Email to a Japanese Professor for MEXT: Sample and Template

When to use this

For the MEXT research scholarship through the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan, you first apply to the embassy with your research plan. Selection includes document screening, a written test and an interview. According to the embassy's process, candidates recommended after this stage then obtain acceptance from Japanese universities. This is when you contact professors and ask for a letter of provisional acceptance.

Some Japanese universities also run their own MEXT recommendation, where you apply through the university directly. There, the professor's agreement usually comes first. Check the university's own guidelines.

Either way, prepare early. Make a shortlist of professors whose research matches your research plan before you apply to the embassy, because your plan should fit real labs in Japan.

What Japanese professors look for:

• A research plan that clearly fits their laboratory
• Politeness and careful, formal writing
• Evidence you can do research: thesis, methods, any publications
• Clarity about your MEXT status (for example, that you passed the embassy's screening)
• Commitment to living in Japan, including willingness to learn Japanese

The sample

Subject: MEXT scholarship (Embassy recommendation) 2027: Request for supervision, earthquake-resistant masonry

Dear Professor [Surname],

My name is Hamza Khattak, and I am a civil engineer from Pakistan. I am pleased to tell you that I have been recommended by the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan, after the primary screening, for the MEXT Research Scholarship for [year]. I hold a BSc in Civil Engineering from [University name], Peshawar (CGPA [3.55/4.00]), and my final-year project tested confined masonry walls under cyclic loading.

I have read your laboratory's research on [specific topic, e.g. seismic retrofitting of unreinforced masonry houses], and I would like to study how low-cost retrofitting can protect rural houses in northern Pakistan, where many homes collapsed in the 2005 earthquake. My attached research plan explains this in more detail.

I would be very grateful if you would consider accepting me as a research student in your laboratory, and, if possible, issue a letter of provisional acceptance for my MEXT application.

I have attached my research plan, CV, transcripts and the embassy's notification. Thank you very much for considering my request.

Yours sincerely,

Hamza Khattak [email] | [phone with country code]

Hamza is fictional. Your email should describe your own research plan.

Template you can fill in

Subject: MEXT scholarship ([Embassy / University] recommendation) [year]: Request for supervision, [short topic]

Dear Professor [Surname],

My name is [Name], and I am [a brief description] from Pakistan. I [have been recommended by the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan after the primary screening / am applying through your university's MEXT recommendation] for the MEXT Research Scholarship for [year]. I hold [degree] in [field] from [University] (CGPA [x.xx/4.00]), and my [thesis/project] focused on [one line].

I have read your laboratory's research on [specific topic], and I would like to [your research idea in one or two sentences]. My attached research plan explains this in more detail.

I would be very grateful if you would consider accepting me as a research student in your laboratory and, if possible, issue a letter of provisional acceptance.

I have attached my research plan, CV, transcripts [and the embassy's notification]. Thank you very much for considering my request.

Yours sincerely, [Name] [email] | [phone with country code]

How to adapt this

• Follow the embassy's instructions first. The embassy's MEXT page and the guidelines on studyinjapan.go.jp say when and how to approach universities. Check the current year's version.
• Use formal English. "Dear Professor [Surname]" and "Yours sincerely" are safe. Avoid casual phrases and emojis.
• Contact one professor at a time, or a very small number, and tell them honestly if you have written to others. Japanese professors in the same field often know each other.
• Attach your research plan. It is the main document professors judge you on. See our CSC and MEXT study plan sample.
• Expect a slow reply. If you hear nothing after about two weeks, send one short follow-up.
• Mention Japanese only honestly. If you are learning, say what level you have reached. Don't overstate it.

Common mistakes

• Claiming you have passed the embassy screening when you haven't yet.
• Sending a research plan that doesn't match the professor's laboratory at all.
• Using "Dear Sensei" or a first name instead of "Dear Professor [Surname]".
• Forgetting to attach the documents you mention.
• Writing to many professors at the same university at once.

Related samples

• Study plan for CSC and MEXT
• Email to a potential supervisor (general)
• Research proposal template
• Thank-you email after a call with a professor