The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan (MEXT), is now accepting applications from Japanese university students for the 10th round of the TOBITATE! Ryugaku Japan scholarship programme*.

This round of the scholarship supports study abroad for between 28 days and 2 years and has the following categories:

1. World Leading Institutions Course - Supporting study, research, internship and fieldwork at universities and research institutes ranked within the world’s top 100 universities (QS or THE rankings).

2. Unique Challenge Course - Supporting study abroad in Sports, Arts, Politics, Public Administration, Education, Research, Medicine, Media, Tourism, Fashion, Japanese Culture (Traditional Culture or Culinary Culture).

3. Natural Sciences/Cross-disciplinary Course – Supporting academic studies, research, internship and fieldwork activities, especially in the areas of Environment, Energy, Life Science, Information Technology, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Manufacturing.

This category includes a sub-category, Future Technology Human Resources, which supports students majoring in artificial intelligence, IoT, big data, cyber security, robotics, and data science.

4. Regional Development Course – Fostering human resources to support regional communities in Japan. Students are expected to combine their study abroad with internships in their local communities.

The application process for the scholarship is somewhat complicated.  Students need to identify an overseas institution and course that fits their chosen category (from those outlined above) and then prepare a detailed study plan which they submit to their home institution.  The study plan must include hands-on activities in the form of an internship, volunteer work, fieldwork or project-based learning (programmes purely for English language study are not accepted).  Study plans that are approved by the home institution are then submitted to MEXT for final screening.  

The full schedule for the latest round is as below: 

For the previous round, MEXT received applications from 1,996 students of which 634 were awarded the scholarship (these are record numbers since the initiative was launched in 2014).  Approximately 70% of scholars were undergraduate students. The United States and Canada were the most popular study destinations with 172 students choosing these countries.  The UK was also a popular choice with 45 students enrolling in programmes at UK institutions.  

Commentary and recommendations for UK institutions

After a slow start the Tobitate initiative has gained traction recently thanks largely to a sustained nationwide promotional campaign and the fact that the programme is now in its 5^th year and tenth round of applications.  Counsellors are now familiar with the application process and better placed to provide students with sound advice and support.

A large proportion of students seek help with their applications from their international office which in turn tend to recommend programmes at partner institutions (most likely because these are the institutions with which they are most familiar).  Bearing this in mind, UK institutions are recommended to work closely with partner institutions to ensure they are aware of any programmes you offer that would fit nicely with the Tobitate categories.

Some Tobitate applicants use study abroad agents when conducting their institution/course search, so we also recommend UK universities work closely with partner agents in Japan to ensure they too are familiar with your Tobitate-compatible courses.

UK institutions are encouraged to see the wider value of welcoming Tobitate scholars to your institution.  Tobitate alumni write testimonials on their study abroad experiences for the Tobitate blog site which is in turn widely promoted by MEXT.  They also regularly participate in British Council exhibitions and information sessions throughout the country where they deliver presentations on their experiences and counsel prospective students.  Tobitate alumni can, then, help raise profile and influence many more students to choose your institution.  If your university has received Tobitate scholars previously we highly recommend featuring them in promotional copy for the Japan market as well as involving them in student-facing events. 

The Tobitate scholarship programme is scheduled to run until 2020, but Tobitate programme staff have hinted that it may be extended beyond this date.  UK institutions are, therefore, advised to continue to highlight the scholarship when counselling prospective students in Japan over the coming years.  

* Launched in 2014, TOBITATE! Ryugaku Japan scholarship programme is a high-profile public-private initiative that aims to send 10,000 university and senior high school students to study overseas by 2020.  The initiative aims to help Japan achieve its wider mobility goals of doubling the number of university students studying abroad from 60,000 to 120,000 and the number of high school students studying abroad from 30,000 to 60,000 by 2020. The scholarships provide a generous monthly stipend, preparation allowance and cover tuition fees for the period covered by the scholarship.