This is the most common category among MEXT scholarships.
Japanese embassies or consulates in countries that have diplomatic relation with Japan call for applications around April/May every year. (Please contact them directly for a concrete schedule for application, as it differs according to the embassy/consulate. Applicants from China in particular should be aware that the Japanese embassy and consulates in China use different procedures from embassies/consulates in other countries.)

First, the Japanese embassy/consulate concerned conducts a primary screening, which takes place around June. Applicants who pass the primary screening are required to obtain a "Letter of Provisional Acceptance" from the university in Japan they wish to attend by late September, starting from around July.* If you wish to enroll at our university (NAIST), please access the Web site of each Division to look for a professor whom you wish to act as your supervising professor and then contact the International Student Affairs Section at naist-mext[at]ad.naist.jp.

Details on the issuance of the Letter of Provisional Acceptance can be found by clicking the "Issuance of Letter of Provisional Acceptance" link below.

After you have received a Letter of Provisional Acceptance, you must submit it to the Japanese embassy/consulate concerned by their deadline, and your name will be forwarded for the final screening to be conducted by MEXT. MEXT then has a final consultation with NAIST before making a final decision on scholarship recipients.

Applicants can search for prospective supervising professors through the following Web sites:

Division of Information Science

Division of Biological Science

Division of Materials Science

MEXT Web Site