Graduate International Research Students (kenkyusei), Graduate School of Science

6 months as standard, renewable in 6-month steps up to a maximum total of 2 years English open

Scholarships

Only the support routes relevant to this programme are listed. Amounts marked as references must be reconfirmed for the applicant's award year.

Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship - Embassy Recommendation, Research Students, 2027

Separate application

  • Applicants must have passed the preliminary selection run by the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General in their country, and must additionally meet one of the Graduate School of Science's three academic qualifications. They must then apply to this kenkyusei route within July 1 - 17:00 JST August 10, 2026, whether they intend to enrol in April or October 2027, and "be formally accepted". Visa: "Applicant shall, in principle, newly obtain a 'Student' visa at the Japanese diplomatic mission located in the applicant's country/region of nationality, before traveling to Japan."
  • "Students receiving the preparatory education and non-regular students: 143,000 yen per month" (the rate that applies to a kenkyusei; regular master's students receive 144,000 yen and doctoral students 145,000 yen). "A supplemental regional allowance of 2,000 yen or 3,000 yen per month will be added
  • Apply first to the Japanese Embassy or Consulate General in your own country, not to the University. "Students can obtain both the application form and detailed information at the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General in their own country." After passing the preliminary selection, apply to the Graduate School of Science within the MEXT window and submit the certificate of preliminary selection as application document 9, in order to obtain a Letter of Provisional Acceptance.
  • This is the principal funding route for this status, but it is won before the University is involved and the University cannot create it. The School warns explicitly: "Obtaining 'consent for supervision' from potential supervising professor(s) at the Graduate School of Science before applying does not guarantee the issuance of a Letter of Provisional Acceptance." MEXT also caps progression for those who stay non-degree: "Non-regular students cannot extend the scholarship period as long as they stay in non-regular courses" - so a scholar who does not move into a master's or doctoral course cannot extend beyond the stated period.

The University of Tokyo Fellowship (University of Tokyo Special Scholarship for International Students)

Separate application

  • "Self-financed international students with outstanding performance to be admitted to the graduate schools at UTokyo are eligible." "'Self-financed Overseas Student' is defined in this guideline as an overseas student with Status of Residence as 'Student'." "Applicants for exemption of tuition fee will not be excluded. However, if accepted for the grant-in-aid, it is expected to withdraw the application for exemption of tuition fee." Not available to MEXT scholarship holders, who are not self-financed.
  • "Recipients are awarded a monthly research grant-in-aid of 200,000 yen for the standard period of study in their respective graduate programs (up to one year for research students)." "7. Grant-in-Aid - 200,000 yen per month." This is the highest-value award for which a research student is expressly
  • Through the University's own application process for the Fellowship, not through the kenkyusei application. Neither the Graduate School of Science's research-student page nor the Fellowship page publishes a research-student-specific application date; applicants should ask the Graduate School Office of the Graduate School of Science.
  • The quoted terms are the AY2026 guidelines. No AY2027 guidelines were published at the time of verification, and the guidelines do not state how many research students, if any, are funded in practice. The one-year cap means it cannot cover a full two-year kenkyusei period. Payment stops when research-student status ends.

JASSO Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship for Privately-Financed International Students

Separate application

  • Graduate-level research students are expressly included: "The candidate is either enrolled as a full-time student in a graduate school in Japan or has an undergraduate degree, at the least, and is enrolled as a research student at the graduate level." Privately financed students only.
  • "Graduate/undergraduate level: 48,000 yen per month."
  • Applied for after arrival, through the graduate school. The University's handbook states the "Application period: Normally opens in April, but sometimes in September or October ... contact the administrative office of your faculty / graduate school."
  • Important distinction for pre-departure planning: the JASSO pre-arrival RESERVATION programme excludes this group - "research students, trainees, non-degree students ... are not included" in its definition of "Full-time student". A research student can therefore only apply once already enrolled in Japan, not before arriving. The award is competitive and quota-limited within each university.

Private-foundation scholarships applied for before arriving in Japan

Separate application

  • The Graduate School of Science answers this question directly and discouragingly in its FAQ: "There are only few scholarships research students can apply for before coming to Japan", and obtaining them is described as "quite difficult".
  • Array
  • Array
  • This is the honest answer a counsellor needs: outside MEXT Embassy Recommendation, pre-arrival funding for a kenkyusei is scarce by the School's own account. An applicant without MEXT should plan to be self-financing for at least the first period and treat any later award as upside.

MEXT Scholarship (University Recommendation) via the Graduate School of Science - NOT open to research students

Separate application

  • Restricted to degree entrants: "International students with outstanding academic records who wish to enter Japan in October, 2027 as a new student to study in the Master's or Doctoral Program." The non-eligibility list expressly excludes "Those who do not intend to go on to regular (degree-seeking) programs."
  • Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship nominated by the Graduate School of Science.
  • Not applicable to this record. An applicant wanting this award must apply to the Master's or Doctoral programme, not to the kenkyusei route.
  • Recorded deliberately as a negative finding. Graduate International Research Students are ineligible for the Graduate School of Science's University Recommendation MEXT scholarship. Counsellors should not present the kenkyusei route as a way in to it.

Admission fee and tuition fee exemption (University of Tokyo) - NOT open to research students

Separate application

  • Research students are excluded by definition in the University's own AY2026 eligibility wording: "Students (excluding research students and auditing students) entering the University to whom any of the following applies" for the admission fee exemption, and "Undergraduate or graduate students (excluding research students and auditing students) to whom any one of the following applies" for the tuition exemption. The Graduate School of Science repeats it: "There are no admission fee and tuition waivers for Graduate International Research Students."
  • Full or partial waiver of the admission fee and/or tuition, available to degree students in financial difficulty.
  • Not applicable.
  • Recorded as a negative finding because it is the single most common false assumption about this route. A self-supported kenkyusei pays the full 84,600 yen admission fee and full 173,400 yen per six months, with no waiver, no deferral scheme and no partial reduction published. Two independent sources - the University's exemptions page and the School's own admission information - agree.

Graduate School of Science scholarship listings for research students

Separate application

  • Array
  • Array
  • Array
  • Recorded so the gap is visible rather than silently absent. Beyond MEXT Embassy Recommendation, the UTokyo Fellowship and JASSO Honors (both listed above and both University-wide rather than School of Science schemes), no dedicated funding for Graduate International Research Students at the Graduate School of Science is published anywhere.
Scholarships, nominations and fee exemptions are competitive unless the programme states that every admitted student receives the award. Admission on its own does not guarantee funding.
Programme sources (39)