Want to study at a Japanese university next year? Scholarship applications now open
Bursary Description
- The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) has opened applications for its 2026 Scholarship Program.
- Studying opportunities range from undergraduate, postgraduate, research, and teaching qualifications.
- The application deadline to study next year is set at 23rd May 2025.
If you ask most South African High School or University students where they would like to study most, Japan often features high on the list of preferred destinations.
Whether it is our growing cultural ties to Japan, or the soft power of its pop culture and fashion, the opportunity to study there is one that few would pass up.
As such, the latest scholarship program on offer from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) may be too good to pass up.
Applications for the 2026 academic year opened up earlier this month, and are set to close on 23rd May 2025.
As expected for a coveted opportunity such as this, there are a number of provisos, such as hard copies of the application and accompanying documents needing to be hand-delivered or couriered to the Japanese in Pretoria before 16:00 on the above deadline date.
There is an exhaustive list of requirements on the Study in Japan website, with qualifications part of the scholarship program including undergraduate, postgraduate, research, teaching, specialised training, and more.
Each also has specific age requirements for those wanting to apply, along with levels of study achieved to date, and the usual set of qualifying marks that need to have been met.
“There are two ways to apply for a Japanese Government Scholarship: by applying to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) with a recommendation from a Japanese embassy or other Japanese diplomatic mission in your country, or by applying to the MEXT with a recommendation from a Japanese university,” the website advises.
As a general rule of thumb, however, making contact with the Pretoria-based embassy is advised.
Here, Ryan Keet is listed as the preferred point of contact for this Japanese scholarship opportunity, and emails can be sent to him via ryan.keet@pr.mofa.go.jp.
You can also find the cultural section of the Embassy of Japan in South Africa at 259 Baines Street, Groenkloof, Pretoria (0181). The contact number for the Embassy is +27 (0)12 452 1500.
There are three other Japanese scholarships on offer, too, at the time of writing, which you can check out here.