Article Updated for 2021/2022
The article below was for the application process in 2020/2021 and is out of date.
Please find the newest update about the scholarship application process for 2021/2022 here.
COVID-19 Impact on 2021 MEXT Scholarship Application Schedule
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, MEXT released the application guidelines and forms for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship over a month late on May 22, 2020. The entire application schedule has also been pushed back, including arrival time in Japan.
If you have applied for the MEXT Scholarship in past years, or studied application guidelines from past years, including on this site, here are the important changes that you need to know:
- The Primary Screening at the embassies has been pushed back. Check the website of the Japanese embassy in your country for specific details on application deadlines, but the primary screening process is not between June and October 2020.
- The Deadline to apply for Letters of Acceptance from universities is November 20. In past years, the deadline was in August, but it has been pushed back by three whole months to accommodate a later and longer Primary Screening.
- The deadline to submit the final Placement Preference Form and Letters of Acceptance will be around January. Again, see the embassy’s website for specific details for your country.
- Secondary Screening and Placement Results will be in June 2021. This is about five months later than normal years!
- You can only arrive in Japan for the 2021 Fall Semester. Because of the later application period, spring semester arrivals are no longer possible this year.
*This means that you can only be a non-degree research student for a maximum of 17 or 18 months.
It is too early now to know if these changes will be permanent or only for this year.
What this Article Will Cover
Whether your are applying for the MEXT scholarship for Research Students for the first time, or whether you are a veteran applicant, this article will walk you through everything you need to know for the application process. I will also include links to other, relevant articles that will help you along your way. I will cover the following topics, so if you’re already familiar with a particular section, please feel free to skip ahead.- Available degree levels and programs
- Scholarship benefits
- Eligibility (*Separate article, linked below)
- Where, when, and how to apply
- What you need to submit
- Application timeline
This article is focused on the MEXT scholarship for Graduate Students (a.k.a. Research Students, in MEXT’s terms). There is also an application process for Undergraduate Students, but I will not be discussing that in this article. Undergraduate applicants, college of technology applicants, and specialized training applicants can find this year’s guidelines on the official Study in Japan website.
What Degree Programs are Available?
MEXT uses the word “research student” to refer to all graduate level students. You can apply for any of the following programs:
- Non-Degree Student (also called “Research Student” at most universities)
- Master’s Degree Student
- Doctoral Degree Student
- Graduate-level Professional Degree Student (MBA, JD, etc.)
Fields of Study
You should apply for the field of study that you majored in at university or its related field. If you plan to change fields, you need to be able to show a concrete relationship between your past studies and what you will study in Japan. It is up to you to make this clear!
Your field of study also has to be available at the graduate level at a university in Japan in a language that you speak. If you can find at least one graduate program taught in a language that you are fluent in in Japan, you will be fine.
Programs that require practical training, such as performing arts or programs that require technical training at a factory or company are not permitted. You can study Japanese performing arts from an academic perspective, so long as no practical performance training is required.
Finally, for medical or dental fields, you would not be able to participate in any clinical training until you receive the relevant licenses from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. License exams are only in Japanese and involve significant technical language. This essentially means that you would need native-level fluency in Japanese.
MEXT Scholarship Benefits
- Exemption from paying tuition, entrance examination, and matriculation fees.
*You may be required to pay entrance examination fees in advance, if your MEXT scholarship award is not yet confirmed at that time, but the fees would be refunded to you after you are selected for the scholarship
- Monthly stipend:
- Non-Degree Students: JPY 143,000/month
- Master’s Degree/ Professional Degree Students: JPY 144,000/month
- PhD Students: JPY 145,000/month
- (Undergraduate Students: JPY 117,000/month)
- Cost of Living Adjustment: JPY 2,000 – 3,000 in selected areas, due to high cost of living or seasonal adjustments for winter utilities, etc.
- Round-trip international flight ticket to Japan. Note: only the international portion of the ticket is covered. You are responsible for all domestic travel costs in your home country and in Japan, plus the airport usage fees and fuel surcharges.
Scholarship Period
The maximum Scholarship period is:
- Non-Degree (research) students: 17 or 18 months, from arrival in Japan until March 2023. If your university’s semester starts on September 1, 2021, you will get 18 months of stipend (including September), but if the university semester starts on September 2 or later, your scholarship stipend will start in October 2021 and you will be eligible for a maximum of 17 months.
- Master’s Degree or Professional Degree Students: 24 months
- Doctoral Degree or Doctoral-level Professional Degree Students: 36 months
*For doctoral students in 4-year programs in medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, or pharmacy, the duration would be 48 months.
For students in degree programs, you may also participate in a 6-month preparatory Japanese language program prior to the start of your degree. This program is designed to help you learn basic, survival Japanese, so it is primarily for students with little to no language ability. It is not designed to teach academic Japanese sufficient to study a degree program in that language. If you are assigned to this program, the six months will be covered by scholarship (as a non-degree student) prior to your degree. For students applying as non-degree students, these six months are part of your maximum 17 to 18 months!
It is possible to apply to extend the scholarship if you advance to the next level degree (from Non-Degree Student to Master’s or Doctoral Degree or from Master’s to Doctoral Degree). However, you cannot extend your time as a Non-Degree (Reseach) student and you cannot extend the scholarship period if you fail to complete the degree within the time limit above.
Who is Eligible?
I have written a separate article that covers the Embassy Recommendation MEXT Scholarship eligibility requirements in complete detail.
Where and When do you Apply?
You apply at the Japanese embassy or consulate that serves the area where you live. You can find the list of Japanese embassies or consulates around the world at:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html
I recommend using a Control-F search on that page to find your country. It may not be listed under the region of the world that you are used to.
While I will give the general application deadlines below (updated for the 2020/2021 cycle), each embassy or consulate sets its own deadlines, so be sure to check the embassy or consulate webpage for specific application instructions. Your embassy or consulate will explain exactly what you have to submit and how.
Your embassy or consulate may also have additional eligibility restrictions or required paperwork (for example, pre-screening procedures).
Application Timeline
Step | Dates | Notes |
---|---|---|
Submit application to embassies | June-September, 2020 | See the website of the Japanese embassy in your country for specific deadlines! |
Primary Screening | June-October, 2020 | Includes review of submitted documents, language proficiency tests, and interview. |
Apply to Universities for Letter of Acceptance | October – November 20, 2020 | November 20 is the deadline to apply to universities, not the deadline for them to get back to you. |
Submit letters of acceptance and Placement Preference Form to Embassy | January 2021 | See the website of the Japanese embassy in your country for specific deadlines! |
Secondary Screening and University Placement | February – June 2021 | |
Notification of Results | June 2021 | |
Arrive in Japan | September – October 2021 |
What you Have to Submit
Each of the documents below is required by MEXT. However, embassies may ask for additional documents and may ask for each document at a different time, so again, be sure to check the specific instructions for your embassy!
For each document below, you will need to submit one original as well as two photocopies and they must be numbered in the top right corner. I will include direct download links to MEXT’s documents where available. Keep in mind that these are the documents for the 2021 Embassy Recommendation MEXT Scholarship Application for Graduate Students, if you are applying for any other kind of scholarship or at any other time, do not use these links!
I will be posting separate articles soon about the Application Form for this year (in the meantime, here is my guide to last year’s form, which is nearly identical) and about the other required documents. Be sure to subscribe to my MEXT scholarship mailing list to be the first to know when those articles are posted! I will also send you a sample completed application form as a special thanks.
- Application Form with attached photograph* (Excel format from Study in Japan website)
As a special thanks to mailing list subscribers, I will send you a sample of the completed application form that you can use as a guide!
*As of the time of posting this article, the sample form is from the 2020 application process, but the forms are very similar in content. I will be updating that sample file soon, as I write the updated article on how to fill out the form!
* The photograph must be clear, without shadows, no more than 6 months old, show your upper body, facing forward with no hats (except religious head ocverings), and be 3.5 cm wide by 4.5 cm tall. The photograph can be printed on photo paper or digitally inserted into the application form prior to printing.
- Placement Preference Form (Fillable PDF format from Study in Japan website).
Click here for my article about how to complete this form.
- Field of Study and Research Program Plan (Word format from Study in Japan website)
Click here for my article about how to complete this form.
- Academic transcript for each academic year of university education attended, issued by your university or national government. This must show the grading scale, all grades earned in each class, and the year in which classes were taken. If enrolled in graduate school, you must also submit your undergraduate transcript. If you transferred universities or studied abroad, you will likely also be required to submit your pre-transfer transcript or the transcript from your study abroad university.
- Certificate of graduation or degree. A copy attested by an official at the university will be accepted as an original. Do not submit your original diploma as submitted documents will not be returned to you!
*Certificates of graduation are required for all university degrees earned in the past.
*Applicants who have not yet graduated must submit a certification of expected graduation, instead.
- Recommendation from the president, dean, or your academic advisor at the most recent university where you are/were enrolled in a degree program. There is a sample template available (PDF format) on the Study in Japan website, but a freeform letter is acceptable. Note: The template letter is from previous years and includes out-of-date instructions. You no longer have to submit the letter in a sealed envelope as mentioned in the sample.
- Medical Certificate completed by a medical doctor (PDF format from Study in Japan website)
- Abstracts of graduation theses or published articles, if available
- Certificate of language proficiency (English or Japanese language proficiency test scores), if you have any and have indicated your scores in the application form. No original is required for this item, only 3 copies are needed.
- Recommendation letter from present employer, if employed. The same sample format can be used as for the letter of recommendation from your university
- Photograph(s) or digital audio recordings of applicant’s works, if applying for fine arts or music programs.
Be sure to check with the Japanese embassy or consulate in your Home Country! They may have additional requirements or may require the documents above at different times during the process.
The embassy or consulate is also your only source of information about the application deadline and the means of submitting the application!
Good luck with the MEXT scholarship application in 2021! If you have any questions I didn’t cover, let me know in the comments, below!
Be sure to sign up for my mailing list below to be the first to find out when new articles about the scholarship are available, too.
Want to know more?
My book, How to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship describes the scholarship in detail, including the purpose and coverage, the eligibility criteria, how to develop a successful applicant mindset, and how to craft your application strategy for the greatest chance of success!
Special Thanks
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You can show your support for TranSenz on Patreon for as little as $1 (0.08% of a MEXT monthly stipend) per month. If TranSenz has helped you in your application process and you want to “pay it forward” to keep this site running to help future applicants, every contribution helps!
If you want to show your support but Patreon is out of reach, I’d appreciate it if you say hi on social media or in the comments below to let me know if you appreciate these posts. You can find me on facebook at @TranSenz or on Twitter at @tagsenzaki. I look forward to saying hi!
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Hello Travis
All my greetings to you and thank you for the love that show us by being available everytime to help us.
I can read the comments of Kite on this page and I can say that above all my struggles, I wasn’t able to get a single LoA too. Then the cultural affairs officier of my home embassy invited me to update the PPF and forward it to him so that he will forward my application documents to Tokyo, this was last January. And I did it as he said. Last February, i reached out to him to know how the selection process will be and he told me that my documents are with MEXT and MEXT will contact my preferred Universities to request them my acceptance, and invited me to wait till June for the final results notification. Till now, I got no news from the embassy again and this may confirm that I’ve successfully passed the second screening. But in such situation where the final results are not yet given and here in my home country, 2022 application has been opened and will be closed next may 28th, I’m too much confused. As I’m not eligible for this 2022 application as you’ve explained it in Kite’s comments (because final results are not yet given), I’m asking myself how the situation will be if next June (and this is not my prayer nor my wish at all), the final results come and are negative. It means I have to wait till 2023 before I’d be able to reapply. I’ve too much struggled in this my 2021 application process, I’ve paid all my attentions to it, I swear. I apologise, if there is any directive, please give me so that I’ll know how I will proceed.
Best regards
#Prince
Hi Prince,
It’s been a while since your comment and I’m sorry I didn’t reply sooner. Have you heard your final results yet?
Unfortunately, like you said in your comment, because the selection process for 2020/2021 was so late, you wouldn’t have been able to apply for the 2021/2022 scholarship while waiting for the final results.
I do hope that you received positive news in the end!
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Hey Travis. I wanted to ask about this statement, “you need to be able to show a concrete relationship between your past studies and what you will study in Japan.”. I majored in Computer Science but I want to research Agriculture but by combining the two.
Should I explain this on the Field of Study form or somewhere else? Also, do you know many cases that have been able to successfully do this?
Thanks!
Hi Larry L.,
When you say that you want to “Research Agriculture by combining the two”, what field to you plan to major in? (Which graduate school will you enroll in?).
If you are enrolling in a computer science program and want to apply the computer science to modeling agriculture outputs or something like that, that would still be the same field.
If you want to major in agriculture, such as specific growing methods, that would be a different field, but if there is enough of an overlap, you can make the case. Without knowing more about the specific program and course you want to enroll it, I’m afraid I can’t get into any more detail.
The best place to explain the connection is in the Field of Study and Research Program Plan. In the first section, when you explain your Past and Present Field of Study, you should use that paragraph to explain the subject of your past research and how it led you to the research interest that you want to pursue in Japan, so that is the perfect place to show the connection.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
I’ sorry for all the questions but I really want to get this right. For the letter of recommendation Do they each need to be in a separate envelope? If so, can they be tri-folded in letter-sized envelopes, or must they each be flat in 9 x 11.5″ envelopes and contained in one larger envelope? And to whom should they be addressed? (Not the letter but the address it needs to be mailed to?) Also, how to find out if my universities have a history of academic cooperation together?
Thank you!
Hi Noor,
If you are applying for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, it is not required for your letters of recommendation to be sealed inside separate envelopes, unless your embassy specifically tells you to do so. (Your recommender can also do so if they choose). If you do submit the letters of recommendation sealed inside a separate envelope, then first, make sure that if your embassy has specific instructions that you prioritize following those. If they do not, then it should be fine to fold the letters and submit them all in the same sealed envelope at the same time as the rest of your application documents.
For the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, there is no particular requirement for who they should be addressed to. Addressing them “To Whom it May Concern” should be fine. (Letters of Recommendation for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship have stricter requirements).
To find out if your universities have a cooperation agreement, you should check with the office that manages international agreements and cooperation at your university.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
Thank you for such great articles about MEXT scholarship,it really helps alot !!
But I’m confused about one thing that is do we need to submit few documents too along with MEXT application form to the embassy (for Embassy Recommended) ??
Or its the application form only without any documents??
Please reply asap!
Hi Rasika,
In this post, I explain that you have to submit several supporting documents in addition to the application form. Check out the “What you have to submit” section, above for more details.
Your embassy will also have specific instructions when they open the application process, so you should be sure to prioritize following those. They might ask for additional documentation or specify the timing when documents need to be submitted.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much!!
Your articles are clearing all my doubts!!
Dear Travis,
Your effort and guidance of the MEXT Scholarship has been phenomenal. I have been reading the MEXT Research Student Guidelines for the past 12 months to have a detailed picture of what they want. The last thing i want is to submit the application documents and be rejected because of a typo.
Recently i was doing more analysis on the pdf document for research student guidelines and i have specific. In the guidelines it states once you submit all the application documents they do not return it to you.
If you are successful after the first screening they mention that when gaining LoA you must directly
submit to the university a a copy passing of screening certificate and a copies of the documents you submitted to the embassy which have been rubber stamped. They mention these will be returned to the student.
Hence thats why i think they want you to submit 3 copies of all the documents in the first phase.
I hope you can clarify on what they mean by this.
Best Regards,
Nauman
Hi Nauman Iqbal,
If you submit your application and do not pass the primary screening, then none of your documents will be returned to you.
If you do pass the primary screening, as you said, they return stamped copies of the documents that you submitted so that you can apply to the universities for letters of acceptance. However, I do not think that you get the originals back, just copies. (If anyone out there can correct me if I’m wrong about that, I would appreciate it.)
Up until a few years ago, you had to apply for Letters of Acceptance by mailing all of your application documents to universities in Japan by post, and in that case you would not get them back. Now that most universities accept emailed or uploaded applications, I guess you do get to keep those stamped copies.
I hope that has answered your question.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis. first of all, thanks to your guidance, I’m just waiting for the results of the second screening to formally obtain the scholarship of 2020.
I wanted to confirm that after you passed the first screening the embassy will give you back only stamped copies of your documents that later you will have to send to the universities to obtain the acceptation letter.
Hi Hendrix,
Thank you very much for your feedback!
I hope you will be hearing good luck from MEXT soon about the 2020 scholarship results.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Again, thanks for all your helpful articles regarding MEXT different stages. I have another question, which I already know you’ve been encountered with, numerous times, in numerous versions! But since the secondary screening is a long wait, I need to ask it: since the official results are due in june (late spring anyways), and there is a good chance that the deadline for MEXT 2022 would be announced in April, I was wondering, if there is a slim chance of rejection in secondary screening for anyone, shouldn’t they be notified prior to the beginning of the next MEXT round?
Basically what I’m asking is, how safe is it to assume we are guaranteed the scholarship, if February goes by without any notifications from the embassy? Regarding graduate applicants?
Hi Stephan,
That’s a good question and nobody’s asked it quite that way before.
The way I understand it, the Secondary Screening and University Placement are two separate processes. There is no specific date for releasing the results of the Secondary Screening – usually, they come together with the University Placement. But, when I have heard of applicants being rejected during the secondary screening in the past, they found that out far earlier than successful applicants got their placement results. So, my hope is that if anyone were to not pass the secondary screening, they would get that result much earlier.
Incidentally, the only situation I heard of applicants getting rejected in the secondary screening was last year, when MEXT cut the number of slots available to each country during the screening process. That has not happened this year, to my knowledge, and I do not anticipate that it will be an issue, so you should have nothing to worry about. With the exception of last year’s situation, every applicant I have known that passed the Primary Screening and got an LoA ended up getting the scholarship.
I do not know when that Secondary Screening notification would be, if it were to happen, but I would imagine that it would be before the start of the next application process, at least.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Stephan and Travis, hope you don’t mind me jumping in here!
I’m not sure about the deadline for 2022 applications, but I’ve also passed the primary screening for the 2021 postgrad scholarship. I’m personally in a bit of a pickle because I need to give as much notice as possible for my job if I am going to be leaving to go to Japan in the autumn, and having to wait until June to let my boss know is not ideal! I messaged the UK embassy last week and they basically said (as we already knew) that only unsuccessful results were passed on to them in February (this made me chuckle – I believe I haven’t NOT been successful…..??).
But interestingly, they also said that the selection committee in Tokyo has now moved on to consultation with universities for placements. If this is the case and the committee is at that stage, I think that we would have heard by now, had we not been successful at the secondary screening. Obviously, that’s just my interpretation, and I’m not sure where you’re applying from (perhaps the UK is at a different stage in the process to other countries) but at this point I feel like a greater concern might be the disruption to travel by the vaccine situation/Japan’s policy on accepting foreign students this autumn. I’ll only truly believe it and pop the champagne if and when I’m finally on that blooming plane!
Anyway, just thought I’d mention the above in case it clarifies things any more for you. It’s a frustrating process, I know!
Wishing you all the very best,
Lucy
Hi Lucy,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience and the information from the UK embassy!
It’s good to know that the notification for applicants who did not pass the Secondary Screening would have been in February. The university should have notified any affected applicants at that time. So, like you mentioned, since you did not get any notification then, that should mean that you have passed the Secondary Screening and it is now just a matter of your university placement.
Of course, the elephant in the room for now is COVID-19 and Japan’s border closures. As of April 15, the borders have been closed for months now and there is no indication when they might reopen. It is something I am looking at on a daily basis (in my day job, I am responsible for my university’s exchange program). However, in recent semesters, students have been able to start their studies remotely, even if they have not been able to travel to Japan in person. Unfortunately, though, they generally have not received living expense stipends during that time.
If I learn anything new about the borders, I will share it here. In the meantime, good luck with the rest of the application process. I look forward to hearing good news from you over the summer!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thanks very much for your reply and the information. I’m glad to hear that in the worst case scenario it’s likely that students will still be able to start studies remotely – even doing so without the stipend would be preferable to the whole thing getting put on hold, I think.
Information about any developments in the border situation would be greatly appreciated, thank you! I hope your university exchange programme is able to restart in-person soon.
Thanks again, wishing you all the best!
Lucy
Hi!
I’m about to apply for MEXT scholarship program for graduate research at Tohoku through university recommendation. I’m in a pinch since the results would come late in May and I will have to give my acceptance for masters at different universities by then should I not get the scholarship. So should I take the risk and stall my visa process for masters abroad? Basically, what are my chances through university recommendation? Are they lower or higher than through embassy recommendation?
Hi Sumith,
I’m curious about what application process you applied through, since I am not familiar with any MEXT Scholarship processes that release results in May. In university-recommended MEXT Scholarship procedure I have found, the university needs to submit its nomination to MEXT by the end of March and the final results are expected by the end of June (historically, though, they’re often late). Could you send me a link to the application information you are referring to?
Overall, the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship is significantly more competitive than the Embassy Recommendation. There are significantly fewer places available. But, if your application is for a Priority Graduate Program (PGP), then your chances get much better. PGP programs have a designated number of slots for that specific program, and there often isn’t a significant number of applicants who meet the requirements.
In either case, the reason I ask about the dates is that it is most important to know when the university submits its nominations to MEXT. If you are nominated to MEXT by the university, then at that point, your final results are all but guaranteed to be successful. (On the other hand, if the university does not nominate you to MEXT, then you would know by that point that you would not be able to get the scholarship). So, I think that knowing the nomination date is critical to deciding how to handle your other opportunities.
As I mentioned above, for all of the application processes I know, the nomination deadline is in March, but if you can point me in the direction of the application process you are following, I can check on that to see what I can find out.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Unfortunately (and much to my own surprise, admittedly), I was not able to get a single LoA for the research scholarship.
I am wondering if I still eligible to reapply to the embassy for the recommendation and, if I am, I worry that my failure this winter might preclude me from ever getting past the first round again. While I am not fully certain about the reasons why I was not selected (both universities I applied to used document screenings to decide whether or not to give the LoA), I can only imagine that it has to do with my research proposal. I am hoping that I can fine tune my proposal and reapply this coming summer.
What are your initial thoughts about this?
Hi Kite,
I am sorry to hear about your struggles with the Letters of Acceptance. I have been hearing this year that many applicants are struggling, so for what it’s worth, you are not alone.
Even though you have not received a Letter of Acceptance, my understanding is that you can still submit your Placement Preference Form back to the embassy with three university names, you just cannot include the names of any of the universities that refused to give you a Letter of Acceptance. That means that you can list universities that you never reached out to. If you pass the Secondary Screening, MEXT will still reach out to those universities to see if they will accept you.
Of course, you don’t have the opportunity to contact or “feel out” those universities in advance, so you’ll have to be very careful with your research of potential universities and professors. Obviously you want to make sure that they have a program taught in your language, but you’ll also want to make sure that there is a professor there that is closely related to your particular research topic who could supervise you. I would recommend that you try to choose relatively younger professors, too. I have heard from several applicants that their LoA application was rejected because the only professor that could supervise them was about to retire.
So, I recommend that you stick with the application this year. But if that does not work, you should still be able to apply again next year. In that case, I recommend you start early on reconsidering your research proposal and also reaching out to try to establish relationships with professors in Japan so that you don’t risk being in a similar situation next year.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you very much for your reply and Happy New Year.
I submitted my updated Placement Preference Form to the embassy and they did forward my application to MEXT. I took your advice, to the extent possible, and I tried to choose younger professors who have research interests aligned with my own. Have you seen many cases like this before, whereby an applicant moves on to the second screening with no LoA’s? I wonder if you may be able to speak to the probability that I might receive a favorable outcome, though I would imagine that it is difficult to say just because the outcome largely hinges on my Research Proposal and an individual professor’s willingness/ability to take me on as their student. Even still, I would appreciate any other sort of advice you might be able to give me at this particular point.
Also, just two quick housekeeping item while I have your attention. First, would you advise me to reach out to any of the professors who I listed on my Placement Preference Form ahead of the second screening results, just to try and establish a relationship with them — or might that be inappropriate? Second, does it make sense for me to reapply in May 2021? According to the COVID-altered timeline for this past year, it seems that I will not find out the results of the selection and university placement until June 2021. Historically, June has been the month where my embassy conducts their first round interviews and so I am thinking it may make sense to revisit my research proposal.
Warmest regards,
Kite
Hi Kite,
Thank you for your follow-up.
I am afraid that I have never seen an applicant with no LoAs before that I know of. Before this year, that was a very unlikely situation. This is the first year where applicants were limited to contacting only two universities. In the past, there were higher limits or no limits, so there was a much smaller chance of ending up in that situation.
The closest thing I saw was a year when MEXT contacted my former university and asked us to accept an applicant that we had not issued an LoA to. I don’t know if he had zero LoAs total, just that he didn’t have one from us. We still accepted him. At that point in the application, I think there was more pressure from the university governance to accept the applicant. When you’re applying for an LoA, there’s still a good chance that you won’t end up at that university, and they know it, so some universities and professors won’t get that invested in you. But if MEXT contacts the university and says, “Hey, this person has passed the Secondary Screening and will definitely be a scholarship student at your university if you agree to accept them now.”, then that’s a slightly different situation and the university may be more motivated to pay attention and give a closer look.
I don’t think that it is inappropriate for you to reach out to the professors that you listed on your PPF at this point, but I’m not sure if it would be helpful or not. I cannot think of a way to let them know that you are applying for a MEXT Scholarship under their supervision without making it somewhat obvious that they weren’t one of your top two choices that you were able to reach out to or without it sounding like you were unprepared. If you can think of a way, then by all means, reaching out for the purpose of establishing a relationship would be fine.
As far as applying for next year’s MEXT Scholarship when that starts up, I do not think that you would be eligible to apply if you haven’t received your final results from this year’s application. At least this year it was specifically stated that in order to be eligible, you could not be applying for any other Japanese government scholarship, regardless of what year the payments would start.
However, if you find yourself in the situation where you do not pass the Secondary Screening and are informed of those results before the next application period starts, then you would be able to apply. I am hoping that won’t happen to you, but it wouldn’t hurt to revisit your research proposal, anyway. After all, even in the case of a successful application, you will almost certainly be making some changes to it when you start your studies.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis,
All my greetings to you and sincerely thank you for your love that you show us by being available everytime to help us.
As I can say it, after reading the comments of Kite, it came to pass that after all my struggles, I was not able to get a single LoA too. Then the Officier of cultural affairs of my home embassy invited me to update my PPF and forward it to him so that he will forward my application documents to Tokyo. This was last January. And after that, the last time i reached out to him to know about how the sélection process will be, I hope that was in last February, he told me that my documents are with MEXT and that MEXT will contact the Universities which I filled in the PPF to request from them my acceptance. After that I heard no more any news from the embassy and I can say this may confirme that I’ve passed successfully the second screening. In such situation that the notification of the final results is not yet given so far as we’re not yet in June; and here in my home country, the 2022 application is opened and will be closed next may 28th, I’m little confused then asking myself how shall the situation be since I’m not eligible for this 2022 application as we’re not yet notified of the final selection results and if eventually (and this is not my prayer or my wish at all), the final results come next June and are negative. it shows I will have too wait until 2023 before I’d be able to reapply. Sincerely confused and still praying God to help me cause I’ve too much struggled in this my process. So I apologise if there is any directive, please give me.
My best regards
#Prince
Hi Prince,
It’s been a while since your comment and I’m sorry I didn’t reply sooner. Have you heard your final results yet?
Unfortunately, like you said in your comment, because the selection process for 2020/2021 was so late, you wouldn’t have been able to apply for the 2021/2022 scholarship while waiting for the final results.
I do hope that you received positive news in the end!
Good Luck!
-Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis, it’s me again I know I have been asking you a lot of questions lately so please excuse me.
I found myself in a tricky situation. I contacted a professor at Todai and he said he would be happy to accept me into his lab and that all I need is to send my application to the school office to make it official but then I saw on the school’s website that obtaining consent from a supervisor doesn’t equal acceptance and my application has to be approved by a committee. Now that’s all well and good but the problem is that they won’t notify me of their decision until late December and as you know by then it would be too late to find another school if they reject me and MEXT this year has limited us to two schools only and I don’t wanna risk submitting my pleasment form with one LOA only and at the same time, I can’t apply to a third school until todai send me its decision.
in your view, what’s the best course of action in this situation. Should I just risk it?
Thank you for your time and help Sir. I truly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Khalid
Hi Khalid,
If the professor has said that he would be happy to accept you into his lab, then he can probably speak up for you at the committee meeting to get a favorable result. I would not worry too much about being turned down and I do not think there is much risk in your situation.
I think it is common that most universities will not get you a reply on your Letter of Acceptance application until after it is too late for you to apply anywhere else. At least, in normal years, that is usually the case. If you get at least one LoA, then you should have no problem the Secondary Screening.
I would recommend that you move forward with your application to Todai. If your embassy has given you a specific deadline for submitting your LoAs, then it would be fine to politely inform the admin office at Todai about that deadline and ask if it will be possible to have the letter by then.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so very much, Travis!
I really appreciate the response.
Sincerely,
Khalid
Good morning Travis!! Thank you very much for the insightful guides you have constantly dropped for us… Its indeed lovely! The last time I reached across to you, you made mention of your computer crashing. My apologies on the experience…..
My first question is that, I noticed that the questions on this thread has been drastically reduced, cos I always make reference to previous post to acquire more knowledge.
Secondly, I notified you about my wait and no response from the embassy which you said if none has been contacted, then its obvious they are still busy doing the collation of applicants profiles; I reached out to someone and was connected to another applicant who lives in the city where the embassy is situated, so I suggested that he visit the embassy, which he did the following day! And the embassy notified him that they received more application than they bargained for, that they are still vetting them ( That was September 19th), then the embassy responded to a mail on the 24th September I sent on the 16th of September affirming the words of my friend who physically went to their office). Literally, 19th and 24th I have heard directly from the embassy, but I was rather worried that it was too late for an application that ended July 31st. Today is October 1st, we are still waiting for their response after another colleague has sent a mail out in the spirit of keeping track of their progress. The waiting period is very daunting considering that it has exceeded 63days, but we are still waiting.
I have channeled a major bulk of my time to be practicing the interview questions while waiting for them, I pray the lines falls unto us in pleasant places. Thank you very much Travis for your selflessness!!
Hi Daniel.
Thank you for your kind words. I ended up having to buy a new computer, but at least I am back up and running now!
I haven’t done anything to reduce the number of comments on the thread, but I think there is a limit as to how many are shown on a single page. At the bottom, there should be a link for “Older Comments”. By the way, thank you for taking the time to check the old comments!
I am glad to hear that the delay in the Embassy’s response was indeed due to them taking a long time to review the applications. It is very long to take over two months. I have never heard of an example of embassies being that overwhelmed, so it is very valuable to hear your story. I hope others will find hope, too, if they are facing similar delays!
I hope you hear good news soon!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi there!
I applied for the MEXT Embassy Recommendation this year.
I already had the interview nearly one month ago and I still haven’t been contacted by the embassy yet regarding the results. They said they should contact the successful applicants by the end of the month and I am starting to get worried.
Last year 4 people were selected in my country (7 applicants were shortlisted for the interview, around 12 applicants who took the exams), and this year there were only 4 people shortlisted for the interview (7 who took the exam). I was wondering if you heard any information regarding the slots that are available this year? Will there be a smaller intake of applicants than last year? Do you have any idea?
Hi Anna,
I’m surprised it has taken that long! Usually the interview is the last stage.
I have not heard anything official about a change in number of slots this year, but just the other day another commenter said that his embassy’s results were delayed because they were waiting on final confirmation from MEXT about the number of applicants they could nominate. So it is possible that the numbers were not clear.
However, that applicant, and a few others, have recently reported that they got their Primary Screening results, so if embassies have been waiting on MEXT, they should have the answers now, or very soon. I hope you will hear good news, too!
Since the end of the month has now passed, I think it would be fine for you to contact the embassy to ask if they have any new information.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
I am currently applying for a MEXT scholarship to do my masters and I have been ardently reading your blog and I really appreciate the practical, useful tips you have shared with us. I am still confused about the non-degree research student vs Masters degree question – do most students enter as non-degree and do they apply with the assumption that they will eventually be doing a Master’s?
Also, what do students do as a non-degree research student? Is non-degree studies the period where they work with an academic supervisor to work on their thesis, hence the need to contact professors who might be able to supervise us in our fields?
And let’s say I found an academic supervisor who is fluent in English and in the same field, but the university does not offer any Masters degree related to the field in the English language, am I still able to apply to that university?
Hi HJ Teh,
Thank you for your kind comments.
One way to think about the non-degree research student is as a “Pre-Master’s student.” In my experience, most Embassy-Recommended MEXT Scholarship applicants do start as non-degree research students and then matriculate into the Master’s program after a semester. In many cases, one of the reasons is that they need to pass an entrance exam in order to start the Master’s degree, and that exam requires being physically present in Japan, so they have to come as a research student, first.
As a non-degree research student, you essentially do the same things as a Master’s student. You can start to take classes and work on your eventual Master’s research with your advisor. Some of the classes you take might be preparatory work, but depending on the program, if you take required courses for your Master’s degree, you might be able to “transfer” those credits after you matriculate so that you don’t need to take them again.
Finally, for program language, you do need to be fluent in the language of the program, even if the professor speaks English. If your program is taught in Japanese, then the classes and assignments will all be in Japanese and you would also need to write your final thesis in Japanese.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis!
Thank you very much for your application guidelines and especially your article about writing the research plan/proposal. It was very helpful for me and I successfully have been invited to interview at my local Japanese Consulate! I have my interview on 9/29, wish me luck!
I wanted to ask your opinion about my research topic eligibility. I am interested in doing research on the material attractiveness of nuclear materials for the purpose of decreasing the attractiveness of materials in new nuclear reactors and thereby decreasing the risk of theft by terrorists (short explanation).
I am NOT interested in doing research with the goal of further developing weapons tech or dual-use tech for the purpose of having better military. However, I am concerned that my topic may disqualify me, even though I am actually doing research to PREVENT the development of nuclear weapons and make sure any future nuclear energy is deployed safely.
By the way, I am applying from the United States as a US citizen, if that is of any relevance.
Thanks !
Hi Saoirise,
Thank you for your feedback. Good luck in the interview!
I am not familiar enough with your field to know what other applications your research might have, but if your purpose is to increase security of materials, that should not be considered to be dual use or promoting weapons technology as far as I understand. You might want to be prepared for some questions about that in the interview, though!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Hope you are well. I have been contacted by the embassy to pass for the interview. I am applying for the Embassy recommended MEXT scholarship 2020. I gave the embassy the list of Universities and Drs I would like to work with. However, I didn’t apply yet to any university nor contacted the Drs I thought to wait for the MEXT results first. What should I do? Should I apply to the university before the interview or should I wait for the final acceptance to give it to the university? Keeping in mind that the deadline for the university i want to apply to are in November.
Please reply to me as soon as you can
My interview is next week
Best regards Sam
Hi Sam,
You cannot apply to universities until after you have passed the Primary Screening and received the Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening, so at this point, I would recommend waiting until after your interview and the final results of the Primary Screening.
The application process for applying to universities for a Letter of Acceptance under the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship is going to be different from the regular application process, so when you are researching your preferred universities, make sure you are checking the right application instructions.
Good Luck!
Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much for this – it is one of the most helpful resources I have found.
I am applying for the scholarship for graduate students, but I my GPA is far from great – it is at a 3.3. There are a couple blemishes from retaking classes to barely scraping by. My program is notorious for its rigor and therefor the department head of out program regularly writes letters explaining that our professors simply do not give A’s.
However, I believe my extracurricular projects and passion overshadow those academic blemishes. I’m worried the reviewing committee may not see it the same way – is there any chance for me to get the MEXT scholarship? What would be the best way to focus my scholarship given my mediocre grades?
Hi Lan,
Before you start worrying about your GPA, have you converted it to MEXT’s 3.0 scale? Many applicants are surprised to see that their GPAs turn out much higher on that scale than they would have expected. It wouldn’t surprise me if your GPA converted to quite a high score.
If your GPA is low on MEXT’s scale, then it is going to be difficult to overcome. Extracurriculars and passion aren’t enough. The committee is looking at your academic performance, primarily, as well as your potential. So, if there is one place to overcome a mediocre GPA, it is in the Field of Study and Research Program Plan, where you can show your future research potential by having a clear, focused, and intriguing plan.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Good morning Travis!! Happy new month and thank you for everything you have done within your power to help us applicants.
My question is something I am aware of but some response you gave to someone created the confusion I want to really clear the air on! Normally from your blog, I read that starting off first as a non degree student, its last for about 17/18months before one seats for the entrance exam if one is moving further for the Masters or doctoral degree. In one response I saw that its after one semester of academic language and research before the person seats for the exams in the second semester to qualify for an actual degree program.
Pls can you throw more light on how many months the non degree is, the no of months for the language course, the period for the exam and the total duration asides the compulsory 2years slated for the masters or 3 or 4 years for the doctoral degree students!!
Also our deadline for my country to submit our application was July 31st. Till date we haven’t heard from the embassy to know the way forward, am using the medium to drop my contact so other Nigerians could connect with me…….
Hi Daniel,
You can be a research student for a maximum of 24 months if you arrive in Japan in April, or a maximum of 18 months if you arrive in September. If you participate in the Japanese language program (note: this is the university’s decision, not yours), that takes one semester, or six months and counts as part of the maximum limit.
You are allowed to remain a non-degree student for the full duration that I have listed above, but that is quite uncommon. Most applicants I have worked with want to get started on their degree program as soon as possible. So, they only stay a non-degree student for one semester, during which time they take the entrance exam (entrance exam schedules are determined by each university) so that they can start the degree program in their second semester in Japan.
It is possible to take that entrance exam during your semester in the language program, too. In that case, you would go straight from the language program into the degree program.
Once you arrive in Japan, you will be able to follow up with your university about their schedule for the entrance exams and applying to extend your MEXT Scholarship, so you do not need to worry about it too much in advance.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much Travis for your exceptional kindness! God bless you for us. We haven’t been contacted yet by the embassy! Well we are still waiting!! The process is time consuming, so we will wait till there’s a proper communication from them. Thank you once again!
Good morning Travis! Its been a while, no news letter from you! I haven’t heard of anyone that passed interview or test! For my country Nigeria, I haven’t heard of any invited for test nor interview. We are just in a serious waiting period. No one has updated on your major threads on the various subject topic! The wait is quite a long one. God help us all!!!
Hi Daniel,
Unfortunately, my computer died last week, so I have had a much harder time keeping up lately. It’s been much more difficult catching up on theses comments just using my phone, so I am not completely up to date, either.
I have heard of some countries proceding with interviews and tests, but others, too, are still accepting document submissions, so there’s no consistency to the timeline. If nobody else in your country has heard back yet about the documents screening result or the test schedule, then I guess it’s still a waiting game for a little while longer.
The important thing to remember in that situation is that a long wait is not necessarily a bad thing – it just means processing is taking time. Keep your hopes up!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello, thank you for this useful information in your blog. After some reading I’m not sure about this: if you’re applying for a master (degree seeking) and let’s say that you received an acceptance letter from that university, that means that you have been accepted to take classes and do your research or you are accepted as a non-degree student and you have to take some entrance examination in order to move to the master degree seeking program after arrival in Japan?
Hi Hans Castro,
Thank you for your kind words.
When you receive your letter of acceptance from the university, it should state whether they have accepted you as a non-degree student or as a degree-seeking student. If your initial letter of acceptance lists you as a non-degree student, there are still two chances for the university to “upgrade” you to degree student before you start your studies: During the Secondary Screening and Placement and when you arrive in Japan.
In most cases, you will have to take some form of entrance exam (it may or may not involve an actual written exam) to be accepted as a degree student, but you do not necessarily have to take that before obtaining your letter of acceptance.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hey Transenz,
I just had another quick question. I will be interviewing next Monday or Tuesday with the embassy and I wanted to renew my passport. If I pass the interview stage I just wanted to make sure I wont need my passport for any more paperwork as I won’t have access to it for at least 6-8 weeks. I plan on making photocopies first, but just wanted to make sure that was okay.
Thanks!
Hi David,
I am not aware of any paperwork procedures that would require you to have your physical passport – if anything, copies should suffice – but I would recommend that you check with the Japanese embassy in advance.
You might need to present your passport to enter the embassy for interviews, to submit documentation, etc., but that would be a local requirement, so I cannot be sure if it is relevant.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
It’s been a messy year. Unclear instructions to begin with. Then you send documents by email and they don’t even acknowledge whether they have received it so you won’t even know if they actually have considering how unreliable email protocols and servers can be.
Then they suddenly put new and very unreasonable language proficiency test requirement which is by no means comparable to their very basic test without even accepting tests such as Doulingo, and all that in a 2 weeks time-frame, disallowing people to study courses taught in Japanese unless they bring an N2 degree which is less than 2 years old! And no one is really answering to clear this mess up.
Seems like I’ve wasted months and despite an okayish background can only stay in a limbo because they won’t even tell what their time-frame is so that you know you’re rejected.
And well being rejected because of the documents you’ve tried so hard to be flawless is not a great experience especially when you feel something is wrong on the embassy side.
This year was such a bad experience both with the local embassy and MEXT and thus Japan to some degree, regardless of the results…
Hi Aluy,
It certainly has been difficult, particularly for applicants. But it hasn’t been easy on the other side, either. I do think that the Embassy and MEXT officials are trying to do the best that they can within the limitations that they have been given. Ultimately, this is a government scholarship and that means that there are a lot of rules, procedures, and central decision-making authority that limits how flexible the embassy, etc., can be. I’m not trying to take away from what your experience and challenge has been, I just wanted to say that I don’t think the Embassy or anyone else is trying to make things hard for you, they just have their hands tied.
For what it’s worth in the language tests, in my experience in the past, regardless of your score on the Japanese language proficiency test at the embassy, many universities would not give you a Letter of Acceptance unless you had a JLPT N2 score, anyway. So, even though it is a new requirement at the embassy level, it likely would have been a requirement if you were applying for a program taught in Japanese, anyway. (It’s stuff like that that they don’t tell you up front that motivated me to start this blog).
I get that nobody feels good about being rejected at the document review stage. And frankly, even before the COVID situation, I had heard of embassies that never acknowledged receipt of application and only ever contacted successful applicants at each stage to let them know about the next one. Personally, I think it’s quite rude.
If you find yourself in that situation, I would suggest that you look at what information the embassy has made available on their site about the application schedule – such as when the interviews, etc., are supposed to be and, if you haven’t heard anything a week before that, contact them directly to ask.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for your response.
Well I wouldn’t blame the embassy like this had it not been for my previous bad experiences with them. I’ve been in contact with them many times, been there many times for different programs and I should say that’s pretty much the norm with them. But I figured it might be because most staff are local and such, but now seeing that even MEXT itself gives such instructions, then it’s a real bummer and shows that it’s not limited to the embassy.
I could also understand the language proficiency requirements was it not for the ridiculous details and the impossible time-frame. But still this part isn’t a personal annoyance since I got an eligible Japanese degree and should be fine…
And yes not acknowledging the receipt is pretty rude, more so when there is no way to deliver the documents personally. And well a pretty good excuse to reject people randomly if they want to for whatever reason. (not saying they do but even the possibility is not right)
Unfortunately the embassy provides absolutely no useful information whatsoever. I got aware of them sending some emails through other participants. So I contacted them and after a long chat they told me the process of sending emails is still ongoing but they can’t again provide a time-frame! I mean how long sending some emails takes? And why would they have so much gap between them when the time is already too short for what they want? (language proficiency degrees, which most people have already sent. Yes one could argue they have only sent the emails to people who need to provide a degree, but I’m aware that they have sent it to people who had already sent them too.)
And I’ve checked my documents again and again and can’t find a single problem with them, and my background is good enough not to get rejected right away like this…
Sorry for the long comment, I know it has nothing to do with you directly, just wanted to share my not-so-great experience…
Hi Aluy,
Thank you for sharing your experience. There’s very little I think I can say about what you have been going through, except that I am sorry to hear about it.
I think at this point, all you can do is to persevere and be ready for more, similar behavior.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi,Travis
The Mext scholarship is about Graduate and Undergraduate Research student to apply.What about other field of study like Japanese language study?I am very interested
on that field of study.Is there some ways that I can apply or would you kindly help me on how to apply for a Japanese language study?
Hi Edditha.N Singgawa,
My area of expertise is the scholarship for graduate students, but there are several other types, including the undergraduate scholarship and the Japanese Studies Scholarship.
My understanding is that for the Japanese Studies Scholarship, you need to be majoring in Japanese language or Japan studies at your home, undergraduate university. The scholarship will cover one year of exchange studies at a designated university in Japan.
You do have to be currently enrolled in university with the appropriate major to qualify. This scholarship is not just for someone who wants to come to Japan to study Japanese without already majoring in it.
The application process for the Japanese Studies Scholarship is either going to be through your local Japanese embassy or through the university in Japan that you are applying to for your study abroad there, so I would recommend checking there for further details.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis, I hope you’re doing great.
thanks to your instructions and guidance, I’ve got accepted in the primary screening, the embassy sent me an email informing me that there will be an oral interview in the few upcoming days (there will be no written tests due to the current pandemic situation).
My question is the next: is it the right time to start contacting univs and professors to ask them for acceptance letters ?
and also are there any tips you’d like to give me for the interview ?
Once again, thanks a million for your great support.
Hi Imen,
If you have not yet started contacting universities and professors, then this is not the right time. You cannot start asking them for Letters of Acceptance until after you have passed the Primary Screening at the Embassy and received the Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening. (The document review that you have passed is only the first part of the Primary Screening – the interview should be the last part of it).
I have a separate article about preparing for the interview that should help answer your other questions.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi!
I have been going through the questions of some applicants and the amazing answers you do provide them with. I’m from Nigeria, an applicant for undergraduate scholarship 2020/2021. Please is there any Nigerian you have helped in the past that has written this exam that you can link me up with for a brief personal clarifications .It will really be very much appreciated if you can help me out please!
Hi Christopher,
Thank you for your kind comments.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you value your privacy!) I do not keep a contact list of past commenters based on their location, and I would not have permission to share contact information if I did.
Perhaps I will look into creating a forum or group where applicants can talk directly to one another to offer the kind of support you are looking for.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi my name is Mavis I’m a Nigerian.
Please my first question is those that applied in 2020 did they apply to resume 2021 or 2020 september?
Secondly, when is the next application?
Thanks in advance
Hi Mavis,
Applicants for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship who applied in 2020 will be arriving in Japan in 2021.
The next application cycle should be the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship application, which usually occurs in the fall each year. The application period and process is different for every university, so you need to check the website of the university you want to apply to for more information.
The next Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship application period should begin in April 2021 for students who will arrive in Japan in 2022. (This year, the start of the application period was delayed as they adjusted to the COVID situation, but next year I think it should be on time again).
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
You said Arriving in Japan for MEXT 2020 will be in 2021. The arriving will it be before April 2021 or?
Hi Emmanuel Okoli,
For the 2020 application cycle, if you are applying for the scholarship for Graduate Students, then you would be arriving in Fall 2021. If you are applying for the scholarship for Undergraduate Students, you would be arriving in April 2021.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thanks