General Eligibility Requirements | Rotary Yoneyama Memorial Foundation

The Master’s Course and Doctoral Course Scholarships are intended for the foreign students who are enrolled in Japanese graduate schools.

The Undergraduate Course Scholarship is intended for the foreign students who are enrolled in Japanese universities.

General Eligibility Requirements for 2025

The following basic requirements apply to the YU, YM and YD Scholarships. Applicants for the District Support Scholarship should read the details on its application form. (For further details, see notations on each scholarships application forms and details here.)

1. Nationalities and Visas	Japanese nationals are not eligible to apply. Eligibility limited to non-Japanese citizens: Nationals of other countries, non-Japanese dual citizens, and stateless people. They must possess a visa status that authorizes them to stay in Japan for the purpose of study or research. College students must have a status that allows them to study in Japan or refugee status approved by the Minster of Justice to study in a Japanese school.
2. Designated School Nomination System	Eligible persons are those who are or will be enrolled in a designated school as of April 2025. They must be nominated by the school.
3. Enrolled School / Scholarship Period	Schools must be those designated by the respective Rotary district. If a student has repeated a year (ryunen) or taken a leave of absence (kyugaku) during his/her first two years of undergraduate/graduate enrollment, those periods will be subtracted from the length of the scholarship period. However, when deemed warranted, exceptions to this rule may be made in some cases. Please refer to the eligibility for each scholarship program here.
4. State of Health	Be of good enough health to pursuit studies in Japan.
5. Doctorates	Doctoral degree holders are not eligible, except when doing research in a different field.
6. Age	Up to 44 years old as of April 1, 2025 (For the District Support Scholarship: Up to 39 years old as of April 1, 2025)
7. Concurrent Scholarships	Yoneyama Scholarships are not granted to individuals who simultaneously possess a scholarship, grant or similar subsidy from another organization. If offered another subsidy, the applicant must choose which to accept. If this rule is infringed, the Scholar will be required to reimburse the Foundation for the duplicated amount of funding and his/her Scholarship may be terminated. The following cases are exceptions: An incentive subsidy granted to foreign students by the regional government, a one-time award such as a scholastic prize, and tuition exemption or reduction.
8. Past recipients	Those who have been granted a Yoneyama Scholarship in the past are not eligible to apply for another one.

Applicants should refer to Application process