Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship For 2017

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) offers scholarships to international students who wish to study at Japanese universities as undergraduate students under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Program for 2017 as follows.

QUALIFICATIONS AND CONDITIONS

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is now accepting applications from overseas students for study in Japan. Our aim is to foster human resources who will become bridges of friendship between your country and Japan through study in Japan and who will contribute to the development of both countries and the wider world.

1. Nationality: Applicants must have the nationality of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan. 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, 1995 and April 1, 2000.
3. Academic Background: Applicants must either have completed 12 years of regular school education or have graduated from a school equivalent to an upper secondary school in Japan. (Applicants who will meet the above qualifications by March 2017 are eligible. Includes those wishing to enroll for direct placement in the fall term who are expected to graduate by the end of August 2017.) Applicants who satisfy the entrance requirements for a Japanese university are also eligible.
4. Japanese Language: Applicants must be willing to learn Japanese. Applicants must be interested in Japan and be willing to deepen their understanding of Japan after arriving in Japan. In addition, in principle, applicants must be willing to carry out their academic studies in Japan in Japanese.
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: In principle, applicants must be able to arrive in Japan between the 1st and ７th of April 2017. If an applicant is to enroll in his/her university from the fall semester through direct placement, he or she must be able to leave for and arrive in Japan by the date specified by the accepting university.
7. Visa Requirement: 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: While the applicant is studying in Japan, he/she shall contribute to mutual understanding between Japan and the home country by participating in activities at schools and communities with the aim of contributing to the internationalization of Japan. The applicant shall make efforts to promote relations between the home country and Japan by maintaining close relations with the university attended after graduation, cooperating with the conducting of surveys and questionnaires after the return home, and cooperating with all relevant projects and events conducted by Japanese diplomatic missions in the applicant’s home country.

PERIOD OF SCHOLARSHIP

1. The scholarship period will last for five years from April 2017 to March 2022, including the one-year preparatory education in the Japanese language and other subjects due to be provided upon arrival in Japan. For scholarship grantees majoring in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or a six-year course in pharmacy, the scholarship period will be seven years until March 2024.
2. The preparatory education requirement may be waived for grantees who have sufficient knowledge of the Japanese language to pursue their studies or who wish to enter a university which demands no Japanese language ability (via direct placement). In such cases, the scholarship period will last for four years (or for six years for those majoring in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or in a six-year course in pharmacy). If a grantee graduates earlier or withdraws from his/her undergraduate course for early entrance to graduate school, the scholarship will be provided until his/her graduation or withdrawal.
3. The scholarship period in case of direct placement will start from the time of enrollment in the university, taking into account the circumstances of the accepting university.
4. In regard to six-year majors in Pharmacy, the grantees must undergo the common examinations (CBT= Computer-based Testing, OSCE= Objective Structured Clinical Examination) implemented prior to practical training. In cases when it is impossible for the grantees to fulfill the fixed standards necessary for practical training, the scholarship may be cancelled.
5. If a grantee graduates from an undergraduate course and is admitted to a master's course at a graduate school during the period of his/her scholarship, he/she may have the scholarship period extended upon a successful examination by MEXT, provided that he/she has outstanding academic achievement that meets certain criteria. The scholarship will be discontinued if approval is not granted.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Applicants must submit the following documents to the Japanese diplomatic missions by the required date. The submitted documents will not be returned.

1. Application Form (a prescribed form) 【original 1, copy 1】※photo Fiscal 2017 form
2. Placement Preference Form (prescribed form for applicants for direct placement only) 【original 1】※ photo Fiscal 2017 form
3. Academic transcript for the past 3 years【original 1, copy 1】
4. Graduation certificate of the last school attended (or certificate of expected graduation for an applicant due to graduate) transcript issued either by alma master or by applicants’ national government 【original 1, copy 1】
5. Recommendation from the principal or the adviser of the last school attended【original 1, copy 1】
6. Medical certificate 【original 1, copy 1】Fiscal 2017 form
7. Certificate of enrollment (for an applicant currently enrolled in a university) ※if applicable【original 1, copy 1】
8. Certificate of passage of university entrance qualification examination (if applicable) 【original 1, copy 1】

Note 1: These documents must be written in Japanese or English, or translations in either of these languages should be attached.

Note 2: Photographs (4.5×3.5 cm, taken within the past six months, upper body, full-faced, uncapped. Write your name and nationality on the reverse and paste them onto the Application Form and Placement Preference Form) attached to the original application must be originals; copies are not acceptable. It is acceptable to paste the data of photo on each application form and print it. (To print your photos and paste it on the application form is not allowed.) Use fiscal 2017 form.

Note 3: The graduation certificate and the degree certificate obtained from the last university attended may be photocopies provided that the copies are attested by an authorized person of the university.

Note 4: An application will not be examined unless all the documents mentioned above are fully and correctly completed. For applicants with 8 Certificate of passage of university entrance qualification examination, this document may be submitted in place of documents 3, 4 and 5.

Note 5: Number the documents (1 through 8) in the right upper corner.