the enrollment confirmation sheet.
• If unable to sign the enrollment confirmation sheet during the period indicated in (1), sign it during the alternate period specified by your faculty/graduate school (by the last week of the month).
• In the case of (3), your stipend will be paid in the following month.

Notes

• In principle, stipends are not paid for months in which the scholarship recipient is outside Japan for the entire month, and months in which the recipient fails to sign the enrollment registry (regardless of presence in Japan).
• Stipends are not paid during leaves of absence from the university.

■Scholarship Extensions

Procedure

• Applications for extension of the scholarship period are taken around every October.
• Note that the application period is around May for those who came to Japan as research students and enrolled as regular students in the following October.

Notes

• In some cases, extensions are not permitted by the terms of the scholarship. Be sure to ask your faculty/graduate school about your eligibility well in advance of the application period.

■Return Air Ticket

Procedure

• The application period is November for those planning to return to their homeland at the end of the following March, and around July for those returning at the end of the following September.

Notes

• Return air fare is paid, one time only, to scholarship recipients who complete their studies and return to their homeland within the scholarship period.
• Return air fare is not paid for temporary homeland visits made during the scholarship period, or for return travel after the prescribed deadline.

MEXT

http://www.mext.go.jp/english/