Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) MEXT Scholarships 2020

Application Deadline: Varying by Country

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 2020 as follows.

Types of Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarships

There are six types of Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarships. Each type has its own eligibility requirements, so please apply for the type that best fits your personal criteria.

Research students	You must be under 35 years of age and a college graduate (includes prospective graduates). Or you must have completed 16 years of schooling.

Teacher training students	You must be under 35 years of age and a graduate of a college or teacher training college. You must have at least five years of active experience as a teacher in a primary, secondary or teacher training college in your country. (Please note that college and university teachers currently in active service are not considered for this scholarship).

Undergraduate university students	You must be at least 17 and under 22 years of age and have completed 12 years of school education or have completed courses in a school comparable to a high school (includes prospective graduates).

Japanese studies students	Applicants must be from 18 to 30 years old. Applicants must be enrolled as undergraduate students in faculties or schools which major in Japanese language or Japanese culture in a university outside Japan at the time when they come to Japan and must be enrolled in the home institution at the time when they return to their home countries.

College of technology students	You must be at least 17 and under 22 years of age and have completed school education comparable to a high school (a minimum of 11 years beginning in primary school) education (includes prospective graduates).

Special training college students	You must be at least 17 and under 22 years of age and have completed 12 years of schooling or have completed school education comparable to a Japanese high school (includes prospective graduates).

Requirements:

Eligibility Requirements:

Research student	Teacher training student	Undergraduate student	Japanese studies student	College of technology student	Special training college student
Level of studies	Graduate school level	Undergraduate level
Eligibility requirement	University or college graduate	University, college graduate or equivalent	Secondary school graduate or equivalent	University student (undergraduate level)	Graduates of secondary schools or equivalent
Age limit (at time of granting)	Under 35	At least 17 and under 22	At least 18 and under 30	At least 17 and under 22
Duration	Maximum 2 years including Japanese-language training	Maximum 1 year 6 months including Japanese-language training	5 years including Japanese-language training (7 years for medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary science)	One academic year	4 years including Japanese-language training(4 and a half years for merchant marines studies)	3 years including Japanese-language training
Preliminary Japanese-language training	6 months (54 universities such as Hokkaido University) Those with sufficient Japanese proficiency are not required to go through preliminary Japanese- language training.	1 year (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Osaka University)	None	1 year (Independent Administrative Institution: Japan Student Services Organization, Tokyo Japanese Lanugage Education Center)	1 year (Bunka Institute of Language, Independent Administrative Institution: Japan Student Services Organization, Osaka Japanese Lanugage Education Center)
Fields of study	Major in field of specialty at a graduate school	Special training at a teacher training department	Undergraduate education	Japanese language or special training related to Japan	Third year college of technology courses	Post secondary courses
Designated countries	Worldwide (168 countries and regions)	Developing countries, etc. (64 countries and regions)	Worldwide (100 countries and regions)	Worldwide (74 countries and regions)	Developing countries (40 countries and regions)	Developing countries, etc. (49 countries and regions)
Planned number of new scholarship recipients	4,042 people	89 people	460 people	190 people	86 people	90 people
Scholarship stipend	¥143,000～148,000 per month	¥117,000～120,000 per month
Tuition	Tuition for national universities and Institute of National College of Technology waived; tuition for public and private universities paid for by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Travel allowance	Roundtrip fare (air ticket) provided
Embassy recommendation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
University recommendation (overseas application)	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No
University recommendation (local acceptance)	Yes	No	Yes (For the final only)	No	No	No

Eligibility
i) 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.
ii) 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.
iii) Applicants must be free from any mental or physical disabilities that would impede the pursuit of study at Japanese universities.
iv) Military personnel or military civilian employees at the time of arriving in Japan are not eligible.
v) Availability on arriving in Japan by April/ October 2019
vi) Applicants generally must have been born on or after April 2, 1984
vii) Undergraduate Degree holders from universities and/or colleges with a total mark of GPA3.2/ Second Class Upper Division or higher. Applicants for this program must submit a complete research proposal at the time of applying

SCHOLARSHIP BENEFITS

• Allowance: 117,000 yen per month. The scholarship is cancelled in principle if the recipient is absent from the university or preparatory Japanese-teaching institution for an extended period. 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 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
• The recipient is determined to have made a false statement on his/her application
• The recipient violates any article of his/her pledge to MEXT;
• The recipient violates any Japanese laws and is sentenced to imprisonment with or without work for life or for a period of exceeding 1 year;
• The recipient is subject to disciplinary action by the university, including expulsion (The scholarship payment may be stopped during the period up until punishment is decided by the university, etc.)
• It has been determined that it will be impossible for the recipient to complete the course within the standard course period because of poor academic grades or suspension or leave of absence;
• The recipient’s residence status has changed to one other than “College Student”;
• The recipient has received a scholarship from another institution (excluding those specified for research expenditures)
• The recipient has proceeded to a higher level of education without receiving approval for an extension of the period of the scholarship

Tuition and Other Fees: Fees for the entrance examination, matriculation, and tuition at universities will be paid by MEXT.

Traveling Costs

Transportation to Japan: In principle, MEXT stipulates the travel schedule and route, and provides an economy-class airline ticket for the flight from the international airport closest to
the recipient’s residence (in principle, the country of nationality) to Narita International
Airport or to any other international airport on the normal route to the accepting university.

Application Process:

Japanese Government Scholarship students are recruited and selected in three ways:

For those outside of Japan

Embassy Recommendation
University recommendation

Research Students

* Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree required.

Undergraduate Students

Specialized Training College Students

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) MEXT Scholarships 2019/2020