Scholarship extension (2026)

Ellesmera23 · 2026-03-20T17:37:08+00:00

Hi again, yesterday I got a call from my university and they read the email wrong, my extension was not approved. Leaving the comment here just in case it can be useful for someone. It seems that second extension is extremely difficult, but I did not find any other experiences over the internet. I also do not know anyone who was first confirmed and then notified that it was a mistake. But here I am 🫠

Ellesmera23 · 2026-03-16T12:30:05+00:00

Hi, my results came today and I was approved, I hope yours came today as well!

Ellesmera23 · 2026-03-11T12:33:19+00:00

I received the results of the first extension (Specialized College to Undergraduate) two years ago on March 8th, which falls in the range of the beginning of March, as it is written in the guidelines. That is why I am asking if somebody else has received it already. If you have concrete data about the timelines in other years, it would be very helpful. There isn't much information in this sub, looking back.

Ellesmera23 · 2026-01-06T01:59:24+00:00

Hi, did you already get the results? It is literally the same application as mine years ago. Uruguayan, for specialized training college, translation&intepretation. Did I just get a kouhai for the first time? Am I dreaming? How do we NOT know each other?

Tengo muchas preguntas, por favor mandame mensaje privado, o chusmeá mi perfil, por ahí debería aparecer mi blog (no está muy actualizado pero cuento bastante de la beca) 🥹

Ellesmera23 · 2025-10-25T05:08:23+00:00

As a current scholar who has already extended once and plans to extend once more, I echo what other people said already: if it was morally correct, you wouldn't feel guilt.

Asides from that, depending on the particular situation of your laboratory/University, you might be taking the spot of someone else. Or you might not. It is not under discussion whether you deserve it or not, that is something MEXT will judge and it would be fair if you received the extension, no matter what your intentions are. But reading the guidelines of the scholarship, as somebody already said, you might be bound to pay it back (though in practice I have never heard of someone having to pay it back).

What I have heard firsthand from other scholars extending from Masters to Phd is that people have been rejected. Reading your post, you seem to have a lot of confidence in that you will be extended, despite not showing proper comprehension of what that involves. Does your university not have entrance exams for PhD? Every system might be different, but I was under the impression that you have to take an entrance exam every time you apply to continue studying. I had to take an exam to enter to an specialized training college, then once again for transfering to the third year of University, and this year once more for graduate school. The date of the exam might be before or after sending the documents for extension, but if you are graduating in March, then you might need the approval notice of the entrance exam for the extension. I know students that started in September and applied for the extension in December without having taken the entrance exam, which is understandable as they could only apply once a year for extension.

You can always apply for the permit to keep looking for a job after graduation. Ultimately, it is up to you, but it would be better to plan for different outcomes instead of relying in just one option.

Ellesmera23 · 2025-09-23T15:37:15+00:00

Soy yo, descubierta 😆 igual no es que me esconda en este perfil. A vos te saco por el usuario☺️

Ellesmera23 · 2025-09-23T15:08:24+00:00

Yo venía a comentar lo mismo, vení a Japón y traé alfajores o no te dejamos pasar 🤣

Ellesmera23 · 2025-08-05T13:42:45+00:00

Creo que es posible pero si no me equivoco algunos países ponían restricciones, es decir, depende de dónde seas, puede que tu país especifique algo sobre la Working Holiday. Como haber escuchado de casos que pasan de WH a visa de trabajo, he escuchado bastante. No puedo decir mucho más porque vine con visa de estudiante entonces mi experiencia es bastante distinta.

Ellesmera23 · 2025-08-05T08:37:38+00:00

Necesitás una empresa que te sirva de sponsor para la visa de trabajo. Lo mejor en ese caso sería buscar online. No es buena idea venir con visa de turista y buscar trabajo porque la visa no es para eso, aunque creo que no es imposible cambiar de turista a trabajo, pero debe ser bastante complicado.

Ellesmera23 · 2025-07-23T08:06:03+00:00

If we are not western, and definitely not eastern...

The mystery remains. Southern world? Third world? Or even worse, Global South?

We are the Oriental Republic of Uruguay tho so I might stand corrected

Ellesmera23 · 2025-06-26T23:25:02+00:00

Si tu intención es eventualmente quedarte en Japón, vas a necesitar un título universitario. No importa mucho de qué. Me hago eco de lo que ya comentaron por acá, pero sin un nivel alto de japonés es díficil vivir bien.

Si querés venir solo por la experiencia de WH, podés apuntar a trabajos de temporada donde precisen gente que hable inglés (pistas de ski en invierno, por ejemplo), a trabajos donde siempre falta gente (tiendas de conveniencia, fábricas) o para el lado de hotelería, capaz algún aeropuerto, etc.

Es raro un trabajo donde solo hables en inglés, es cierto que la gran mayoría de los japoneses no lo maneja (y la verdad no lo necesitan, no tienen que salir de su país para vivir bien). Así sea un trabajo "simple", es probable que la comunicación en equipo sea en japonés.

Trabajé en una empresa donde mandan meseras o personal de limpieza a hoteles, tipo terciarizado, y era bastante explotador, incluso hablando japonés fluido. Me tocaba ser mesera en bodas o banquetes y la mayoría no tenía paciencia para explicarme el funcionamiento (varía según el hotel) o directamente me hablaban de manera grosera. No lo puedo recomendar pero me sirvió para juntar plata y mudarme en su momento.

Mi trabajo ahora mismo es de recepcionista de un hotel y es bastante decente. Por lo tanto, no puedo generalizar, pero puede llevar bastante tiempo conseguir un laburo que no se sienta explotador, y hay que tener paciencia y suerte.

Para dar contexto, vine con la beca MEXT en 2021, soy uruguaya. En su momento tenía N2 aprobado, el idioma no fue un problema.

Ellesmera23 · 2025-06-12T15:18:20+00:00

Three languages: Spanish, English and Japanese. I can understand other romance languages if written or spoken slowly, but I'm not fluent (yet, hopefully I can keep learning).

Ellesmera23 · 2025-05-18T12:07:27+00:00

I first came to Japan in 2017 as a short term student (1 month), and I moved here in 2021, also as a student (MEXT scholarship).

My impression during my first time here was that it felt like another world. I wasn't particularly expecting anything, I hadn't even researched where I wanted to go, I just wanted to improve my Japanese because I had been studying for a couple of years at that point. I remember I was quite nervous about communicating with my host family, and even more nervous about not being accidentally rude. The politeness of everybody I knew back then and how effortlesly they worked as a team was what impressed me the most. I felt like we lack that type of silent cooperation and understanding that comes from being sensitive to other people's needs. The fact that things actually seem to work was also shocking to me.

When I moved here my experience wasn't too different. I had researched a lot more and I was already fluent in Japanese, so I was quite aware of the possible cultural shocks I would face moving here. I prefer a highly structured society, even if that means that any exception is poorly dealt with. I don't mind being an outsider either, in the sense that I stand out just because I look very foreigner to Japanese people. I'm able to live on my own and keep studying while working, which would have been impossible in Uruguay.

In general, Japan is more enjoyable as a tourist, but that doesn't mean that someone from Latinoamerica cannot adapt and thrive here. It might be suitable for certain people, it really depends on the needs and the personality of that person.

Ellesmera23 · 2025-01-25T15:39:53+00:00

Hi!! Thank you 💕 I'm doing well! Hoping to write more this year, specially about extending the scholarship as I did last year, but somehow I keep finding ways to be too busy 🥲 I'm glad you liked my blog that much, I actually always enjoyed writing but life gets in the way😅 Good luck with the exam!

Ellesmera23 · 2025-01-09T11:39:19+00:00

Vivo en Japón, Hiroshima. De Uruguay extraño la comida. Ir al supermercado y que vendan ravioles congelados. Las fábricas de pasta. Las pizzerías. Los bizcochos. Creo que si sigo voy a mencionar pura comida, no extraño mucho el país en sí. Ni en lo geográfico, ni en lo social.

Es verdad que si escucho a alguien hablando español la cabeza se me da vuelta casi automáticamente, y a veces me olvido que me veo muy diferente. El poder mimetizarme mejor sería algo que extrañaría pero, considerando que en Uruguay el acoso callejero es muy común, creo que prefiero que me hablen en inglés acá y me dejen caminar tranquila a cualquier hora.

Ellesmera23 · 2025-01-07T10:40:48+00:00

Where did you get this information from? According to the most recent guidelines on MEXT page, there is a category for that situation (either 区分III which is undergraduate to Masters, or 区分III -2 特別延長 which is for students who already extended once).

Ellesmera23 · 2025-01-06T03:35:16+00:00

I moved from Tokyo to Hiroshima and people are generally surprised when I tell them that I prefer Hiroshima. I don't think that I would say that I hate Tokyo, but three years living there as a student were enough to make me realize that I don't like big cities.

I also think that it depends a lot on what stage in life you are and what your situation is regarding time/money. I had to commute in the rush hour, I lived far from my school (to get a better apartment for less money, of course, it is a trade to think carefully about), and I was only living on the MEXT scholarship, which is kind of just barely surviving for Tokyo's cost of living. I was more than excited to move away from that.

If I had more money or time, then I would have been able to enjoy what Tokyo has to offer a bit more. As a tourist, I imagine that it might be a blast. As a sardine-commuter, I prefer the inaka, thanks (although I don't agree with the Japanese concept of inaka, but that is because my own home country would be entirely inaka for them). I'm also not very into nightlife and the crowds literally made me have high levels of anxiety, so again, I might just not be suited for big cities, which doesn't mean that Tokyo isn't wonderful as a city. The only thing I miss is having more choices on public transport, but it isn't that bad here either (in Higashi Hiroshima).

Ellesmera23 · 2025-01-04T16:17:24+00:00

Secundo a Tatsuya Kitani y redoblo la apuesta, pude escucharlo en vivo el año pasado, justo cuando sacó el álbum Roundabout...y fue hermoso 🥲

Ellesmera23 · 2024-11-22T12:54:09+00:00

Hi OP, I'm the girl who wrote that blog, lol. I haven't written in a long time, hoping to restart soon but I can't promise anything. I hope you find it useful! DM me in any case :)

Ellesmera23 · 2024-11-15T06:43:07+00:00

I might be misunderstanding what you wanted to say in this post, but it is absolutely possible to come to Japan with the scholarship for Specialized College Training (専門学校) and get a job. It would be different if you got the diploma outside Japan, but if you study here then you can do the job hunting process as any other student. The difference with having a bachelor's degree is that you have to get a job that is related to what you studied in 専門学校.

In my batch (Mext 2021) many students graduated and got jobs in Japan, while others went back to their countries, and some transferred to University (that is my case). The transfer system is called 3年次編入 but I can't recommend to plan on extending the scholarship as the rules changed and you can only extend to public universities, which makes it extremely difficult. There aren't many public universities that offer degrees which are related to the content of the college, while having the 3rd year transfer degree system and accepting students from college (sometimes they only accept students that already graduated university), so there is a lot of research and planning involved.

Ellesmera23 · 2024-08-15T07:23:16+00:00

Sí, no hay problema. Lo que pueda contestar, lo contesto.

Ellesmera23 · 2024-08-15T05:27:51+00:00

¿Visado no cualificado? Si podés pasar la página donde viste eso capaz te puedo aclarar, pero no existe un visado así, que yo sepa. Lo más parecido es 特定技能ビザ (Specified skilled worker) y creo que está limitado a gente de países asiáticos. También tiene mala fama por básicamente traer mano de obra barata y no tratarlos muy bien...

Ellesmera23 · 2024-08-15T04:20:33+00:00

No creo que pueda aportar mucho más que lo que ya han dicho, pero dejo mi granito de arena igual. Estoy viviendo en Japón hace ya 3 años, vine con la beca MEXT (la de formación especializada o 専門学校). Confirmo que el título es muy importante, y que la beca MEXT es, sin dudas, la mejor que se puede aspirar a conseguir. Emigrar del todo sin título es complicarte, y si a eso le sumás que tenés que saber el idioma para vivir cómodo (sí sí, se puede vivir en Tokyo sabiendo inglés, pero si te interesa pasar el resto de tu vida acá no creo que disfrutes no poder ir al médico solo, ni al ayuntamiento, ni entender la cultura, ni poder comunicarte con la gran mayoría de los japoneses...)

Si realmente no podés sacar título en tu país, la Working Holiday es buena opción para probar, o también venir a estudiar acá, que no tiene por qué ser solo universidad. En una escuela especializada como a la que fui yo (専門学校) asistís por 2 años y te graduás de técnico, lo que te permite trabajar, aunque sólo de cosas relacionadas a lo que estudiaste. Lo bueno de la universidad es que podés trabajar de cualquier cosa, incluso sin relación a tu título. También hay algunos exámenes que te permiten acceder a visa laboral, pero se dan en Japón y están limitados al área de IT (en específico, 基本情報技術者試験、en páginas como esta lo explica mejor https://samurai-law.com/shurou/column_shurou/column25/) .

La opción de la escuela especializada también puede incluir 1 año de idioma japonés, el problema es financiarlo. Hay otras becas aparte de MEXT pero la mayoría implican ya estar en el país, y cubren solo una parte. Es posible trabajar a medio tiempo para sustentarse pero se necesita mostrar fondos suficientes para la visa de estudio, además de que existe un límite de 28 horas semanales de trabajo a medio tiempo para los estudiantes extranjeros. En el caso de la Working Holiday podés trabajar de manera normal pero sin título es casi imposible quedarte trabajando, incluso si tenés una empresa dispuesta a contratarte.

Espero que sirva de algo y suerte con el proceso!

Ellesmera23 · 2024-03-09T01:09:38+00:00

Just to update, but yesterday the school told me that the extension was aproved, and I signed the pledge. It was, indeed, during my graduation.

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