How to come to Japan as a Student

Coming to Japan as a student
In general there are two basic categories of students: Short-term exchange and Long-term exchange. Short-term exchange students study in Japan for a period of 10 months or less and are usually classified as undergraduate students at their home university. Long-term graduate students typically study in Japan for more than one year and are classified as graduate students. This is not always the case as some undergraduate students obtain their entire 4-year degree in Japan. The most common way to come to Japan as a short-term exchange student is to check with the foreign languages department at your home university to see if they have any exchange programs with Japanese universities. Usually these exchange programs include a scholarship that will pay for your plane ticket to Japan and will provide you with a monthly stipend of 80,000 yen. You will be housed in a student dormitory and your rent will be dirt-cheap, averaging around 5,000 yen a month. The exchange period typically lasts for 10 months, October to August, but there area also some programs for 5-month exchanges as well. At the end of the exchange period students will also receive a paid plane ticket to return to their home country. Note however, that over the past years the number of scholarships available for exchange has drastically decreased. Organizations began cutting scholarship numbers and amounts in response to the deteriorating Japanese economy. Although the Japanese economy has recovered and has been growing for consecutive years now, the organizations are still making cuts so competition for these scholarships is getting tougher.

Scholarships for Undergraduate Exchange

JASSO(Japan Student Services Organization)Scholarship
The JASSO scholarship is the most common scholarship financing short-term exchange students. Depending on the nature of the program and university the application period may vary but generally applications will be due in early Spring. As with many things in Japan there will be a lot of paper work, so you should express your intent to study in Japan quite early, in the late Fall if possible. Paper work typically includes several letters of recommendation, essays, application forms, physical examination, and there is also an interview. It is not something you can do in two or three days. Once you turn in your forms in early spring you must wait until around May or June before you will know whether or not you have been accepted by the Japanese university. Once accepted you must wait another two months or so before you will find out whether or not you will receive the scholarships. So basically you must apply for two things: The Japanese University and the JASSO scholarship. Most, but not all, students who are accepted into the university will receive the scholarship. So if you are notified in early summer that you were accepted then you can breathe a little easier because more than likely you will also receive the scholarship. The amount of the JASSO scholarship is 80,000 a month including paid airfare to and from Japan and they will provide you with 150,000 yen when you arrive in Japan for relocation expenses. Tuition is not paid for! Since this is an exchange scholarship you do not have to pay tuition to the Japanese university but you must still pay tuition to your home university during your stay in Japan.
Note: You cannot apply for the JASSO scholarship directly. You must contact someone in your home university to find out about any programs they have with Japanese universities. Since this is a scholarship that requires nomination you will need to have a decent GPA, around 3.0 or above, and good recommendations. If your GPA is low you could still possibly be accepted if your recommendations are really good.
For more information on the JASSO scholarship visit Japan Student Services Organization

MEXT (Monbusho) Scholarship
The Monbusho scholarship for undergraduate students is another option for those wanting to attend a Japanese University. Like many other scholarships you will need reccommendations from your home university to apply, but unlike other scholarships you can also apply for the Monbusho scholarship after graduating high school. The period of the scholarship can last up to 5 years with a monthly stipend of 135,000 yen, will receive 25,000 yen upon arriving in Japan and the scholarship will pay for all tuition and examination expenses. For the general undergraduate scholarship you must be under 22 years old to apply but there are other Monbusho undergraduate scholarships for older aged students but these scholarships limit students depending on their field of study. As with all MEXT scholarships there are two ways to apply. You can apply at your local Japanese consulate or Embassy. This process will include an examination and interview process and is very competitive. The other method is to receive a University Recommendation. To receive a University Recommendation you will need to know a professor at a Japanese University and ask him or her to recommend you for the MEXT scholarship. Also, if your home university has a strong relationship with a Japanese University then you could contact someone at your home university about asking one of the professors at that Japanese University about a recommendation. Typically though, your home university will only be able to recommend one student so you must be an outstanding student at your home university. As part of the University Recommendation application process you will need to obtain recommendations from teachers, the president of your university (if not the president, the Dean of your department may be sufficient), write essays, fill out application forms, and take a very comprehensive physical examination. Once you turn in all of your applications you should find out about your acceptance around mid to late summer. In the past, the acceptance rate of students who were recommended by a Japanese University was quite high so if you have the right connections your chances of getting accepted will be quite high. For more information on the different types of MEXT scholarships and their respective requirements you can download the pdf file at MEXT Scholarships
Sometimes the pdf file may not be working so you can also view the cache html page at Google Cache of MEXT scholarship

Fulbright Scholarships
Fulbright has a wide variety of scholarships for both US citizens and citizens of other countries. As long as you do not hold a PHD, have not lived in Japan for more than six months for some purpose other than military and you are not a citizen of Australia, Belgium/Luxembourg, Canada, Chile, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, or Switzerland you basically have a chance of receiving one of their scholarships. For more information you can go to Fulbright Online

NSEP (National Security Education Program) David L. Boren
The NSEP scholarship is quite competitive but the scholarship amount is pretty decent. The scholarship amount is $10,000 a semester and open to all US citizens. For more information NSEP Boren Scholarships

Bridging Scholarship
The Bridging scholarships are open to US citizens and are not very competitive but the lack of competitiveness is shown in their payment of only $2,500 a semester or $4,000 a year. This scholarship alone is not enough to cover all living and tuition expenses so other means of financial assistance would also be needed. For more information Bridging Scholarships.


For more information about scholarships for undergraduate students wanting to study in Japan you can visit JGuide


Need more help then check out these helpful articles
How to come to Japan
Coming to Japan as a Teacher
Finding a Job in Japan
Coming to Japan as a Student
Coming to Japan as a Graduate Student

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