Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship for Privately-Financed International Students

The Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship for Privately-Financed International Students is funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and administered by the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) as its Program to Promote the Acceptance of International Students. It supports international students who pay their own way and study full time at a Japanese graduate school, university, junior college, college of technology, specialized training college, university preparatory course or Japanese-language institution. Payment runs for one academic year from April, or for six months from October.

Application routes differ: current students use their institution’s internal selection, EJU examinees request the reservation program in EJU Online or on the EJU application form, and pre-arrival applicants apply through their prospective Japanese school. Each school receives a fixed number of recommendation slots based on how many international students it enrolls, so some schools cannot take applications through the in-school route. Two reservation routes let a student secure the award before enrolling, one through the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU) and one through pre-arrival admission.

Benefits & funding

¥48,000 per month for students at graduate and undergraduate level, including junior colleges, colleges of technology, specialized training colleges and university preparatory courses.
¥30,000 per month for students enrolled at Japanese-language institutions.
Paid for 12 months, April to the following March, or for 6 months, October to March.
The monthly amount is set for each academic year and is subject to change.

Eligibility

Privately-financed international student holding Japan’s 「Student」 residence status.
Enrolled full time in Japan: a graduate school; an undergraduate, junior college or college of technology program from the third year onward; a specialized training college; a university preparatory course; or a Japanese-language institution. Graduate-level research students must already hold a bachelor’s degree.
A grade evaluation coefficient of 2.30 or higher for the previous academic year.
Language, except for Japanese-language and university preparatory programs: JLPT N2 or above, an EJU Japanese as a Foreign Language score of 200 or more, or CEFR B2 or above in English.
Allowance received from home, excluding enrollment and tuition fees, must average no more than ¥90,000 per month.
Where the student has a financial supporter in Japan, that supporter’s annual income must be under ¥5 million.
Not receiving a Japanese or foreign government scholarship, a scholarship that cannot be combined with this one, or support under another JASSO international-student program.
Open to all nationalities. The in-school route requires current enrollment in Japan, while the two reservation routes are open to students applying from outside Japan, so no residency requirement is recorded in the structured fields.

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Application process

1
Students already in Japan ask the international-student office at their own institution, which runs its own internal selection and recommends candidates to JASSO within its allocation.
2
EJU reservation route: tick the Reservation Program box on the EJU application, and sit one of the eight approved subject combinations. English-language versions of the Mathematics, Science and Japan and the World tests are accepted.
3
Reservation holders from the June session are notified at the end of August, then enroll as regular students, excluding research students, trainees, non-degree and auditing students. Graduate-school entrants are outside this route.
4
Pre-arrival reservation route: apply through the Japanese school you plan to enter, under one of three categories — graduate level, EJU-based pre-arrival admission, or an undergraduate course taught entirely in English.
5
Reservation holders confirm the award after enrolling by meeting the residence-status, grade, language and ¥90,000 allowance conditions, and by filing the monthly attendance report.

Program timeline

EJU 1st session application period; the reservation program is requested on the same application.
Feb 16, 2026 to Mar 12, 2026
EJU 1st session examination.
Jun 21, 2026
EJU 2nd session application period, closing 5:00 p.m. on the final day for applicants in Japan.
Jul 6, 2026 to Jul 30, 2026
EJU 1st session score notification.
Jul 28, 2026
Late August 2026
June-session reservation holders are notified.
EJU 2nd session examination.
Nov 8, 2026
EJU 2nd session score notification.
Dec 15, 2026
payment periods begin; in-school application dates are set by each institution.
April and October each year