The 2022 edition of Japan’s top scholarship program Mext (from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan) is partially open for applications. There are six types of grants available with open enrollment: graduation, higher technical schools, vocational courses, training for elementary and high school teachers, Japanese language and culture.
Japan offers scholarships for international students in all areas of knowledge. There are opportunities for those who want to study technology, humanities, law and even economics.
All Mext scholarships guarantee, in addition to the exemption of tuition fees, also a round trip ticket to the country, a Japanese language course and a value for the student’s maintenance in the country. This amount can vary between R$3,000 and R$5,000 per month, depending on the level of the scholarship and the student’s place of residence. Doctoral students in cities with the highest cost of living tend to receive the highest grants.
Applications must be made through the Japanese consulates or embassies in Brazil (located in the cities of São Paulo, Belém, Recife, Curitiba, Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Manaus and Porto Alegre). It is also possible to apply through recommendation from Japanese universities. The prerequisites vary for each modality, but Brazilians who hold dual Japanese nationality are not eligible for these scholarships.
Check out the types of scholarships offered and see which best fits your profile.
MEXT Scholarships: Check the modalities
University graduate
Enrollment: scheduled for June 2022
Aimed at high school graduates who wish to graduate from a Japanese university in the areas of natural, social and human sciences. The duration is five years, and to be admitted, you must be between 17 and 24 years of age and have a good command of English or Japanese.
Technical school
Enrollment: scheduled for June 2022
The Technical School in Japan offers courses in various areas of engineering and technological sciences, with a high level of excellence. These Mext scholarships last four years, require a high school education and a good command of the English or Japanese language.
Vocational Course
Enrollment: scheduled for June 2022
Short-term, vocational schools offer courses lasting up to 3 years in specific areas, such as nutrition, administration and technology, aiming at the rapid insertion of young people into the job market. Among the prerequisites are being between 17 and 24 years old, having completed high school and having a good command of English or Japanese.
Research and Graduate
Enrollment: Enrollment closed.
Lasting two or three years, the program is aimed at young people up to 34 years old who wish to carry out research at Japanese universities. It offers the opportunity to pursue a master’s and/or doctoral program, if the student is approved in the entrance exam of the educational institution. It is necessary to have a complete graduation or be in the last year of graduation, prove proficiency in English or Japanese and present a research project. Includes Japanese language course for the first six months of the program.
Past Mext exams
In any modalities of Mext scholarships, a part of the selection process is the completion of tests in English, Japanese and other knowledge. For this reason, and because scholarships are very competitive, it is a good idea to prepare well for these exams.
One way to do this is by consulting (and solving) the tests applied to candidates in previous scholarship years. The official website of Mext and the embassies recommends that previous exams be downloaded via this link.
The link above has all the tests applied for the selection of all types of scholarships between 2014 and 2016. In the left column are the files of the tests and, in the right, the respective templates. All of them are in PDF format.
*The text “Government of Japan opens applications for 100% scholarships for undergraduate and language courses” was originally published on the Estudar Fora portal, of Fundação Estudar.
