The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) offers scholarships to foreign students to study at Japanese
universities in order to deepen their understanding of the Japanese language, Japanese affairs and Japanese culture.
Regulations for the 2015 MEXT Scholarship Program are as follows:
1．QUALIFICATIONS
(1) Nationality: Applicants must have the nationality of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan. Applicants
with no official nationality are also eligible to apply. An applicant who has Japanese nationality at the
time of application is not eligible. However, persons with dual nationality who hold Japanese nationality
and whose place of residence at the time of application is outside of Japan are eligible to apply as long as
they choose the nationality of the foreign country and give up their Japanese nationality by the date of
their arrival in Japan. Applicant screening will be conducted at the Japanese diplomatic mission in the
country of applicant’s nationality.
(2) Age: Applicants generally must have been born between April 2, 1985, and April 1, 1997.
(3) Academic Background: Applicants must be undergraduates at foreign (non-Japanese) universities majoring in fields related to the
Japanese language or Japanese culture at the time of arriving in and leaving Japan.
(4) Japanese Language Ability: Applicants must have Japanese language ability sufficient for receiving education at a Japanese
university in Japan.
(5) Health: Applicants must be free from any mental or physical disabilities that would impede the pursuit of study
at Japanese universities.
(6) Arrival in Japan: Applicants must be able to arrive in Japan within the two weeks before the first day of the course set by
the university in Japan (usually October) and the period set by the admitting university. (If the applicant
arrives in Japan before this period for personal reasons, travel expenses to Japan will not be paid.
Excluding cases of unavoidable circumstances, If the applicant cannot arrive in Japan during the
designated period, the applicant must resign.)
(7) Visa acquisition: Applicants must acquire College Student (ryugaku) visas before entering Japan. They then enter Japan
with the College Student (ryugaku) residence status. Please also note that those who change their visa
status to one other than College Student after arrival in Japan will lose their qualification to be Japanese
Government Scholarship recipients from the date when their visa status changes.
(8) Others: Recipients of the MEXT scholarship shall immediately return to their home country and resume their
studies at their school after the end of the period for the provision of the scholarship. After returning to
the home country, former scholarship recipients shall maintain close contact with the university where
they studied, cooperate with the conducting of post-return survey questionnaires, participate in events
conducted by Japanese diplomatic missions in their country, and work to improve relations between the
home country and Japan.
(9) Any applicant who meets any or all of the following conditions is ineligible. If identified after the start of the scholarship period, the
applicant will be required to withdraw from the scholarship.
1. Those who are military personnel or military civilian employees at the time of their arrival in Japan;
2. Those who have received a Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho scholarship) in the past;
3. Those who are currently enrolled at a Japanese university with a College Student (ryugaku) residence status; those enrolled, or
scheduled to be enrolled, at a Japanese university as a privately financed international student during the period when the
scholarship application was filed in the home country until prior to the start of the provision of the scholarship; However, even
if the applicant is currently a privately financed international student studying in Japan, this restriction does not apply to an
applicant who will certainly finish the current course before the start of the designated course at the Japanese university and
will return to the home country;
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4. Recipients of scholarships from institutions other than MEXT (including government institutions in their home countries) that
overlap with the Japanese Government Scholarship (Prospective beneficiaries are included);
5. Recipients who make a double application for this scholarship to other universities, other embassy recommendations, and the
Student Exchange Support Program provided by Japan Student Services Organization(JASSO);
6. Those who have studied the Japanese language at a university for a total period of less than one year of April 2015. Those who
have studied Japanese for a total of at least one year at another university should submit without fail documents (transcript of
grades at other university, etc.) that can verify that the applicant studied Japanese for a period of at least one year at the said
university;
7. Holders of dual nationality at the time of application who cannot verify that they will give up Japanese nationality by the time of
the arrival in Japan.
Those majoring in fields of study other than Japanese language and Japanese culture (such as engineering, economics, agricultural
science, architecture, and art) and who wish to pursue complementary studies in Japanese language and culture should apply for other
scholarships, such as the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) Student Exchange Support Program (Scholarship for
Short-term Study in Japan).
2．TERM OF SCHOLARSHIP
The term is the period necessary to complete the admitting university’s study course, which should be approximately one year from October
2015 (the starting month of the course). (Extension of the term is prohibited.)
3．SCHOLARSHIP BENEFITS
(1) Allowance：117,000 yen per month. (In case that the recipient research in a designated region, 2,000 or 3,000 yen per month will be
added. The monetary amount each year may be subject to change due to budgetary reasons.) The scholarship is
cancelled in principle if the recipient is absent from the university for an extended period. The scholarship will be also
cancelled in principle in the following situations. If the recipient has been receiving the scholarship despite his/her
falling under any of the following situations, the recipient will be ordered to return the amount of scholarship that he/she
received during the period wherein he/she was involved with any of the following situations.
1. The recipient is determined to have made a false statement on his/her application;
2. The recipient violates any article of his/her pledge to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology;
3. The recipient is subjected to disciplinary action by the university, including expulsion;
4. It has been determined that it will be impossible for the recipient to complete the training course within the
standard time period because of poor academic grades or suspension from the university;
5. The recipient’s residence status has changed to one other than College Student as defined in the Appended
Table I-4 of the Immigration Act;
6. The recipient has received a scholarship from another institution (excluding those specified for research
expenditures).
(2) Transportation
1. Transportation to Japan：The recipient will be provided, according to his/her itinerary and route as designated by MEXT, with an
economy-class airplane ticket from the international airport nearest to his/her home country residence *
to the New Tokyo International Airport or any other international airport that the appointed university
usually uses. Expenses such as inland transportation from his/her home address to the international
airport, airport tax, airport usage fees, special taxes on travel, or inland transportation within Japan will
NOT be covered. (*The address in the country of the recipient’s nationality stated in the application
form is in principle regarded as the recipient’s “home country residence.”)
2. Transportation from Japan：The recipient who returns to his/her home country within the fixed period after the expiration of
his/her scholarship will be provided, upon application, with an economy-class airplane ticket for
travel from the New Tokyo International Airport or any other international airport that the appointed
university usually uses to the international airport nearest to his/her home address.
(Note 1) Any aviation and accident insurance to and from Japan shall be paid for by the recipient.
(Note 2) Should the recipient not return to his/her home country soon after the end of the scholarship period to resume his/her
studies, the transportation fee for the return to the home country will not be provided.
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(3) Tuition and Other Fees： Fees for the entrance examination, matriculation, and tuition at universities will be paid by the Japanese
government.
4．DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED
Applicants must submit the following documents to the Japanese diplomatic missions by the required date. The submitted documents will
not be returned.
(Original)
(1) ①Application Form (prescribed forms) 1
②Placement Preference Application Form (prescribed form) 1
Photographs or digital image (size 4.5｡ﾑ3.5 cm, upper half of body, full-faced, hatless) taken 2
within the past 6 months (should be pasted on each Application Form and Placement Preference Application Form)
(2) ③Certified academic transcript from the university the applicant is currently attending
(please mark subjects related to Japanese language and Japanese culture.) 1
(3) ④Certificate of university enrollment 1
(4) ⑤Recommendation from the head of or academic advisor at the university currently attending 1
(5) ⑥Medical certificate (prescribed form) 1
(6) ⑦Documents verifying that the applicant has studied the Japanese language for at least one year. 1
((2) Only for those who cannot verify that they studied Japanese for a total of at least one year at a university.)
(7) ⑧If the applicant has qualifications concerning Japanese-language ability,
documented proof of such qualifications 1
(Note 1) Applicants must choose universities in which they wish to be enrolled from among those listed in the booklet, Course Guide for
Japanese Studies Students, and write them down on the Placement Preference Application Form.
(Note 2) These documents must be written in Japanese or English, or translations in either of these languages should be attached.
(Note 3) No application will be considered unless the aforementioned application documents and all other necessary attachments are fully and
correctly completed.
(Note4)Number the documents(① through ⑧) in the right upper corner.
5．SELECTION
(1) The Japanese diplomatic missions will carry out the primary selection of applicants by means of an interview, a written examination
(subject : Japanese), and a review of the submitted documents.
(2) Results of the primary selection will be notified on a date separately designated by each Japanese diplomatic missions.
(3) Applicants who pass the primary selection will be recommended by the Japanese diplomatic missions to MEXT.
(4) MEXT will conduct the secondary (final) selection of the applicants recommended by the Japanese diplomatic missions and
determine the scholarship recipients.
(5) Results of the secondary selection will be notified on a date separately designated by each Japanese diplomatic mission.
6 ．ADMISSION, PLACEMENT, AND SPECIALIZED STUDY IN JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND JAPANESE CULTURE AT
UNIVERSITIES
(1) The study/training is implemented only in the university/study courses listed in a booklet “Course Guide for Japanese Studies
Students.”
(2) MEXT, in consultation with the universities concerned, will decide on the university in which each recipient shall be enrolled taking
into consideration his/her Japanese language ability and specialized courses he/she wishes to take. Objections regarding university
placement will not be accepted.
(3) The study at universities will be conducted in Japanese.
(4) University placement and specialized study of Japanese language and Japanese culture will be conducted as follows.
Specialized Japanese language and Japanese culture study will be divided into the following two courses, depending on the objective
of the study: (a) A course conducted mainly to improve students’ Japanese language proficiency with supplementary study about
Japan and Japanese culture, and (b) A course conducted mainly about Japan and Japanese culture with supplementary study to
improve Japanese language proficiency.
The specific course contents vary with each university, but every student will take special lectures on Japan, Japanese culture, and
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Japanese language and specialized practical study, as well as classes in the departments related to his/her individual major.
(5) A recipient who has completed a specified course at the university concerned will be given a certificate.
However, the purpose of this scholarship program is not to obtain a diploma. Therefore, a recipient cannot be enrolled in an
undergraduate course at a university or a master’s or a doctorate course at a graduate school as a Japanese-government-sponsored
international student during this program or right after its completion. (This same restriction applies to privately financed overseas
students enrolled in an undergraduate course at a university or a master’s degree or doctoral course at a graduate school. If the
recipient should be enrolled in such a course, the recipient will be required to pay back the entire amount of the scholarship money
retroactive to the start of the scholarship payment.)
7．NOTES
(1) The recipient is advised to learn, before departing for Japan, the Japanese language and to acquire some information about Japanese
weather, climate, customs, university education, and conditions in Japan, as well as about the difference between the Japanese legal
system and that of his/her home country.
(2) As the first installment of the scholarship payment cannot be provided immediately upon the recipient’s arrival, the recipient should
bring approximately US $2,000 or the equivalent thereof to cover immediate needs after arrival in Japan.
(3) Accommodations:
1. Residence halls for international students provided by universities.
Some universities have residence halls for international students. The recipients enrolled at such universities may reside at these
residence halls under certain conditions. However, due to the limited number of rooms, some of these facilities may be
unavailable.
2. Private boarding houses or apartments:
Those who are unable to find accommodation in the aforementioned facilities may live in regular dormitories of the university or
in private boarding houses/apartments.
It is difficult for recipients with dependents to find appropriate housing in Japan. The recipient is requested to arrive in Japan alone
first to secure housing before having his/her spouse and/or family come to Japan.
(4) It is the recipients’ responsibility to verify whether the completion of the courses in Japan will be recognized as credits in his/her home
country. If they need further information regarding the content of the course, please directly contact the university that offers the
course.
(5) In addition to the regulations stipulated in this guideline, those that are necessary to implement the Japanese Government Scholarship
are determined by the Japanese government.
(6) More detailed information on this scholarship program is available at the Japanese diplomatic missions.
