Japan With Adi
The plan I wish someone had given me at 18: choose a field, choose a program, research scholarships, know the private route, and keep a long-term plan with Japanese at its centre.
If someone had given me this plan when I was 18, I bet I would have done much, much better. So if you're 18 or 19 and want to go to Japan, for a bachelor's, a vocational college, a master's, an internship or a job, sit up and read this carefully.
1. Choose your field first 🎯
Most students don't know which field they want. They pick whatever society, parents or friends suggest. But in Japan, these are fields where many foreigners build stable careers with a good work-life balance:
- Translation and interpretation. Here, strong Japanese alone can be enough. Embassies, consulates, IT companies and automobile companies all hire translators and interpreters, including Japanese companies working in India.
- IT. AI engineering, computer science, software. One of the easiest ways into a job in Japan.
- Finance.
- Sales and marketing. Works across automobile, IT, tech, even biology: any industry.
- Game development, my personal favourite. Think Sony, Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Capcom.
Use LinkedIn to research the industry
Open a LinkedIn account. Search, say, "game developer" with the location set to Japan. You'll find people doing that job in Japan right now. Open their profiles and look at their skills, projects, Japanese level and companies.
That tells you exactly what to learn. Want to do front-end game development? Then learn Blender, and you can start for free on YouTube.
Many people are attracted to Japan because it seems fun: nature, culture, everything looks interesting. If you want fun, go on a trip. If you want a career, figure out your industry first.
2. Choose your program
| If you've finished | Your options |
|---|---|
| Class 12 | Bachelor's, vocational college (senmon gakkō), or a language school first |
| A bachelor's | Master's, or a job directly |
| A master's | A job, or a PhD |
3. Research scholarships, without spending a rupee 📚
Most of us come from middle-class families and don't want to spend our parents' hard-earned money. So scholarships come first.
Go to Study in Japan, the Japanese government's official site for international students, and read every page: costs, guidelines, programs. When I was 19 or 20 and preparing for MEXT, I copied out every point of the guidelines for the specialised training college track in a separate notebook and highlighted it. Read the guidelines 10 to 15 times and you'll know everything you need about MEXT.
All you need is an internet connection.
Look beyond MEXT
The same site has a scholarship search and a university search: Japanese-taught and English-taught programs, bachelor's, master's, vocational. Look at private foundation scholarships and the universities' own scholarships too.
Match scholarships to your profile
Every MEXT track has its own eligibility rules, including marks. If your marks don't meet the undergraduate track, it doesn't matter. Look at the specialised training college track, a two-year vocational diploma after which you can work in Japan directly.
Honestly, in Japan I don't think a university degree versus a two-year diploma makes a big difference to your salary. What matters is how well you know Japanese, how good your skills are, and how well you communicate and adapt to Japanese culture. I've seen people with a two-year diploma earn more than university graduates.
Write it down: "With my marks, these MEXT tracks are open to me. If not MEXT, here are my other realistic options."
4. Work out the private route honestly 💴
Many people assume studying in Japan privately is impossible. Sit down and calculate before you decide. Families spend huge amounts on years of JEE and NEET coaching. A language school year in Japan, or a vocational college, is often more manageable than people think, and students can work part-time within the limits their visa allows.
If your family can afford it, the private route is the fastest: less waiting, less overthinking. Either you invest time or you invest money.
5. Make a long-term plan, with Japanese at the centre
Worst case: no MEXT, no private scholarship, and the private route isn't possible. That's fine. We stay with the aim, with patience.
- Do your bachelor's in India, whatever your family wants you to study.
- In those three or four years, promise yourself you'll reach JLPT N2. That's plenty of time: one to two hours a day while managing college.
- Take the JLPT in July and December. If you miss it, the JFT-Basic test runs more often.
- Keep building your speaking. The stronger your conversation, the better your chance of a job in Japan straight after your degree.
This is real: many Indians go to Japan for a job right after a bachelor's, sometimes after an internship or some experience in India. What they need is good Japanese and a skill.
What about a master's?
You can absolutely do one. But a fully funded master's scholarship needs a concrete research plan, often contact with a Japanese professor, and a strong profile.
And ask yourself why you want it. If it's because "a higher qualification gets a better job in Japan," let me tell you: Japanese employers judge you most on your communication ability, your understanding of Japanese culture, and how serious you are about living and working in Japan. Many companies will train you in the job skills, but they expect you to speak Japanese so you can work in a Japanese team.
6. Know the work visa route too
Besides study and white-collar jobs, there's the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa. It covers fields like food service, construction, automobile repair, accommodation and nursing care. These are mostly hands-on jobs. You need JLPT N4 or the JFT-Basic test, plus a skills test for the field. Read our SSW guide to see how it works from India.
If you're even younger
Many students in class 8 or 9 write to me. First, I'm proud of you! If you're in class 9, you have three years until class 12. Reach N2 by then and you'll be miles ahead, ready to apply for MEXT and other scholarships with real confidence.
Promise yourself
Your parents didn't tell you to go to Japan. Your relatives didn't. You promised yourself. So stand in front of the mirror and promise you'll do everything in your power to get there.
You can pay an agency and be taken to Japan. Or you can study hard for months and get there on your own. When you do it yourself, you'll walk every day with your chest up, knowing you made it happen. That is the best feeling.
Next steps:
- Read Study in Japan from India: routes and costs.
- Start Japanese with our free course.
- If you want full scholarship guidance, FS – Future's Scholar is our mentorship for MEXT and other scholarships.
