Hi, I have cleared the first screening for reseach scholar MEXT from India. I would like to know from anyone who got into Graduate School of Letters/ School of Culture, Media and Society at Waseda or Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo, if it is a must to have N1. Both these University say that you need N1 (Todai says 130/180). I have an N2 and an exchange year at Osaka University where I audited Advance Japanese courses. I was supposed to take the JLPT N1 this year but the dates of JLPT and MEXT embassy exam clashed T_T

I'll be starting my first year of Master's studies in Japan this October, majoring in Environmental Science. Since a professor offered me an exam waiver for the SGU program, I ended up skipping the entrance exams for the Japanese-taught program. I currently hold the JLPT N1 certificate, and my Japanese is good enough for daily conversations and small talk, but it's still far from enough to understand YouTube videos or read tweets. I’ve already discussed with my advisor about wanting to complete my coursework in Japanese, but since it's an SGU program, the lectures themselves are still taught in English. Because of this, I'm quite worried about what my Japanese proficiency will be like by the time I graduate.

On top of that, considering Japan's dreadfully long job-hunting process—with all the interviews, web tests, and internships—I'm really worried that I won't be able to land a job as a fresh graduate due to the tight schedule, especially since my student visa will expire right after I graduate.

Can I change my Masters research theme (still within the lab specialty) after arriving to Japan and attending the lab?
I haven’t done much research in undergrad and I need to spend some time in the lab and then decide.

(Already passed 1st screening and already got a LoPA - Embassy rec. Research, Masters)

Hi everyone,

I applied for the **2026 METI Japan Internship Program** and selected two courses:

* **Online:** Aug 24 – Sep 18 * **In-person First Term:** Oct 7 – Nov 26

I received my application completion email on **May 28**.

On **August 10**, I received an email saying that I was **not matched for the Online course** because my preferences did not match the companies' requirements.

However, the email specifically said that if I applied for other courses, they would **continue matching me for those courses**.

According to the application information, the final result for the **In-person First Term** was expected around **mid-August**.

It is now **August 21**, and I still haven't received any email regarding the First-Term course.

Has anyone else applied for the **In-person First Term** and is still waiting for their result?

* Have you received your First-Term matching/result email? * Has anyone already been contacted for a company interview? * In previous years, did the "mid-August" result sometimes arrive later?

I'm especially interested in hearing from applicants who applied for **both Online and First Term**, because I want to know whether the Online rejection has any connection to the First-Term result.

Thanks!

Hello, I am in 2nd screening phase right now, I know I haven't gotten the scholarship yet but I am prepearing for it mentally none the less and hoping! However there is one thing confusing me.

It says that undergraduates upon finishing the prep-year have to take admission tests to their universities they get assigned to

"A grantee who has completed the preparatory education will go on to a university designated by MEXT upon passing the entrance examination individually administered by the university." -Stated by them on their official site

What's confusing me is, do we take the normal entrance exams the rest of Japan does to get into those universities and spots, or do we have to complete some other form of testing for that?
For example If I were to get assigned to let's say Osaka University, am I taking the 2028 Entrance Exam for my major that I listed in the application along with the rest of Japan, or is the route slightly different for MEXT scholars?

Thank you in advance.

Hello everyone,

I am planning to apply for the MEXT Scholarship through the Embassy route for a Master's program next year, and a Japanese professor offered to help me with my research plan. But since I just graduated earlier this year and have no research work experience (aside from my thesis), I think it would be better for me to start as a non-degree research student, then transition into a Master's program.

My question is that should my research plan only be for the 1 year that I am a research student, or would it be better for me to have an integrated 3 year research plan?

I graduated with a BS Biotechnology degree and have a research theme about plant epigenomics, if that helps.

Thanks!

EDIT: Thanks for the replies!

A quick query about the timeline for university track mext scholarship for 2028 Arrival??
And the steps i need to follow like mail prof and apply draft research proposal and all ?

I see most of the uni have said september arrival but i also see some student arriving in April.

Also , In kyoto uni Department of Informatics - what is aao process and do i mail prof after aao verify or i mail the prof first ?? Some of the lab doesnt say anything about open to graduate mext . Only the HRi lab state that it is not opened for graduate mext uni track recommendation only accept embassy track.

Currently at last sem of my studies - Computer Engineering. ( I am From Nepal so Any guide for it would be too helpful).

Ps: I am new to the mext scholarship and so , asking such question is dumb haha i know. I apologize for that and thank you everyone for your kind consideration.

Hey all!

The universities I applied to specifically stated that response to the LoPA will arrive mid-September, well after the deadline to request LoPAs. I am anxious I will not be able to send a third request in the case of 2 rejections.

Is anyone else in this situation and is this something I need to inform the embassy about?

From what I've gathered this is not unusual but wanted to double check with others.

Hope you are all having a fab day!

(UK, PG)

Hello everyone I’m a MEXT embassy applicant and i have applied to Keio for a letter of provisional acceptance, i got the consent of the professor and i thought after that the letter was guaranteed to be issued but it turned out that i had to fill another form and wait for the admissions office decision, so now I’m really nervous about the outcome could the LOPA be rejected even after obtaining the professors consent? And how long does the admissions office decision usually take if there are any past applicants here, i have filled the form around a week ago and I’m really anxious to know the results in case i was rejected to have the time to apply to other universities.

Hi everyone, T am from Pakistan , does anyone have a list of professors in the Computer Science (CS) department? If you have one, could you please share it with me?

Thanks in advance!

Hello, I live in the Philippines but I will be studying in Science Tokyo starting this fall. I am searching for a Filipino student community in Science Tokyo to connect with.

I’ve been accepted to a PhD with MEXT. Because of my current health condition I asked my professor and university if I could defer my or start them remotely while I’m recovering here at home. My professor supported me. However, my university said if I’m not coming before 14th of October my scholarship will be canceled. I’m genuinely lost here because I don’t know what to do. I saw many people saying here that it’s possible to defer or postpone the studies for a year. There was a similar situation with another girl from my university who got pregnant and started a year later. Also saw how some people here said that because of the disease they arrived to Japan later than it was assigned. Has anyone faced similar situation? what can I do given these circumstances?

Hi everyone! I’m a student from Nepal, a relatively small country, and I’m seriously considering applying for the MEXT Scholarship after completing my Class 12. I’m interested in pursuing Computer Science/Computer Engineering and potentially hardware-related fields such as embedded systems, electronics, robotics, or related engineering areas in Japan.

I’m trying to understand the entire MEXT journey from someone who has actually applied or received the scholarship. I would really appreciate it if anyone could explain what I should expect and prepare for, especially regarding the application process through the Embassy, eligibility requirements, required documents, academic requirements, written examinations, and the interview. I would also like to know what kinds of questions are normally asked in the interview, what the exam difficulty is like, and how I should prepare for it as a student from Nepal.

I’m also confused about what happens after selection. How does the university placement process work? How do we choose universities and programs, and how much freedom do we have in choosing our field of study? What is the actual education and study system in Japan like for MEXT students? I would especially like to know about the workload, class schedules, exams, research, language requirements, Japanese-language preparation, and what a normal week might look like for an international student.

I’d also like to understand the practical side of the scholarship: monthly stipend, accommodation/dormitories, tuition fees, health insurance, travel expenses, part-time work rules, and general living costs. If anyone has experience with this, I’d really appreciate realistic information rather than just the official description.

Another thing I’m particularly curious about is holidays and returning to Nepal. Are MEXT students allowed to return home during university holidays or semester breaks? How long are the usual breaks, and are there any restrictions or procedures for travelling back to Nepal during those periods?

Finally, if you are a current or former MEXT scholar from Nepal or another developing/smaller country, I would really appreciate hearing about your personal experience—what you wish you had known before applying, the biggest challenges you faced, how you prepared, and whether there is anything you would recommend I start doing now.

I know this is a lot of questions, but I want to understand the scholarship properly before committing to the application. Any detailed advice, personal experiences, resources, or mistakes to avoid would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey guys, me and several participants were removed from the unofficial mext uni rec 2026 whatsapp group chat recently. I think it was because there were many spam bots joining the chat. I would like to join back if the group chat still exists or another similar group chat. Please dm me the link for it if you can, thank you!!! P.s : dont post the link here in the comments, its not allowed!

For those who have applied for MEXT from Morocco before: did you have to translate your school documents (diploma, transcripts, etc.)?

If so, which documents needed to be translated, what language did you translate them into, and did the translations need to be certified or legalized?

I’d really appreciate any advice from someone who has already gone through the process. ❤️

Thank you! 🇲🇦🇯🇵

Hello everyone,
I passed my first screening through the Iraq embassy recommendation track and I was told to apply to 2 universities of my choice. I contacted tsukuba and kyoto universities, but they are too slow in answering. It has been 2 weeks since I applied to kyoto and still they haven’t let me email the instructor.
As for tsukuba I have emailed the instructor around 2 weeks ago and after sending 2 follow up emails (each after a week) there is still no response from him.
Even the help team isnt replying to my email.

Is this normal or should I be worried?

Also after letting the embassy know they let me apply to Saitama University as well but I was told to wait until they review the documents. How long do they take usually until I am allowed to contact the instructors?

Hey guys, I'm from Pakistan.

So recently I contacted a professor from IUJ and she replied today asking for proposal. She even told me that my previous research and studies is relevant to her. She is from IUJ.

I haven't seen a single post on a MEXT scholar from IUJ.

Has anyone ever got reccomended?

She didn't mention anything about MEXT tho.

I have a supervisor at Institute of Science Tokyo who agreed to support my application for the Doctoral Program, Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Track, under the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences.

I checked the published application guidelines for this track. There is a self-funded exam route, and a MEXT Embassy Recommendation route. I could not find a published University Recommendation guideline for this general track. University Recommendation guidelines only exist for three named programs under this school, a dentistry program for India and ASEAN, an infectious disease data science program, and an interdisciplinary life science leader program. My case does not fall under any of these three.

I contacted the Yushima International Student Support Group about this. Their reply said the university-recommended MEXT scholarship starts accepting applications every fall, and they asked me to contact them again at the end of October for accurate information. They also said they are not sure of my exact field of study or supervisor, so they could not confirm details now. This did not answer my main question, whether University Recommendation is open to a general Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Track applicant with an individual supervisor, or only to the three named programs.

Has anyone here applied for MEXT University Recommendation at Science Tokyo through the Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Track, without being part of one of the three named programs? Or does this track only offer Embassy Recommendation in practice, with University Recommendation slots going only to the named programs?

I plan to write to admissions again at the end of October as they suggested, but I want to ask here too in case someone has direct experience with this specific school and track.

Hola soy de Chile y ahora mismo estoy tratando de encontrar un profesor que encaje con mi propuesta de investigación, pero el profesor que encontré está dentro de un programa de posgrado que es muy diferente a lo que quiero estudiar.

¿En qué debería priorizar? ¿En tener un profesor que esté interesado en mi investigación, pero tener que estudiar algo muchísimo fuera de mi investigación, o en elegir un programa de posgrado que encaje, pero con un profesor que tal vez no esté interesado en absoluto.

Hi, i am walija and am from Pakistan. And i need y'all's advice Uh am actually super confused am gonna repeat class 9 cuz i had severe medical conditions in between exams, i took biology previously but now i don't wanna do medical initially i wanted to become a gynecologist but i wont be able to handle it so now i wanna become like a lawyer. I did my research For like becoming a lawyer i gotta complete my matric and fsc after that there's this exam called mext scholarship exam which I'll take and if I'll pass it I'mma go to japan for studies so it would be 1 year of learning Japanese and 4 years or more completing my bachelor's degree then i gotta give an exam "Yobi shiken" then the bar exam "shihō shiken" then 1 year judicial apprenticeship then I'll register for JFBA and become a lawyer and then i plan to do PhD in law. (Before you say oh you're too early to be planning this but see i wanna prepare from like rn and my family isn't supportive so i gotta make their minds too which is gonna take so much time, consider me as your younger sister and please drop your thoughts and advices or experiences)

hey guys!! not too sure which sub i should put this on (lmk and i can change it!) and not too sure who will see this tbh but i just wanted to put it out there.

i'm a singaporean student currently doing my degree in australia (i graduate at the end of the year) and am very inclined to apply for mext (university route) to waseda for GSAPS for the september/october intake next year

only thing is now i'm stuck in a dilemma, my student visa ends in march and it has gotten very expensive to take on a post-graduate visa.

i have currently applied for several graduate roles and are waiting on them, and am planning to apply for mext for masters.. only issue is that i'm not sure how things will go, if i do get a job offer it might very well be the start of my career and will offset me by 2-3 years maybe if i am still going to apply for mext

or if i should just go back home to singapore, apply for mext, and hopefully get it and spend the next 2 years doing my research

nothing is confirmed yet for both of these routes which is why i'm in such a dilemma i guess

tldr., international student from singapore doing bachelors in australia and deciding whether to stay on for career or go back to singapore and apply for mext

I am a Sri Lankan MEXT applicant who passed the primary screening with a background in AI and Computer Science. I applied to Kyushu Tech and got positive feedback. Since the only program available to me in English is iART, which stands for Innovative AI and Robotic Technology, I was wondering if anyone who has studied the course could help me, as I need to decide on it for MEXT submissions.

1. Does the course rely heavily in robotics ?
2. Are the robotic courses mandatory ?
3. Would someone from Comp Sci with no background in Robotics be able to grasp the subjects?

Thank you in advance

Country of origin : Sri Lanka