My journey to Tokyo – Experience as a MEXT Scholar

My journey to Tokyo – Experience as a MEXT Scholar

Aparna C.S

Masters Student, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

I am an international student at Tokyo Institute of Technology, doing master’s degree under MEXT (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship. I come from Thiruvananthapuram, a beautiful city in The God’s own country, Kerala, India. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from University College, Thiruvananthapuram.


One of the many questions that I get asked frequently after coming to Japan was about my Scholarship. So finally, after 6 months of experience in Japan, here is my journey from Kerala to Tokyo. I am an international student at Tokyo Institute of Technology, doing master’s degree under MEXT (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship. I come from Thiruvananthapuram, a beautiful city in The God’s own country, Kerala, India. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from University College, Thiruvananthapuram.

It was during my final year of bachelors that I came to know about the scholarship called MEXT, which is a prestigious scholarship offered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan. It is a fully funded scholarship, that not only covers the airfare and tuition fee, but also provides the scholars with a monthly stipend which covers all the living expenses in Japan.

It then came to my senses that this would be my best chance to make my dreams of studying abroad come to reality. Besides, who would not want to experience life in the land of rising sun? So, I decided to apply for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, 2020 under the category of research student as I wanted to do my Master’s degree in Japan. (There are 6 other categories for which the scholarship is provided. Also, there are two routes to get the scholarship- the Embassy recommendation & the University Recommendation, which has different procedures.)

MEXT (Embassy-recommended) Scholarship Procedure

The process of securing the Scholarship has mainly 4 stages.

1. The Application process
2. First Screening
3. Finding Research supervisors and applying to labs
4. Final Screening and confirmation from MEXT

This is my journey as a MEXT Scholar. Timelines and procedures might slightly vary now, especially due to COVID-19. The process was not easy at all as we had to go through many levels of screening and a whole lot of paper works. Though the Embassy guided us through the process there was still a whole lot of confusion, risk of getting eliminated and most importantly, a great deal of patience.

Looking back, I believe that going through the entire process was a huge experience for me, which helped me grow as a strong individual. The effort I put in making this happen, was totally worth it as it gave me this wonderful opportunity to study in a top-notch university under a fully funded scholarship scheme. Not only did I get the opportunity to open my mind up to a new culture, I also worked my way up in my confidence and independence. From my experience, Japan is a very welcoming country with very helpful people and the best place to begin your journey living abroad. I experienced so much in such a short period of time and there is plenty of room to travel and seek out new experiences. MEXT also provides scholarship extension to PhD after successful completion of Master’s degree and I am very much looking forward to that. I feel this is a golden opportunity that is highly underexplored especially in Kerala and I encourage more students to consider Japan for their higher studies.

I am forever thankful to my Uncle and aunt for being there for me always and making my life much easier in Tokyo. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Sakthi Kumar, Toyo University for introducing MEXT to me and guiding me throughout the process.

I wish all the MEXT aspirants good luck in your new adventure. I would be happy to answer any of your questions regarding MEXT or life in Japan in general.
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