Frequently asked questions

In order to be eligible to apply for universities in Japan, you have to satisfy one of the following:

• Individuals who completed 12 years of formal school education
• Individuals who have completed high school education of less than 12 years AND completed a preparatory course at designated universities or institutes
• Individuals who have a foreign university admission certification, such as the International Baccalaureate, Abitur, Baccalaureate, or GCE A-Level (specified by each country)

For more information, please see the Undergraduate studies page.

Yes, there are around 150 programmes at undergraduate level that are taught fully in English. For more information, please see the Undergraduate studies page.

To find schools and programmes, please see the section “Finding schools and programmes” in the Undergraduate studies page. 

Japanese universities do not have a collective nationwide application period. Most common application period are between June and January. For exact dates of application periods, please check with the universities that you are interested in applying to.

Admission takes place either in April or September/October.

If you have an IB and are 18 years old or above, you are eligible to apply for universities in Japan. More than 50 Japanese universities consider IB scores when screening candidates. For detailed admission guidelines, please visit here.

In some countries, high school education is for 11 years. In such cases, you will be eligible to apply for a Japanese university once you complete the high school education and a one-year foundation course.

If your school does not use GPA, please use the converter here to calculate the GPA from your academic record.

No, for undergraduate studies, you do not need to contact a potential supervisor before application.

In general, students need to apply for schools/programmes and scholarships separately. So please make sure you apply for both schools and scholarships. Some scholarships can be applied before of upon your enrolment to a school, whereas there are more scholarships that you can apply for through the university that you are enrolled in. Some schools and programmes also offer tuition fee reductions and exemptions if you have excellent academic records. For more information, please see our Scholarships page.

Undergraduate studies in Japan are for four years (except for medical, dental, veterinary and pharmaceutical programmes, which are for six years). The total length of the study period also depends on transfer credits and the need for a preparatory Japanese language course.

It is difficult to know the acceptance rate. It varies depending on each university.

In general, applicants only need to submit a score of an English language proficiency test (TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC or the EIKEN Test). In some cases, universities might ask you to submit other scores depending on your chosen area of studies. Please contact each university for more details.

In Japan, postdoc opportunities are not generally publicized, and they are decided through discussions between universities and professors. If you know professors who have contacts with universities/professors in Japan that are in your area of interest, you may wish to consult with them. Please also note that, in order to conduct a post-doc in Japan, candidates are required to secure financial resources for it first. Once you are sure to have a financial source, you can start applying for a postdoc.

Application procedures for exchange programmes are set by the guidelines between your current university and your affiliating/host universities, with which your school has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Please check with the international relations department of your university for more details.
You can also search Japanese universities that offer exchange programmes to their affiliated universities from our data portal.

In general, short-term course students are considered non-regular students, hence short-term courses are not meant to obtain a degree regardless of the length of programmes, which varies from a few weeks to a full academic year.

For more information on short-term study programmes, please see here.
To search for short-term programmes, please visit here.

The first thing you can do is to visit our Scholarships page.
You can also follow us on our Facebook and Twitter, where we regularly post updated scholarship information.

In principle, you need an excellent academic record to apply for a scholarship. Each scholarship, however, has different eligibility and requirements in terms of, among others, levels of degrees it supports, areas of studies, schools you are enrolled in, age limits. For more details, please see our Scholarships page as well as the information on scholarships you wish to apply for.

Yes, while some scholarships such as the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship has an age limit, others do not have one. For more details, please check the information on each scholarship that you are interested in applying for. Please also refer to the List of Scholarships for Undergraduate Students and List of Scholarships for Graduate Students on our Scholarships page, which contain information on age limit of different scholarships.

Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship is the scholarship offered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. There are two types of MEXT Scholarship - (1) the one that needs to be applied through Embassy recommendation, and (2) the other to be applied through Japanese university recommendation. You are normally asked to have a good academic record of minimum 2.3 of GPA out of 3.0. Please visit our Scholarships page for more information.

First, visit our Scholarships page. The MEXT Scholarship covers full tuition, monthly allowance, and a return flight ticket between Japan and your home country.

MEXT Scholarship through Embassy recommendation needs to be applied through the Japanese Embassy in your country. For more detailed information on application procedures and deadlines, please contact the Japanese Embassy in your country. The list and contact details of Japanese Embassies and Consultates can be found here.

You can also click on the following links for more information on the MEXT Scholarship.

• Types of the MEXT Scholarships
• Eligibility requirements
• Application process
• Guidelines and application form for undergraduate students
• Guidelines and application form for research students (at postgraduate level)

In general, the application is open from April to May of the previous year that you intend to study in Japan and the screening is conducted by the Embassy in May/June. For exact information on the deadline, please contact the Japanese Embassy in your country. 

Yes, written exams are part of the screening process of the MEXT Scholarships. For undergraduate students, Japanese, English, mathematics and science exams are required, whereas for postgraduate students, Japanese and English exams are required.

You need to have a high academic performance record of at least GPA 2.3. However, even if you do not meet the score, you can still apply for the MEXT Scholarship.

If your university does not use GPA itself or the GPA of 0 to 3 point scale, please recalculate your evaluation marks using the link here for your reference.

It depends on the decision made by the Embassy of Japan. Some state that the Japanese score does not have a negative impact, and they prioritize scores of other exams such as English, mathematics and science.

MEXT Scholarships applicants for Embassy Recommendations are advised to contact Japanese universities and potential supervisors for provisional acceptance only after passing the first screening of the MEXT Scholarships. If you apply for other scholarships, however, you are advised to contact your potential supervisors before submitting application documents.

There are not many scholarships for short term courses. However, if you choose a short exchange programme conducted based on the MoU between universities, the tuition fees are normally covered by the universities. Please contact your school for more information about exchange programmes.

Yes, there are a number of scholarships that support studying Japanese language. You can search such scholarships here.

Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) is an international programme by Ashinaga Foundation which supports orphaned students to study at a university abroad by covering tuition fees, accommodation, travel costs and other fees.

For more information, please visit Ashinaga Africa Initiative website.

Yes, there are a number of scholarships available that can be applied for after enrolment in schools and after arriving in Japan. Please see Scholarships page for more information. 

According to the study by Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), the average monthly expenses (excluding academic fees) of an international student in Japan are around JPY 93,000 (As of 15 August, approximately USD 700). However, the living cost depends on many factors including the region where you live. The living cost is more expensive in Tokyo and other big cities, and it is less so in other regions.

You can access more detailed information on living cost in Japan here.

A student visa granted to international students, whose status of residence is “Student”, does not allow students to work. However, if students wish to work to cover tuition fees or other necessary expenses, a part-time job up to 28 hours per week (and up to 8 hours a day during long school holidays) is allowed if you apply for “permission to engage in activity other than that permitted under the status of residence previously granted” at the immigration office. For more information, please check here.

Please note that those who are receiving a scholarship need to double check with its rules and regulations. Some scholarships do not allow for a part-time job. 

Bringing your legal family members with your student visa is possible, but you need to consult with your university on the required procedures.

Yes, all international students who will stay in Japan for more than 3 months have to subscribe the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme.

Please read here for more information on NHI, and consult with your university on how they can assist you with the procedure.