One of the best universities in Asia and in the whole world, the University of Tokyo is Japan’s most esteemed school. With campuses located within the country’s massive capital from which it got its name, Tokyo Daigaku (東京大学), or commonly abbreviated Todai (東大), educates around 30,000 students to become true intellectuals. The university’s alumni include nine Nobel laureates, the most recent one being Yoshinori Ohsumi with his breakthrough on the field of medicine. University of Tokyo graduates are regarded highly in Japan, with very high employment rates in top companies and having the highest average salary in the country. It is absolutely no wonder that admission to the university is one of the hardest!

Scholarships to study in the University of Tokyo

The academic excellence of the university attracts many prospective students from all around the world to come and study in Tokyo. However, studying and living in the bustling metropolis can be very expensive as commodity prices are high. Thus, it would be a wise decision to pursue scholarships. In addition to those provided by MEXT (Japan’s Ministry of Education) and other private scholarship providers, the University of Tokyo also provides its own scholarships to selected international students who are eager to study in the university.

University of Tokyo clocktower building.https://tgu.mext.go.jp/en/universities/u-tokyo/index.html

An undergraduate scholarship is offered by the University of Tokyo to exceptional applicants of the PEAK (Programs in English at Komaba). The PEAK consists of courses delivered entirely in the English language, although students are required to learn the Japanese language by taking special language courses. There are two interdisciplinary programs: The International Program on Japan in East Asia and The International Program on Environmental Sciences. Students who apply to those programs are automatically considered during the college application screening process, which means there are no separate applications to be made to obtain the scholarship! The scholarship may be given to a maximum of only 10 students and covers the admission fee and tuition, while granting the student 126,000 yen every month for living costs.

The library in the University of Tokyohttps://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/whyutokyo/hongo_hi_015.html

There is also the University of Tokyo Fellowship, a research grant scholarship awarded to chosen privately-funded international graduate students in order to focus on their research. All international students who are privately-funded (meaning they are not covered by any other scholarship programs) are eligible to apply for this grant through their respective graduate schools. Grantees will be given either 150,000 yen or 200,000 yen per month for the duration of their program’s standard period.

University of Tokyo Hongo Campushttps://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/whyutokyo/hongo_index.html

For students that do not qualify for the scholarships above, there are other options from MEXT to numerous private scholarship organizations or foundations. MEXT scholarships are given to those recommended by the Japanese embassy or consulate of a particular country, and are especially popular for undergraduate students to pursue. For private scholarship providers, the student may be recommended by the university or apply themselves. There are also special scholarships that are to be granted to students coming from a specific region, such as the Asian Future Leaders Scholarship Program for students hailing from East Asian countries and the Nihon Chouzai University of Tokyo scholarship for students from ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Countries) member countries. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep looking and to try out as much scholarship options in order to study in the University of Tokyo!

Sources

Featured image: https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/whyutokyo/komaba_index.html