Your MEXT scholarship interview panel might not be this large – or this close – but for most applicants, it will be your first time facing a panel interview. It’s hard to prepare for that experience, so prepare what you can: Know the questions and answers in advance to maximize your chances.
If you’re applying for the Embassy-recommended MEXT scholarship, have passed the document screening and (maybe) the tests, your next step will be passing the embassy MEXT scholarship interview.
In this guide, I will cover the kinds of questions you should expect, what the interviewers are looking for, and other preparation recommendations.
MEXT Interview Process
Depending on how your country does it, you may have the written exams and the interview on separate days, or they may be different events altogether. Check with the embassy where you are applying for details.
MEXT Scholarship Tests
If you are applying for the MEXT scholarship for research students (i.e. as a graduate student), you will take up to two tests:
- Japanese language proficiency
- English language proficiency
Taking the Japanese language proficiency test is mandatory, even if you have no Japanese language ability. As long as you’re applying for a program taught in English, it won’t hurt your application chances if you get a zero on it.
If you do have Japanese language proficiency, then this test could help you get out of the six-month Japanese language program that most Embassy-recommended MEXT scholars have to go through before they start their degrees.
Note for Undergraduate MEXT Scholarship Applicants
In addition to the Japanese and English tests, you will have to take several subject area tests, depending on the major you selected in your application. You can find a specific list in the official application guidelines on MEXT’s website.
Sample Tests
You can find past tests for language proficiency and undergraduate subject tests on JASSO’s website.
Preparing for the MEXT Scholarship Interview
First (because it’s simpler), you should understand the structure and conduct of the interview. Next, and most importantly, you need to know how you will approach it to maximize your chances.
Interview Set-Up
I have never participated in one of these interviews directly, and there could be some variety in how the interview is set up, but if you were to face a typical, Japanese-style interview, it would be something like this:
Typically, there will be a panel of three interviewers seated behind desks facing you as you enter the room. There will also be a chair (but usually no desk) for you in the center of the room, around 2-3 m (6-10 feet) away from the interviewers.
The set-up and distance can be rather intimidating, but don’t let it get to you.
Stay confident and focused on your goals (more on that below). If you approach the interview with the confidence (but not cockiness) that you are the best candidate for the scholarship and answer the questions clearly and confidently, there is a very good chance that you will perform better.
Interview Panel Members
Based on comments from past applicants, both on this blog and on other sites, embassy MEXT scholarship interview panels typically seem to consist of three interviewers. Two are embassy officials and one is often a professor from an area university. According to past reports, the professor is typically someone from your general field of research (e.g. social science, engineering, etc.) but may not be well-versed in your particular area.
In past examples, I have heard of a Buddhist studies professor being on a panel for an applicant in policy studies and a mechanical engineering professor being on the panel for a software engineering applicant.
This means that you should plan to avoid deep, technical discussions of your research. Instead, you want to be able to communicate the purpose, desired outcomes, and importance of your research to someone outside of your field. Keep that in mind as you practice your interview questions.
Practical Considerations
Wear a simple, professional suit to the interview, or the equivalent of a suit in your national dress.
Since your interview will be at the embassy or consulate, you’ll have to leave all of your electronics behind at the entrance, but if you do have anything, including a digital watch, make sure that it is on silent mode or off.
Expect about a 20-minute interview.
Conduct in the Interview Room
When you first enter the room, you should bow to the interview panel. If you are confident in your Japanese, you can also say よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegaishimasu). They will direct you to sit.
Address your answers to the panel member who asked the question, but make eye contact with the others, as well, while you speak. If you get a multi-part question and forget the second part halfway through your answer, go ahead and ask the questioner to repeat the second half.
Answer in the language the question is asked in. If you have indicated some Japanese ability, or taken the Japanese language proficiency test, then you may get some questions in Japanese. These are more designed to evaluate your ability than for the quality of the answer, so don’t worry too much about them.
Once the interview is over, you also want to stop at the door, bow again and thank them for the interview. (ありがとうございます arigato gozaimasu).
If you cannot give the greetings in Japanese, then it is fine to thank them for their time in English (both on entry and departure), instead.
MEXT Interview Strategy
The most important thing you can do to prepare is to have a clear focus on the academic and practical goals of your research.
I covered this in the article on writing your Field of Study and Research Program Plan, so check out that article if you haven’t already. One way to think of the MEXT embassy interview is as a chance to expand on that research plan, though there will be some other elements, as well.
When I have sat as a member of an entrance exam interview panel, we could immediately tell when an applicant was prepared, confident, and competent. The difference in impression that it makes is enormous!
Your Basic Selling Points
Come up with your three top selling points that you want to communicate during the interview. One approach would be to have one sales point for each of the following categories:
- Your academic/research goal (what you want to contribute to the field)
- The practical outcomes of your research (how it can be used, and/or your own post-scholarship career)
- Why you will make a good ambassador to Japan (your intercultural experience and adaptability
Interview Strategy
You want to use every question you receive strategically.
That means you want to answer each question to the interview panel’s satisfaction and tie it to one of your sales points.
MEXT Scholarship Interview Questions
Here are some questions past applicants have faced, along with my interpretation of what the interviewers are looking for. At the very least, you should practice and be prepared to address these!
- What do you want to study?
The purpose of this line of questioning is to make sure you have a clear research focus and know your field. The interview panel has read (or at least scanned) your Field of Study and Research Program Plan, so expand on the contents there and particularly on connecting your studies to your academic and practical outcomes.
- Why do you want to study that topic?
This line of questioning is also focused on your intended outcomes. It is OK to mention personal inspiration that started you on this path, but your focus should be on what you want to accomplish in the future.
Remember the panel is looking at you as an investment in positive relations between your country and Japan, so discussing outcomes that benefit both countries or bring them closer together is going to be helpful here. Also, remember here that your panel is not experts in your field, so you need to explain yourself clearly.
- What university do you want to study at in Japan?
They may also ask about your contact status with the universities you selected.
The purpose of this question is to assess how prepared and proactive you are. If you have been in touch with any professors, and have their informal approval to supervise you, mention that. If you have tried to contact universities but received no response, explain that and tell them that you understand many universities do not write back until after applicants can prove that they’ve passed the Primary Screening, so you plan to follow up.
At the very least, you should be able to explain your reasoning for selecting the universities and professors on your list based on their relevance your research and practical goals. It’s a good idea to have one or two other universities that you have researched but rejected to mention in this conversation. (e.g. I examined the programs at University X and University Y, but the professor at University Y was more aligned with my research)
- Why do you want to study in Japan?
Note:As of the 2020 Application cycle, this question was added to the application form as an essay, so it is less likely to come up in the interview.
The purpose of this line of questioning is to determine how serious you are as a scholar and how prepared you are for your studies.
Maybe you have always been interested in Japan since you saw your first anime as a child. It’s OK to use that as a brief introduction, but hopefully that is just an introduction and Sailor Moon is not the only reason you want to study microbiology or economics in Japan.
If your first encounter with, or passion for Japanese culture got you to look at the country in more detail and that helped you find a field of study or field of work where you could contribute to relations between Japan and your home country, that is an excellent thing to bring up.
If Japanese research or technical expertise in your field is more advanced than in your country and you want to leverage Japanese experience to benefit your homeland, that’s a great thing to mention, too!
- How do you think you will be able to handle living in Japan?
This line of questioning is intended to determine if you’ll be able to settle into life in Japan without any disruption to your studies.
If you have experience living in Japan for any length of time, you can bring that up as part of your example of how you will succeed.
If you don’t have any experience living in Japan, then you should give examples of how you are adjustable to other cultures or uncomfortable situations, such as friendships with people from other cultures, experience living abroad in other countries, or any experience interacting with foreigners, especially Japanese.
On the other hand, if there are any obvious challenges to you living in Japan, you should mention those and how you will adapt. For example, if you have a spouse and/or children, talk about what they will do while you are in Japan (hint: If you’re bringing them to Japan, MEXT recommends that you come alone first then invite them to Japan on a Dependent Visa after you have settled in.) If you have religious or dietary needs (e.g. halal food), mention how you plan to take on those challenges in Japan. No matter what your needs, there should be groups of international students from the past who had the same needs. Find these groups online and see how they handled the challenges you will face!
- What do you know about Japan/the Japanese Language?
Similar to the previous question, this aims to see how prepared you are to adapt to life in Japan. Take this opportunity to show the panel that you have done some basic research on the status of your research field in Japan as well as what day-to-day life is like in Japan. If you have any Japanese language ability, even if it’s at the level of basic interaction skills, you can bring that up, as well.
- Tell us about your academic background.
Seemingly open-ended questions like this can be the most tricky. The key here is that you want to focus and use this to your advantage. If you tell any anecdotes about your past, make sure they relate to one of your sales points.
For example, if you moved around a lot as a child, you don’t need to talk about that, unless it specifically relates to your research topic. If you grew up in a single-parent household, that isn’t necessarily relevant. But, if growing up in a single-family household taught you independence and self determination, or inspired you to take action to help others in similar situations, then that is definitely something you want to mention.
If you get this kind of question before you have talked about your research interest or intended outcomes, then this is also a great opportunity to introduce those. What inspired you to this research topic? How did your background make you want to create a positive change in the world?
- What do you plan to do after your studies?
I have a lot of people ask me whether it’s “better” to say that you want to work in Japan or go back to your home country. But that’s the wrong question.
The best answer is to have a clear plan that involves contributing to relations between your country and Japan. Whether that involves working in Japan, or your home country is not so important. Having a realistic, well thought-out goal is.
- What is your plan if you do not get this scholarship?
Do not let this question discourage you. The interviewer is not foreshadowing failure. Instead, they want you to prove that you are dedicated to the goals you described and not just seeking a free degree. When you think about your goals before the interview, make sure that you have a Plan B – another way that you can make progress toward the same goals even if you do not receive the MEXT scholarship. (Ideally, that Plan B should not be more effective than your Plan A of winning the scholarship, of course.)
Other Questions?
I have put this list together based on feedback from readers like you and from other blogs and forums, but you could always come up against something I haven’t seen before.
If you get a type of question I didn’t include above, let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to the list!
Good luck with your interviews!
Ads by Google:
Hello Travis, hope you are doing fine at this moment. As always, thanks for all your help. I just had my interview today, I don’t think I could have made it this far without all the useful info you share with us.
Also wanted to take the moment to share about the questions I was asked, maybe it could be useful for your blog or other people. I do think however that my interview might have been a bit different than the usual ones. I’m saying this because I would say about 70% of my interview was questions about my specific research rather than the usual “generic” questions they might ask like the examples you give in this blog post.
The embassy official started right away by asking “What do you want to study and why in Japan”, kinda similar to the essay-like questions from the application form. The second question was regarding the cultural aspect of the scholarship, “What sort of cultural activities would I do once in Japan”. After that, they asked about my exposure to Japanese culture, if I had traveled to Japan before, or how have I interacted with their culture throughout my life (just like you suggested I didn’t talk about anime or manga! Lol).
After those 3 “generic” questions, the rest of the interview was oriented towards my research proposal. Maybe about 5 questions related to it. I know you recommended us not to get too much into details or to talk about technical terms and so on, but I ended up mentioning technical stuff anyway because they kept asking about it. I did make sure to always show a clear benefit to both countries and to talk about the benefits my research could give to others rather than myself. I won’t get into details about the actual questions since they are very specific to my research topic and area, but I found it interesting that the interview would go into that direction considering what you shared with us. A friend of mine who participated in the scholarship before was also surprised.
But well that was my experience. I don’t know if I should take it as a good sign that they liked my research idea so much they wanted to know more about it, or as a bad sign that they hated it so much they had to ask me more to understand, lol. They did seem pleased with my answers and several times throughout the interview, it became more like a conversation between all of us rather than an extremely formal and tense environment, but who knows.
Fun fact: when they asked me about my exposure to Japanese culture, I mentioned my love for Japanese literature, so for a moment we were just discussing Japanese authors and books we all liked, that was interesting. I guess it could be a good thing.
Another thing perhaps worth mentioning is that the Japanese exam was slightly different from the sample ones in the Study in Japan website. I suppose it’s to be expected considering that the latest sample is from 2016. Anyway, the entire Kanji section of the test was completely different. In previous years you were asked to “translate” between Kanji and Hiragana, and vice versa. This time, however, each question had about 5 sentences and you had to find those where the same kanji would be used (answers were written in hiragana, of course), so it was more about knowing the multiple readings of each kanji to be able to identify them in multiple scenarios.
I think that pretty much sums my experience. Once more thank you very much for all your help. Let’s hope I can get a good result. Take care.
Hi Johnny Navarro,
It’s good to hear from you again. Thank you very much for sharing your interview experience!
That is quite a bit different from what I have heard from applicants in the past, but it sounds like you handled it well. If the interviewers were asking about the technical aspects of your research, then of course it’s fine to get into those – you never want to not answer their questions. Sorry if I made it sound otherwise. My comment was more about applicants who weren’t specifically asked about the technical details, but got bogged down in those and lost focus on the overall purpose and outcomes of their research. Since you tied everything back to the goals, it sounds like you did an admirable job of both.
I’m curious, if you don’t mind sharing, what was your interview committee like (all Japanese embassy officials? Local officials? Local or Japanese professors?) and was it virtual or in person. I’m wondering if some countries have been shifting to virtual interviews and if that format lets them bring in more academic experts in applicants’ specific fields to the interview team.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis, thanks for your kind words!
Well, in my case the interview was in person. Everyone had to wear masks and they took our temperature before going in. Once inside the embassy, all the applicants had to sit far from each other and we were forbidden to talk unnecessarily. They did have me sit quite far away from the committee which was kinda weird but it was to be expected.
The committee was formed by three people, one Japanese embassy official, and two former MEXT scholars. None of the MEXT scholars seemed to be from my particular field but they still asked a lot of technical questions regarding my research. Even the Japanese embassy official asked questions about the research itself. Based on body language all three committee members seemed satisfied with my answers regarding the research and one of them even said it was something interesting that we should do in my home country too. So I guess perhaps my answers were good. I tried to apply all your suggestions, always trying to speak in a professional way. I think I did “sell” my idea pretty well, but who knows what might happen.
If there’s anything else you would want me to share about my experience feel free to ask! Thanks.
Hi Johnny Navarro,
Thank you very much for continuing to share your experience in detail! That is very helpful for me when I go back to update this article and also for other applicants now!
It’s interesting that they brought in ex-MEXT scholars. I think you are the first person that’s told me about have former scholars in the interview.
It sounds like you did well in it, so I’ll be hoping to hear positive results soon.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello, I firstly would like to thank you for good job that your doing to help who are in need.
I real tried to pass into different sites including yours,trying to check for the past papers for english test, some sites dont exist at all and some have papers written research but down shows its for undergradutes.
Kindly requesting you to help me with past paper for english test, since am going for test soon.
Thanks.
Hi Baraka,
Thank you for your kind words.
Previous tests are available so you can review them on the official Study in Japan website. The link below will redirect to that site:
http://www.transenzjapan.com/tests/
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis!
I firstly want to express my gratitude for all the information and advice you’ve given regarding the MEXT Scholarship! It has helped me so much with understanding the application process and I’m forever thankful that you started this page.
I am applying for the Research student scholarship and have a question regarding the Japanese language examination since the examinations are later this week. Normally, I would try to answer every single question on a test to scrape every possible mark, but would it be ill-advised to guess the answers for the Japanese examination? My Japanese is quite poor at this point, so I completely understand that I’d have to attend the language course later on if I am awarded with the scholarship.
Sorry for asking this question if the answer is rather blatant. I feel like I know what the answer is, but I thought confirmation from someone knowledgeable in the MEXT process would be best!
Thanks in advance!
Clarissa
Hi Clarissa,
You are very welcome. Thank you for your kind comments.
I recommend that you try to answer every question in the Japanese language exam. Your performance, in terms of points, is not really that relevant if your Japanese is poor and you are applying for a degree taught in English. The point is that you’re showing the effort.
Last year, I’m aware that in some countries applicants were rejected during the secondary screening because they had left the Japanese language test blank, so you certainly do not want to do that.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis
I would like to thank you first for all the work you have done on this site. It is truly the best site for anything related to the MEXT Scholarship.
I did my interview this past Thursday ( Research student) and I thought I would share my experience with you here.
I was interviewed by 5 people 3 of them were Japanese the others were from my country. Anyway, they asked me the following questions
1- Why did you apply for Mext?
2- my research plan was about locating the best suitable sites for wind energy in Japan and they asked me if I were to do it in my home country, what area would be best to investigate?
3- if you have the chance to work internationally would you do it? ( this question really throw me off guard)
4- what do I know about the Japanese language?
5- did the universities that I have chosen have English taught programs?
6-Before I left one of them asked me a question that was completely outside my area of expertise and it was about solar panels and how it might be more useful as a research topic for japan than doing research in wind energy (my topic).
I really did not have an answer for that last question, all I said was that its not something I have studied before and that solar energy and wind energy are both valuable sources under the umbrella of renewable sources of energy and since the Japanese government is looking for ways to diversify its sources of energy, focusing on one source like solar energy wouldn’t achieve the goal that the governmnet is trying to accomplish.
and that’s about it. They didn’t ask me a lot of questions because every answer I gave was long and we ended up talking for 30 minutes instead of 20 which is the length that was set for the interview ( not sure if that’s a good sign or not)
Anyways that was my 2021 Mext experience, I wanted to share it and wish good luck for my fellow applicants. As for me, I’ll just have to wait for the results
Thanks again Travis and please keep up the good work!
Hi Khalid,
Wow! Thank you very much for sharing your detailed experience with the interview. It was particularly valuable to hear about the questions that threw you off guard.
I think that last question – about solar – indicates the level to which your interviewers are not experts in your field. To a layperson, we might lump all renewable energy forms together, but from a researcher perspective, I think the scientific expertise makes wind and solar completely different fields. It’s very helpful for other applicants to know that they may face that kind of question from an uninformed interviewer.
Thank you again!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi,
I am Aayman from Bangladesh. I plan on applying for MEXT scholarship next year for an undergraduate degree. I read your article and I found it very helpful. Thank you.
But I had a few questions. For an undergraduate degree, will the questions change? for example, Will I still need to tell them about any universities or professors I have contacted?
Will I still need to tell them about my academic background?
And will it be rude or insensitive to tell them that I had been amazed and curious about Japan and have wanted to live there ever since I read about World war 2? Or the 2011 tsunami and how I have been amazed at how the Japanese people picked themselves up from these situations?
Sorry for asking so many questions. But would appreciate it if you replied back
Hi Aayman,
My area of expertise is the scholarship for graduate students, so I haven’t done any specific research into the interview for undergraduates, but I would assume that there will certainly be some differences.
For example, there is no Placement Preference From in the undergraduate scholarship application, so you would not be asked about universities or professors.
You may still be asked about your academic background, but there would be less to say.
If you describe any potentially controversial topics (like WWII), I would recommend focusing on the positives – like how you mentioned the resilience of the Japanese people and how they rebuilt. Also, try to keep your descriptions of your interest in Japan focused as closely as possible to your intended studies in Japan.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz