MEXT Scholarship: Embassy Recommendation 2026

The MEXT Scholarship is the Japanese government's main scholarship for international students, and the Embassy Recommendation route is the track most students outside Japan use: applicants apply through the Japanese embassy or consulate in their own country rather than through a Japanese university directly. There are several categories. Research students, who are placed at a Japanese university before starting a master's or doctoral programme, and teacher training students must be under 35. Undergraduate applicants must be under 25 and have completed 12 years of school education, while college of technology applicants must be under 25 with at least 11 years of education. The scholarship covers a full tuition exemption and round-trip airfare between the student's home country and Japan for every category, plus a monthly allowance of JPY 117,000 for undergraduate students, with a supplement of JPY 2,000 or 3,000 a month for those placed in specially designated regions. Graduate research students and teacher training students are paid a higher amount set in their own category's guidelines, which Japan revises with its annual budget. Because recruitment, required documents, interviews and the exact deadline are all organised by the Japanese embassy or consulate in each country, there is no single worldwide MEXT deadline; applicants must check with their own country's Japanese embassy, such as the Embassy of Japan in Dhaka for Bangladeshi applicants, for that year's schedule.