Here, I will share my experiences and the processes I went through before and after I got the scholarship to study in Japan. I have been granted MEXT Scholarship 2023 (otherwise known as Monbukagakusho, or Japanese Government Scholarship) to study at Sophia University, so I decided to create this post to help other applicants who are also interested in studying in Japan, or maybe perhaps use this as a guideline. Hopefully, it can also help future applicants to avoid mistakes and know what to expect.
*Disclaimer: This post is by far have no mean to cause any offense to anyone. I am simply just sharing my experiences and what I’ve been through. My intention is to help future applicants, and also to give some insights about the MEXT Scholarship. At the same time I hope many Bruneians are encouraged to apply and study in Japan! Please let me know if I should take down this post if there are misinformations. By all means, this is just my experience, and it might not be the same case as everyone around the world since I am applying from Brunei.
In case you have never heard about MEXT Scholarship, it is a full-ride scholarship offered by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) to international students who wish to study in Japanese universities. The scholarship includes a monthly stipend allowance of around BND$1,500 or JPY¥144,000 for postgraduates, education fees, and traveling expenses (return economy-class airline ticket). So to say, it is a prestigious scholarship with a lot of benefits. You may refer to the previous application guidelines and get access to the application documents from MEXT’s website here. Always check with your embassy for the updated application documents as the link I provided was from MEXT 2023. This is the website link to the Embassy of Japan in Brunei.
I applied as a “Research Student” (Master’s Degree at a Graduate School) via the Embassy Recommendation track, so I will only be explaining it in this post. There are also different types of scholarships under MEXT, and you can check them out here. So before I start, below is the process of application and the selection chart when applying for the scholarship – which I extracted from the application guidelines.
Before you start on your application, you need to first ensure that you are eligible for this scholarship. You might want to refer to the application guidelines for further details (Application Guidelines for Research Students 2023). Although the minimum GPA requirement is not stated in the application guidelines, you can consult with the embassy first to see if your grades are good to apply. However basically, the requirements are:
- Bruneian citizen/PR
- Less than 35 years old
- Completed 16 years of education
- Eligible for enrollment in a postgraduate course at a Japanese university
- Willing to learn Japanese
- No physical or mental concerns
- Aim to strengthen the relationship between Brunei and Japan
In Brunei, the application will normally open in April and ends in June of the same year. The embassy will notify this through their official Instagram and Facebook accounts, as well as in the newspapers. During this time, you are required to prepare the documents needed. Bear in mind, especially in Brunei, you need to prepare some extra documents which are not stated in the application guideline and may not be required in other countries, but I’ll explain that soon. The following are the documents needed for the MEXT application:
| Documents | Note |
| 1) Application form | I mostly referred to Travis’ blog on how to fill in the application form. I honestly found his blog to be very useful and informative. You can also ask him questions if you have any concerns! |
| 2) Placement preference application form | How to find Japanese universities and supervisors? Degree programs taught in English It depends on each embassy, but in Brunei, during this early stage, you can contact professors from Japanese universities requesting them to be your supervisor. However, in my experience, professors normally don’t reply or won’t accept you as their student if you have not passed the first screening. So I would recommend you just put the universities you wish to attend and the name of the professors you like to have – though it won’t hurt to try emailing them. I did thorough research on the universities and professors as well, in case I get asked during the interview. For your information, after I passed the first screening, I wrote different universities from what I initially did in my initial placement application form – which is totally OK. |
| 3) Field of study and research plan | This is undoubtedly the most important and the most difficult document in the application. It is even possible for someone with an average grade to beat a straight-A student if they have an excellent and convincing research plan. Although of course, if you have both good grades and a good research plan, that will increase the possibility of you passing the first screening. For your information, if you’re a MEXT scholar, you need to do both research and coursework for your Master’s Degree. Your research plan must relate to your previous research (if you’ve conducted one before) and it has to impress the reviewers. You may need to refer to examples that you can find online on how to write a solid research plan – such as this. I will not be sharing exactly how I did my research plan, but I included an Introduction, Research Aim, Research Objectives, Potential Contributions, and Methodology. Your research plan doesn’t have to do anything related to Japan, although I noticed the embassy seems to like it that way since it can give you a strong reason why you can only do the research in Japan. It is also important to take note to keep your research plan as simple and direct as possible since you are only required to write within two pages. In my case, I had to do it within three pages since the last page was for references and the embassy accepted them with no problem. |
| 4) Academic transcripts of the university attended | Although it requested “transcripts of the university attended”, I was also required to submit copies of my middle and/or high school certificates/diplomas, at least in Brunei – otherwise please also consult with your embassy for confirmation. I had to submit my Cambridge O’Level (middle school) and Cambridge A’Level (high school) certificates. I also submitted all copies of my certificates from programs and competitions that I have joined for the past 3-5 years. Those certificates are NOT submitted to MEXT; instead, it is only used by the embassy to determine if I am eligible to sit for the examination. I also made sure to get all of my transcripts and certificates stamped by authorities at the last university I attended. In my case, I got my transcripts and certificates stamped by my faculty staff – and it took them around a week plus, and sometimes it can be longer. So please be sure to do this as soon as possible! *Note: If you haven’t officially graduated, you may also submit your latest university transcripts along with a certificate of graduation letter. I will explain this in the next section. |
| 5) Certification of graduation or degree certificate of the university attended | When I applied for this scholarship, I hadn’t officially graduated. So I had to request the “Expected Graduation” letter from the Registrar’s Office at the last university I attended. I also had to state why I was requesting the letter and I gave them a deadline so it would quicken the process. The letter should confirm you are graduating before the course you’re applying for starts. |
| 6) Recommendation letter from an academic advisor or president/dean at the current or last university attended | I would recommend you request at least two recommendation letters from your academic supervisors or lecturers, even though the application guideline stated only one. This is because, when you passed the first screening, you will need to request a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) from your preferred Japanese universities. Most of the time, the university will request you to submit at least two recommendation letters, so at least you already have both ready. In my case, I submitted two recommendation letters to the embassy and they accepted them with no problem. |
| 7) Medical certificate | Unlike any other scholarship (e.g. Brunei Government Scholarship), I had to do a medical check-up first upon submitting my application, even though it was not confirmed that I will get the scholarship. In Brunei, a medical check-up is no longer free in government clinics/hospitals – so be ready to prepare enough money for the check-up. I did mine at a Lee Clinic Kiulap for BND$100, then an additional BND$30 for the x-ray at the RIPAS Hospital. Different clinics/hospitals may offer different prices, but the average would be around BND$150. |
| 8) Abstracts of theses | This is only applicable if you have written a thesis before. This also includes the abstract from your final year’s research project during your undergraduate years, if you have written one. |
| 9) Certificate of language proficiency | The certificate of Japanese language proficiency is only applicable if you have them. It’s okay if you don’t have it as it won’t affect your application. The certificate of Japanese language proficiency can also be from any online certified language courses that you took, and not just from JLPT. Also, if you’re not from an English-speaking country, you may also need to submit a certificate of English language proficiency (i.e. TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC, etc.). In Brunei, submitting your Cambridge O’Level certificate to the embassy with a grade of at least C6 in the English Language is sufficient. However, I also requested a letter from my last university for a verification letter that states my Bachelor’s Degree program was conducted in the English Language. This is because the university I wanted to attend requires such letter as they do not accept the Cambridge O’Level certificate as proof. So it is really up to the university you’re applying for. |
| 10) Recommendation letter from present employer | I did not submit this. This is only applicable if you’re working when you applied for the scholarship. If you got a job after submitting your application, that should be no problem as the embassy will not be involved anymore. |
| 11) Photograph(s) showing own works of art or a digitally recorded media of musical performance | I did not submit this. This is only applicable if you’re applying for a course in the fine arts or music. |
After I have prepared all the documents, I was required to submit them physically to the embassy’s office itself. Then you move on to the next stage!
After I have submitted my documents, I was emailed the date for the examination conducted by the embassy. As I applied for the Research Student category, I only need to sit for the English Language (1 hour) and Japanese Language (2 hours) papers. The result of the Japanese Language examination is only used as a reference for the Japanese language preparatory course after arrival in Japan. So, it’s okay to fail the paper, but not the English Language examination – by means, I knew that I still have to pass the English Language paper. The Japanese Language examination consists of three sections: Elementary (equivalent to JLPT N4-N3), Intermediate (equivalent to JLPT N3-N2), and Advanced (equivalent to JLPT N2-N1). Even if you know zero Japanese, at least don’t leave the paper blank. Just write whatever, as it’s MCQs based so you should try your best. Besides, you can only go out of the examination hall after one hour the paper starts. In my opinion, the English Language paper was relatively easy but can be tricky, and I did manage to get through the elementary and intermediate sections just fine of the Japanese Language paper as an N3 holder. At least in Brunei, the examination typically takes place on a Friday and you will have to sit for both papers on the same day. You may refer to the MEXT’s website for a sample of past papers.
After the examination, in about a week, I received another email telling me to come for an interview. The interview took around 20~30 minutes, and the following are the questions I was asked (different applicants might get asked different questions, but I’ll just put the questions I got asked here for guidelines).
- Why did you apply for the MEXT scholarship?
- How do you think you will be able to handle living in Japan due to religious/cultural differences?
- How are your Japanese language skills?
- Did you join any organization or club activities during your undergraduate years?
- Why do you want to study and research that topic?
- How are you going to carry out your research?
- How can your research benefits Japan and Brunei?
- Have you contacted your preferred supervisor, and did they respond?
During my interview last time, there were five people who interviewed me, including three Japanese and two Bruneians – and all questions are in English. Also, like any other interviews, you are required to come at least fifteen minutes early and wear formal suits or national clothing; in my case, I wore my baju kurung. You can also watch videos on YouTube on how to prepare a “Japanese-styled interview”. I found this video to be very useful, and I hope it’ll do the same for you too.
Then after around two weeks after the interview, I received an email mentioning I have passed the first screening! In Brunei, the embassy will not email you if you failed the interview so you should understand that if you haven’t heard anything from them within a month, then unfortunately you did not pass the interview. You may also want to contact the embassy for confirmation and updates on your application.
So if you cleared this stage, congratulations!
I received my first official certificate mentioning that I passed the first screening after clearing this stage. The embassy then contacted me to collect the certificate and relevant documents, and also gave me a short briefing on what to do afterward. The next steps were relatively easy but were very nerve-wracking in my opinion! Please be noted that passing the first screening does not guarantee you got the scholarship, however, for graduate applicants, if you secured at least one LoA from a Japanese university, you are 99% likely to get the scholarship (this is based on the data floating around online).
The deadline to request LoA is always given, and it’s normally until the end of August. As mentioned, you may also contact the universities that you did not write initially in the placement form. However, according to the official guidelines, you are required to only contact up to two universities at the same time; this is a new rule. After passing the first screening, the embassy gave me a list of universities and whom I should contact for the LoA – normally it’s the International Students’ Affairs Office / MEXT Scholarship Coordinator. When I requested the LoA, the person in charge asked for the first screening certificate and the documents that I submitted to the embassy with official stamps from the embassy itself. So if the documents do not have the official stamps, then your request will be automatically rejected.
This is how I requested the LoA and how I contacted my prospective professors. Please note that it’s just a sample and you are free to make your own!
Before contacting the office, I would recommend you first contact your preferred supervisor to get an informal acceptance. However, some universities do not allow you to contact the professors at all, so please confirm this before you try emailing them. In my experience, if you got an informal acceptance, you will most likely get the LoA although it may take some time – this whole process took me almost two months. The universities are also given a deadline by MEXT to issue the LoA to students, and normally it’s by the end of September, so if by then you haven’t received any news from them, you might need to give them a polite follow-up. In my case, I only managed to secure one LoA as the other university rejected me at the last minute, and I couldn’t contact my third choice anymore since it was past the deadline. But getting at least one LoA is better than none!
Even though you have written the universities you wished to attend and submitted a placement preference application form in the beginning, as mentioned, you can totally change the universities at this stage. In this stage, once you received all your LoAs, you need to write all universities that accepted you in the new placement preference application form. You can rank them according to your preference, but if you listed private and national/public universities, the latter is always preferred due to budgetary reasons. I heard of people getting rejected in the second screening because they did not submit all LoAs they received, so please be careful on this; there’s a good chance that MEXT is going to find out. Each embassy will have different deadlines to submit the placement reference application form, but normally it’s around late September or early October. In Brunei, you can just submit the form and LoA to the embassy via email. After you’re done here, then it’s waiting time!
This is where things were nerve-wracking because I was not hearing anything from MEXT or the embassy until the next year in January or February. Basically in this stage, MEXT will do document screening and ensure that there is no problem with your application. MEXT will place the applicant at the university that approved you, meaning, securing the LoA of that university increases the chance of you getting admitted into that university. However, in case you include a private or non-national public university as well as a national university, your preference order specified in their placement preference application form may not be met due to budgetary reasons, hence the option of a national university may be prioritized regardless. In my case, I got rejected by a national university and accepted by a private university when I requested the LoA; so I only included that one in my placement form; which in the end, I got accepted by MEXT to enroll in that private university, which is Sophia University. So in case you’re wondering, yes, MEXT also accepts private universities.
Also, a question I get asked a lot is, “Is there a possibility that you can be rejected for the second screening?”; Honestly this data has never been disclosed by the embassy or the Japanese government, however, it is rare for graduate applicants to get rejected in this stage after clearing the first screening since your application is just going through an administrative and bureaucratic process – and you’re not competing with other students anymore. However, rejection can happen and the possibility of getting rejected might be from the evidence of wrongdoing in the application process or you didn’t manage to secure any LoA at all. This case is different than undergraduate applicants, where the rejection in the second screening is much higher although I can’t really say that for sure.
At this second stage, I would also recommend you start saving up some money because once you’re confirmed as a MEXT scholar, the monthly stipend allowance will not be given on the first month you arrived in Japan. I would highly recommend you bring at least BND$3,000 (or USD$2,000) since you will definitely need them to cover immediate living expenses and other necessary expenses.
This is where the final results will be announced, which will also confirm the university you will be attending. For your information, I received my final result on 2nd February 2023. I only received one LoA so I already knew I was going there. This is also where I knew when I will start my semester – it was either in Spring (April) or Fall (September). If you heard the good news, then congratulations once again! Now you can start preparing and planning your life in Japan! I might make another post on what I prepared when I first arrive in Japan as an international student, so please look forward to it.
Also for your information, for research students, although you passed all the screenings and managed to secure the scholarship, most students will generally start off as “non-degree student” which means that they will not be able to obtain credits and take classes at the university. However, this status can be changed almost immediately when you arrived in Japan and it depends on your university, which again, normally there is no big issue. Some major universities will have the applicants sit for the university’s entrance exam to officially become “degree-seeking students”. Although, most will just ask the applicants to submit just a few documents. So to say, it is different for every applicant – in my case, I will start as a Research Student in the Spring of 2023, and I’ll officially be a Master’s Student in the Fall of 2023; that is if I passed the entrance examination. I will perhaps make a post on the transition process of being a Research Student to a Master’s Student as a MEXT Scholar in the near future. Also, I will be attending a Japanese Language preparatory education during my Research Student period.
As this scholarship is very competitive, the quota is also very limited. From what I was told, the yearly quota for Undergraduate / Graduate scholars in Brunei is only three people. So it is best for you to start early on your application and seek advice from your last supervisor regarding your research plan. If you’re still a Degree student reading this, it is best for you to start building relationships with your lecturers as they’d be very helpful when you request recommendation letters from them one day. Not knowing the Japanese language is not a problem, but I think you should understand that you need to be ready to study them!
Finally, that is all from me. I hope you would find this post useful. I understand there is so much work to do, but if there is a will, there is a way. Once again, I wish you all the best, and even if it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted, please remember that the next opportunity will come to you in a different way. You may leave me questions in the comment section or you can directly send me a private message through the contact form. Thank you for reading!
NSYEFAHY | Study and Travel in Japan & Japanese Language 