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Study at Osaka University

Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Students

If you wish to apply for Japanese government (MEXT) scholarship

MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

The University of Osaka (UOsaka) accepts MEXT scholarship students, international students who have received a scholarship from the Japanese government (MEXT) both at graduate and undergraduate level.

There are two types of application for MEXT Scholarship: Embassy Recommendation and University Recommendation.

Undergraduate level

Embassy recommendation

Scholarship recipients are recruited and initially screened by the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General, depending on the country.

Scholarship recipients must take Japanese language lessons at the Center for Japanese Language and Culture at the University of Osaka for a year. Those who pass the entrance exam will be eligible to enroll in an undergraduate course at the University of Osaka.

  • February - March: Application is made to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General, depending on the country
  • May - July: First screening (documentary examination, written examination, interview)
  • October - : Second screening (consultation between MEXT and the university)
  • February (in the following year): Notification of the scholarship award is sent
  • April: Scholarship recipients arrive in Japan

University recommendation
The applicants first must pass one of the undergraduate programs listed below and be chosen as a MEXT Student candidates. (No recommendation will be made before passing the entrance examination).

Contacts for further details:
1) Human Sciences International Undergraduate Degree Program (HUS)
　Website: http://iudp.hus.osaka-u.ac.jp
　E-mail: englishprogram@hus.osaka-u.ac.jp

2) International Undergraduate Program in Science (IUPS)
　Website: https://www.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/iups/
　E-mail: internationalcollege@office.osaka-u.ac.jp

Graduate level

Successful applicants usually enroll in UOsaka as research students to engage in research work for 6 ~12 months. If they pass the entrance examination, they will go on to a master’s course or doctoral course.

Embassy recommendation

Scholarship recipients are recruited and initially screened by the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General, depending on the country.

Those who received embassy recommendation and need to brush up their Japanese language skill will receive the Intensive Japanese Language Course at the International Student Center for the first six months and then will be assigned to a graduate school as research students. If they pass the entrance examination, they will go on to a regular (degree) program of a master’s course or doctoral course.

  • February - March: Application is made to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General, depending on the country
  • May - July: First screening (documentary examination, written examination, interview)
  • - August: Request a letter of acceptance to Osaka University *See below for procedures.
  • October - : Second screening (consultation between MEXT and the university)
  • February (in the following year): Notification of the scholarship award is sent
  • April or October: Scholarship recipients arrive in Japan

*To those who passed the first screening by the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General

Please make sure to request a letter of acceptance via the Admissions Assistance Desk (AAD) .

Application Deadline for AY2026: Monday, September 1, 2025 (Japan Time)
*Any applications received on August 10 or later will not be accepted.

How to apply to AAD if you passed the first screening of the Japanese embassy in their home country for the Japanese Government (MEXT) scholarship

Applicants who passed the primary screening of the Japanese embassy for Japanese Government (MEXT) scholarship and wish to obtain a "Letter of Acceptance" from the University of Osaka should apply to AAD.

Application to AAD is meant to inform applicants as to whether or not they can contact their prospective supervisor and does not mean that the applicants will be accepted to the program of their choice.

Please note that after the announcement of the result, it must go through several steps, including an interview and review by the supervisor of the applicant’s choice, in order to grant the pre-approval.

Please read the following carefully before you proceed with the AAD online application.

By applying for AAD in accordance with the application guidelines below, the time it takes for your application information to reach your desired faculty member will be shortened, allowing for efficient consideration of your acceptance.

If you apply without following the application guidelines below, it may take some time to confirm your application details. Therefore, please make sure to submit your application documents in accordance with the application guidelines below.

Required documents

Please upload all of the necessary documents listed below (stamped by the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General) to the AAD System in PDF format.
*Please make sure that you have submitted all of the necessary documents and that they are both legible and complete.

  1. Application Form
  2. Field of Study and Research Plan (Note 1: On the AAD system, in the part where it says, “Statement of Purpose and Research Plan,” please upload an electronic version of the research plan that is the same as the “Field of Study and Research Plan” submitted to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General.
  3. Academic transcript for all academic years of the university attended
  4. Certificate of graduation (completion) /certificate of degree from your home university
  5. Recommendation letter from the president/dean or the academic advisor at the current or last university attended (Note 2: Please upload the recommendation letter submitted to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General via the AAD system on the part where it says, “Recommendation Letter.”)
  6. Medical certificate
  7. Abstracts of theses (*Only if you wish)
  8. Certificate of language proficiency (*Only if you have acquired one)
  9. Letter of recommendation from present employer (*Only if submitted to the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General)
  10. Photograph(s) showing applicant’s own works of art or a digitally recorded media of musical performance (*Only if submitted to the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General)
  11. Copy of a Passing Certificate of the First Screening issued by the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General

Note 1: Under the “Statement of Purpose and Research Plan” in the “Application Details” section of the AAD online application, please submit the above document 2. "Field of Study and Research Plan" that you submitted to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General.
There is no need to submit the format specified by AAD.

Note 2: Under “Recommendation Letter” in the “Application Details” section of the AAD online application, please submit the above document 5 (and document 9 if submitted to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General).

Note 3: Other documents should be submitted under “Supplementary Materials” as “Other.”

Note 4: In the AAD online application, under "Funding plan," in "Scholarship name," select "Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship, first screening of the Japanese embassy in their home country," then select "Obtained" as the status, and attach as proof the above document 11. Passing Certificate of the First Screening issued by the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General.

Note 5: Please make sure to write the application document number (as in the above table) from 1 to 11 in the top right corner of the first page of all the documents. If, however, the numbers have already been written by the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General, there is no need to number the documents (in that case, please proceed to submit the documents as they are even if the numbers are different from the above list).

Note 6: Graduates/expected graduates whose home country/region/university issues digital academic achievement certificates should submit the digital version of said document.

Note 7: When submitting a certificate that is not in Japanese or English, please attach a translation in either Japanese or English.

After confirming the above, please proceed to the AAD online application.

The University of Osaka AAD System

*Once you have completed the submission of the application form in the AAD system, you will receive a confirmation email from the system stating, “Your application has been sent to AAD.” Please note that the application is not complete until you receive this confirmation email.

Reference: Application Guidelines, Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship for 2026 (International Students)

Websites to aid you in searching for your prospective supervisor :

University Recommendation

Basically, UOsaka recommends students to MEXT: 1) from universities with which UOsaka has university-to-university agreements and school-to-school agreements and 2) from research institutes with which UOsaka promotes exchange through joint research projects. Scholarship recipients arrive in Japan in October only.

  • November - January: Application is made to the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General, depending on the country
  • Around the end of May: Scholarship recipients are selected by MEXT
  • October: Scholarship recipients arrive in Japan

*For more details about application procedures, see the JASSO Website. Make sure to check out the latest information from school around December. For more information on procedures, contact the administrative office of your choice.

Contact

Undergraduate level

Embassy recommendation: Japanese embassy or consulate general to your region/country

University recommendation:
　1. Human Sciences International Undergraduate Degree Program (HUS)
　　E-mail: englishprogram@hus.osaka-u.ac.jp
　2. International Undergraduate Program in Science (IUPS)
　　E-mail: internationalcollege@office.osaka-u.ac.jp

Graduate level

Embassy recommendation:
　International Affairs Division, Department of International Affairs
　Email: study@ml.office.osaka-u.ac.jp

University recommendation: Administrative office contact list

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