FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)

(Last updated on 14 October 2009)

I. Undergraduate Admission

II. Letter of Acceptance for the Monbukagakusho Scholarship

III. Admission to the Doctoral Program

IV. Miscellaneous

I. Undergraduate Admission

Q1. Please provide me with all necessary information about undergraduate admission requirements.

A1. To apply, you must satisfy the following requirements.

(1)You must have completed or be scheduled to complete (by the time of admission) a 12-year course of school education

(2)You must have taken two exams, – i.e., the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU) and the TOEFL exam.

For detailed information about the EJU exam, please go to the web site of Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO). Applicants from abroad who are unable to take EJU in their own countries should either come to Japan, or go to one of the other countries where the exam is presently held. The exam is conducted twice a year, in June and November, and prior registration is required for taking it. When you apply for admission, you should send us a copy of your examination admission card and a copy of your score report along with the rest of the application documents.

As for the TOEFL exam score, you must request the Educational Testing Service (the organization administering the exam) to send your score report directly to Kyoto University (ETS Institution Code: 9501). Please note that only score reports from a TOEFL exam taken approximately a year and a half before the application deadline will be accepted (for instance, those who submit applications in January 2010 should have taken the exam after September 2008).

For further details, please download the respective file (in Japanese) from our web site.

Q2. Please provide me with all necessary information about admission procedures, scholarships, courses, school fees, and accommodations.

A2. The application package for privately supported students, who wish to enter in April 2010, will be available from July 2009 onwards, and the period for applications will be in mid-January 2010. If you wish the application package to be sent to you, write to the following address and enclose the appropriate amount of International Reply Coupons (see below) in your letter.

School Affairs Office (Kyoumu Kakari)
Faculty of Economics, Kyoto University
Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku,
Kyoto 606-8501, Japan

Please note that the application package is in Japanese. International students are required to be able to read, write and speak Japanese fluently. Admission to our faculty requires very high level of proficiency in Japanese (equivalent to Level 1 of the Japanese language proficiency test).

The amount of International Reply Coupons you should send varies according to where you are based. For Asia (except the Middle East), Guam or the Marshall Islands, the amount is 510 yen, for Oceania, the Middle East, Europe, Central and Northern America 670 yen, and for Africa and Latin America 860 yen.

There is an application fee (for privately supported students only) of 17, 000 yen, which should be paid by Japanese postal money order (yubin kawase). If you apply from outside Japan, you will need a friend or a relative living in Japan to pay the fee on your behalf.

If your application documents are accepted, you will have to come to Kyoto University in the end of January 2010 to take a written exam (an essay in Japanese and a test of your Japanese reading comprehension). If you pass that exam, there will be an interview in mid-February.

You can obtain information about scholarships, courses, school fees, and living accommodations from this web site.

Q3.I am interested in spending half a year at your school to study economics. Can you provide me with information about your short-term study program?

A3.Our short-term study program for international students is called KUINEP and is offered only to undergraduate students of universities with which Kyoto University has international exchange agreements. Please check with your International Office whether your university has such an agreement. For more information about the KUINEP program, please access this web site.

II. Letter of Acceptance for the Monbukagakusho Scholarship

Q4. How can I obtain the Letter of Acceptance needed for the Monbukagakusho scholarship?

A4. Please check out the following web sites to find your prospective academic advisor from our web site and directly write to him/her by airmail (no e-mails, please): Make sure you enclose your e-mail address, a copy of the Letter of Acceptance (blank form), as well as the deadline for submitting the Letter of Acceptance.

The address is:
Prof. X..
Graduate School of Economics
Kyoto University
Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku
Kyoto 606-8501
Japan

Q5. Please send me the e-mail addresses of the professors of your school.

A5. You can find the e-mail addresses of some of the professors on our web site. Please contact a professor by airmail if you cannot find his/her e-mail address.

Q6. I sent to Prof. X all documents needed to obtain the Letter of Acceptance by registered mail but did not get any reply from him/her. Why?

A6. The professor has obviously decided not to send you a Letter of Acceptance.

III. Admission to the Doctoral Program

Q7. Could you please send me information regarding your doctoral program? I am particularly interested in application procedures, application forms, matriculation requirements, tuition fees, and deadlines.

A7. Depending on your Japanese language proficiency, there are three ways to apply for admission to our doctoral program.

(1) If your Japanese proficiency is equivalent to Level 1 of the Japanese Proficiency Test, you may be admitted to our Doctoral program if you pass the entrance exams. For further details, please download the respective file (in Japanese) from our web site.

(2) If your Japanese proficiency is lower and you have already completed a Master program, it would be better to apply for the Japanese Goverment (Monbukagakusho :MEXT) scholarship through the Japanese embassy in your country. If you obtain that scholarship, you can come to study here first as a non-degree research student (kenkyusei). After studying Japanese for six months, you can take the entrance exams to our Doctoral program. For more information about the MEXT scholarship, please access the web site of Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) and download the respective file.

Q8. What are the requirements for entrance in your Ph.D. program? And could you send me a copy of the application package?

A8. It depends on your Japanese proficiency level.
(1) For those with high level of Japanese proficiency who will take the entrance exams in Japanese:

An individual is eligible to apply if: (a) he/she holds a Master degree in Economics, Business/Management, or Commerce, or (b) he/she is judged by Kyoto University to have the level of academic aptitude equivalent to or higher than that shown by Master Degree holders of the Graduate School of Economics. The application package for those wishing to enter the Ph.D. program in April 2010 (in Japanese) will be available in November 2009, and the period for applications will be somewhere in the beginning of January 2010. If you wish the application package to be sent to you, write to the following address and enclose the appropriate amount of International Reply Coupons (see above) in your letter.

School Affairs Office (Kyoumu Kakari)
Faculty of Economics, Kyoto University
Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku,
Kyoto 606-8501, Japan

There is an application fee you must pay at the time of application. Exams (a written exam and an interview) will be held in the end of January and mid-February 2010. Admission to our regular Ph.D. program requires very high level of proficiency in Japanese (equivalent to Level 1 of the Japanese language proficiency test). For further details, please download the respective file in Japanese fromour web site

(2) For those with lower level of Japanese proficiency:
it is recommended to apply for admission as government-sponsored research student (kenkyusei) under the Monbukagakusho scholarship.

Q9. My Japanese proficiency is now at Level 4 (the Japanese Proficiency Test). Is that sufficient to study in your Ph.D. program?

A9. I cannot judge whether your Japanese proficiency is sufficient to study in our Ph.D. program. If you come here as a government-financed research student (kenkyusei) under the MEXT (Monbukagakusho) scholarship, you may take the entrance exams for the Doctoral program after 6 months or one year of study of Japanese. The result of the exams will depend mostly on your academic achievements, progress in the study of Japanese (during the 6-month course and after that), and entrance exam scores.

IV. Miscellaneous

Q10. I would like to know more about your intensive Japanese language courses.

A10. We do not offer intensive Japanese language courses but such courses are offered by the Center for Student Exchange, Kyoto University. Please visit this web site
For information on Japanese language courses outside Kyoto University, please go to this site.

Q11. Could you please provide me with the contact telephone number or the email address of the person in charge of applications from overseas?

A11. If you could not find the answer to your question(s) in the information provided on our English web site, please send a letter by airmail to our School Affairs Office (Kyoumu Kakari).

School Affairs Office (Kyoumu Kakari)
Faculty of Economics, Kyoto University
Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku,
Kyoto 606-8501, Japan

Q12. My government has granted me a scholarship for my research stay in Japan. They will also pay a certain amount of the matriculation and tuition fees. Could you tell me how I can study at your Graduate School for one semester under the guidance of Prof…

A12. Please contact Prof… directly with your request.

The address is:
Prof. …
Kyoto University, Faculty of Economics
Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501
Japan

Q13. I am now a lecturer at University and want to study at your Graduate School for half a year. My school will pay for my stay in Japan. How can I find a teacher from your university who would accept me as visiting researcher?

A13. Please contact directly a professor who works in the same (or related) field as yours and ask him/her to accept you as a visiting researcher. To do that, please access our web site to find the list of our faculty members and their fields of specialization.

The address is:
Prof. …
Kyoto University, Faculty of Economics
Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501
Japan

Q14. Does your school offer an MBA Program in English? Could you send me some information about how to apply?

A14. We have an MBA program in Graduate School of Management. For more information, please visit the web site of the MBA program or contact the admission office of Graduate School of management.

Q15.” I am interested to study Business Administration at Kyoto University under the Asian Development Bank-Japan Scholarship program.

”A15. We don’t accept international students under this program.

Q16. I am fluent in English but not in Japanese. Do I have to learn Japanese to get admission to your faculty/graduate school?

A16. In general, applicants from abroad are required to be able to read, write and speak Japanese fluently. Almost all courses are taught in Japanese. Applicants with little or no knowledge of Japanese are advised to apply for admission as government-financed research students under the Monbukagakusho scholarship. However, these students are required to study Japanese too after arriving in Japan.

Q17. Do you offer any financial aid or scholarships for international students and what are the eligibility criteria?

A17. For information about scholarships, please access the web site of Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO)

Q18. Can you tell me how much money I would need to study at your school?

A18. For information about tuition and fees, please access the web site of Kyoto University. Please note that all fees are subject to changes by the Japanese Ministry of Science and Education.

Q19. What kind of degree will I receive upon completion of the Doctoral course at the Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University?

A19. Ph.D. (Economics).