As anyone who’s ever looked into the prospect of studying abroad at anything beyond the idle daydream level can attest, it’s not cheap. Aside from the travel expenses involved to simply get to another country, there’s the cost of finding housing, coping with a new lifestyle in a place where you may not know budget-friendly places to eat and shop for essentials, and, of course, the cost of tuition, which sometimes comes with the burden of extra fees for international students.
And yet, many who have done it will say that studying abroad, even on a short-term program, can be a life-changing experience that broadens your horizons and opens up enriching career paths that you may have otherwise never even knew existed, much less follow for yourself. Among the proponents of studying abroad, even with the costs involved, is Tokyo mayor Yuirko Koike, who has announced a plan for the Tokyo metropolitan government to start handing out grants to students who want to study abroad.
Koike, who spoke about the initiative on Jan 12, said that the amount of financial support students receive would be dependent on a variety of factors, including the cost of living in their host countries and the length of their study abroad program. For those on short programs, roughly one to four months, a maximum total grant of 900,000 yen would be possible to pay for travel on tuition expenses, while those on year-long programs could receive as much as 3.15 million yen, which could include a monthly allowance of 150,000 yen for “local activity expenses,” ostensibly cultural and extracurricular activities outside the standard classroom curriculum.
To be eligible, applicants must have Japanese nationality (i.e. must be Japanese citizens), have a parent or guardian who lives in Tokyo, and be enrolled in a domestic university or technical college/vocational school. In other words, the aim of the program is to help students who are already pursuing academic goals to study overseas. In addition, the grants will be for students applying to study at overseas universities, so they can’t be used for language schools. Koike also says that there will be no upper family income eligibility limit for applicants.
The proposed grant system comes at a time when there’s a growing sense that young people in Japan are showing less interest and initiative in going abroad than previous generations did, coinciding with a plummeting value of the yen that’s making studying abroad an economically daunting endeavor even for those who are interested. At the same time, Japan’s aging population and other macroeconomic factors are most likely going to make a global outlook of elevated importance for professionals in Japan in the years to come. “Japan’s international competitiveness is falling” said Koike in discussing the program, adding “We need to accelerate investment in our young people and quickly produce human resources that can contribute globally.”
Koike’s vision is for the program to initially provide grants for 500 short-term study abroad participants and 100 mid/long-term ones, with the first group departing for their overseas experiences in the summer of next year.
Source: Nitele News via Hachima Kiko
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Want to study abroad in Japan but short on funds? The Freeman-ASIA program might be able to help!
-- Japanese university globalizes with fall start date, governor wants English as official language
-- Tokyo makes high school free for all families, even the rich ones
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2025/01/15/tokyo-governor-wants-to-start-study-abroad-grant-system-includes-monthly-activity-allowance/
16 Comments
Login to comment
tora
And what of young people in other prefectures? They are usually worse off in economics terms than Tokyoites and have access to far less resources and chances for international exposure in general. If such a system is introduced, it should be at the national level.
But I actually suspect an ulterior motive here with Tokyo planning to lure even MOtE young people to the capital. This and other welfare policies for Tokyoites will just sweeten the dangling carrot with the result an acceleration of the centralisation of human resources to the capital.
Mr Kipling
So the tax payer is to fund student holidays? They must be running out of ideas to waste money.
sakurasuki
Before increasing study abroad grants, any news on effort to improve Japanese people English ability, language that Japanese people really struggle when they live abroad.
wallace
Two young people I know have returned from the US after 3 years at university paid for by their families. Both speak near-perfect English. One of them is returning for a Masters degree next year.
maxjapank
This is great. I know quite a few students who want to study abroad, but with the weakened yen, it's just impossible. I've often thought the government should provide scholarships to help.
That's a good point. I do know that my prefecture offers ten 500,000 yen scholarships to high school students who meet certain grade requirements. Problem is that the English test (IELTS) is so much more difficult now that most of the high school students in my prefecture are unable to pass it.
I know that having a good ability of English is important to having a successful exchange. But I've had many students go abroad with less ability and then come back being near fluent. Those students have also pursued careers using English now, and much of that is due to the year abroad they experienced. I think that the those in charge of the IELTS have partly lost vision fo what Exchange Programs are intended for.
asdfghjkl
Any effort to decrease the burden of further education costs to Japanese and local residents rather than paying foreign students to come and study in Japan. Most countries charge more to foreign students.
Jordi Puentealto
Definitely not something that a “local” authority should do with the “local” taxpayer money. They should instead perhaps lower “that” person’s local taxpayers burden upon proof of graduation.
P_C
Naysayers will be naysayers.
Koike-san push hard on this one, it's a great idea. Japan must cultivate multiple, innovative ideas and plans for the future of the country's welfare.
Geeter Mckluskie
The mayor of Tokyo isn't responsible for what happens or doesn't happen in other prefectures.
Rakuraku
wallaceToday 07:35 am JST
Nice, but this costs around 30 million (including accommodation and other expenses). Not everyone can afford it. This is why any help will be welcomed, even if it only covers a fraction of the cost.
virusrex
The complain is not that Tokyo should do something but that someone (like the national government) should, related to this is the deep imbalance between big cities (specially Tokyo) and the rest of the country, since this is openly considered a national problem then it is justified to say something should be done that would lessen the concentration of people an resources instead of increasing it.
shogun36
Is it going to be a "Japanese grant" where the student has to pay it back?
Or an actual grant where they get the money just for studying?
Ricky Kaminski13
This is actually a great idea and incentive to at least appeal to this young generation to get out and experience planet gaikoku. The price of the yen, the psychology of this crop of university aged students, the low wages and economic stagnation have had a disastrous effect on the youth, who now show little drive or interest to seek adventure, set sail overseas and internationalize.
Koike is smart for realizing the massive loss of potential, for the entire nations future, if young adults all decide to just turn inwards in a collective show of disinterest of the outside world.
Geeter Mckluskie
Cities that struggle for whatever reason will hold less and less sway for their residents and as a result will pass on into history for good reason. Those that thrive will also do so for good reason. Japan is currently downsizing...for good reason...it is only around 35% self-sufficient in terms of feeding itself, and most forecasts point to 50% of current jobs being rendered obsolete within the next two decades or sooner. "The rest of the country" either needs to up its game or move to Tokyo.
virusrex
Fortunately people are not as ready as just give up things of unmeasurable value as you are and they complain and demand for inequalities to be corrected instead. Tokyo is not downsizing, and sacrificing the country to support a few cities is not productive nor something the Japanese population is interested in.
Also, lacking self-suficiency can be "solved" by two general approachs, increasing self sufficiency or letting people starve out, it should be obvious that Japan do not see as "progress" letting two thirds of the population die to have enough national resources to feed everybody, instead it is looking to increase national production to stop depending on other countries as much as right now. Rational people will easily see the second approach leads to much better outcomes.
Geeter Mckluskie
No one is "sacrificing the country". The country is adjusting to a change in demographics and and economy that doesn't require unsustainable population growth.
Japan is focused on building its digital infrastructure as it adjust to the new digital economy...one that doesn't rely on unsustainable population growth (in a nation that is currently @ 35% self-sufficient in terms of feeding itself).
https://www.japan.go.jp/kizuna/2022/01/vision_for_a_digital_garden_city_nation.html
This has led to more companies setting up satellite offices in more rural areas that provide their employees with a better work-life balance that doesn't involve 2 hour commutes.
The country is not "being sacrificed"...It's downsizing as a natural course of the changing dynamics vis a vis the economy and the declining birthrate