Culture & Education

MEXT offers Research Student Scholarships to Irish citizens who wish to undertake research or a graduate degree in Japan under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Programme.
 

• Applicants must generally be under the age of 35 in the year of departure for Japan and hold at least a bachelor’s degree.
• Applicants should apply for the field of study they majored in at university or a related field. No knowledge of Japanese is necessary for many subjects.
• The scholarship is offered for 1 year and 6 months or 2 years from either April or September/October, and includes a 6-month period of preparatory study of the Japanese language, if considered necessary.
• The scholarship covers tuition fees, return airfares to Japan, and a monthly allowance for living costs.

 
Application materials for the 2025 scholarships will be available in April 2024. If you are not an Irish citizen and wish to apply for a MEXT scholarship, please contact the Embassy of Japan in your home country.

Click here for further information on applying for MEXT scholarships.
 
For enquiries, please contact the Embassy’s Information & Culture Section at culture@ir.mofa.go.jp.
 
A report by current Research Student Amy Metcalfe in Tokyo is available here.

MEXT offers Undergraduate Student Scholarships to Irish students who wish to pursue an undergraduate degree in Social Sciences & Humanities or Natural Sciences in Japan under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Programme.
 

• Applicants must be secondary school graduates or equivalent and aged in principle between 17 and 25 as of April in the year of departure for Japan.
• The scholarship is offered for 5 or 7 years (depending on the field of study) starting in April. This includes 1 year of preparatory education in the Japanese language and other subjects before scholarship students start their undergraduate studies at a Japanese university, unless they apply for direct placement.
• The scholarship covers tuition fees, return airfares to Japan, and a monthly allowance for living costs.
   

Application materials for the 2025 scholarships will be available in April 2024. If you are not an Irish citizen and wish to apply for a MEXT scholarship, please contact the Embassy of Japan in your home country.

Click here for further information on applying for MEXT scholarships.
 
For enquiries, please contact the Embassy’s Information & Culture Section at culture@ir.mofa.go.jp.
 
A report by current Undergraduate Student Sean McLaverty in Yokohama is available on the Embassy website.

MEXT offers Japanese Studies Student Scholarships to Irish undergraduates to study at designated Japanese universities for a period of one year as part of their degree, in order to deepen their understanding of the Japanese language and Japanese culture and affairs.
 

• Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30 at the time of application and enrolled as full-time students majoring in fields related to Japanese language and/or Japanese culture when they leave for Japan and return to Ireland.
• Applicants must have majored in fields related to Japanese language and/or Japanese culture at a university for at least one year as of September in the year of departure for Japan.
• Successful candidates are expected to have a level of Japanese ability equivalent to Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2.
• The scholarship covers tuition fees, return airfares to Japan, and a monthly allowance for living costs. 

Application information and materials for the 2024 scholarships are expected to be available in December 2023. If you are not an Irish citizen but wish to apply for a MEXT scholarship, you are advised to contact the Embassy of Japan in your home country.
 
Click here for further information on applying for MEXT scholarships.
 
For enquiries, please contact the Embassy’s Information & Culture Section at culture@ir.mofa.go.jp.