How to apply for Scholarships in Japan

Most Australian people know Japan is a beautiful country to visit, but not many Australian students know Japan is also a great country to study. There are many scholarships for foreign students and many jobs for graduates. This article will help you understand how to apply for scholarships in Japan.

We will help you find out why study in Japan and how to get the scholarships and find a job after graduation.

Why study in Japan?

• The Need: Japan government has a plan to double the number of foreign students by 2020. According to the research of JASSO (Japan Student Services Organisation) published in December 2017, there were 267,040 foreign students in Japan, an increase of 11.6% than 2016.
• The support: While most of the foreign students are from Asian countries, Australia and Japan governments are keen to send more Australian university students to Japan for exchange, research and work experience. This includes some new government scholarships.
• The quality: Japanese universities are ranking high internationally. Five Japanese universities are in the top 100 world universities according to 2018 “Times Higher Education Top 100 World University Ranking”.
• The career: Japan needs more skilled foreigners to fill their workforce. According to the Singapore Newspaper The Strait Times there are two jobs for every applicant in Tokyo. Big companies are recruiting foreign students to study at Japanese universities. It is much easier to build up a career in Japan after graduation.

What scholarships are available?

There are many scholarships available. Most of the scholarships only covers partial of student’s daily cost and tuition fee, few covers the full cost of the student’s daily expenses and the tuition fee. The scholarships can be divided into three categories:

• Government Scholarships: The most famous Japanese government scholarship is the MEXT (Bombukagakusho – Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). It covers all the cost. And the Australian government’s New Colombo Plan and Endeavour Scholarship. There are also scholarships offered by local governments.
• Organisation Scholarships: Some international or local organisations also offer scholarships. Rotary International offers a fully funded Rotary Peace Fellowship; Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) also offers scholarships.
• Private foundations’ Scholarships: Companies and universities also offer Scholarship in Japan.

How to apply for Scholarships?

Some scholarships you can only apply for when you are in Japan; some scholarships you can apply for first and then start your study in Japan.

Most of the scholarships start from the New Year. Below are some websites you should check frequently so not to miss out the Japan scholarship opportunities.

• Japanese Embassy Website: This is the most official website for government scholarships. Both scholarships from Japan and the Australian government.
• Japan Student Services Organization website: This website not only lists many kinds of scholarships but also offers very useful information for studying and living in Japan. For anyone who plans to study in Japan should check out this website.
• Other scholarship websites: There are many other scholarships website helping you find out a scholarship in Japan

Instead of above website, you should also check with your University for updated information or some invitations from Japan.

Scholarship will help you study in Japan, but it is not the only thing that you should care.

Your final goal is not to get the scholarship, it is your career plan and life plan related with Japan. Your Japanese language skill is the most important skill you should obtain.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is the best certificate to help you apply for the scholarship and learn Japanese language. You can click the link to find out what is JLPT and our JLPT preparation course for beginners.

If you want to know more about how to apply for scholarships in Japan, please contact us.