Japanese Scholarships Ukrainian Students and Researchers Can Use, and Universities’ Own Support

“Study in Japan,” the study-abroad information site run by the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO, 日本学生支援機構), has a list titled “Universities Providing Support to Ukrainian Students.” The version current as of 1 May 2026 lists 60 universities, 42 of which are marked “recruitment closed/suspended.” Right after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Japanese universities announced their willingness to accept Ukrainian students one after another. More than four and a half years on, most of those programs have now closed.

So what can Ukrainian students and researchers actually use today to study and do research in Japan? This article looks separately at universities’ own support and at national scholarship and fellowship programs, based on official application information as of September 2026.

Universities’ own support: how to read the list of 60

The list marks each university against six categories — admission support, tuition support, housing support, living support (support payments, etc.), other support, and provision of remote classes — and lets you click through from the university’s name to details. Among the 18 universities not marked “recruitment closed/suspended,” the details include entries such as the following:

• Kyushu Kyoritsu University (Fukuoka Prefecture): accepts Ukrainian-national students who evacuated to Japan and are enrolled at a university, as transfer students after they complete a Japanese-language program, with tuition and fees fully waived. Provides free dormitory housing and a living-support payment (planned for up to four years, with an annual application required from the second year on)
• Chiba Institute of Technology (Chiba Prefecture): accepts around five students overall into its graduate master’s program, on the recommendation of institutions such as the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, with admission and tuition fees fully waived, free dormitory housing, and a living allowance of 50,000 yen a month
• Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (Okinawa Prefecture): accepts applications from Ukrainian students on a rolling basis for its research internship program open to students from outside the university
• Saitama University (Saitama Prefecture): accepts exchange students from partner universities in Ukraine and pays a scholarship of 80,000 yen a month through JASSO’s Study Abroad Support Program

The absence of the “closed” mark, though, does not mean a program is currently accepting applications. The entry for Chiba Institute of Technology concerns 2024 admission for “those expected to graduate by 31 March 2024,” and the entry for Tokyo International University is a tuition waiver for the “spring semester of academic year 2022.” The list page itself states, “Please check with each university for the latest information on recruitment and application details.” The safest way to use the list is as an entry point for finding out what kind of support each university has offered, and who to contact.

National scholarships and fellowship programs

National programs fall into two kinds: those limited to Ukrainian nationals, and general programs open regardless of nationality. Below are the ones that could be confirmed as of September 2026.

The 2022 special measure was a one-time program

In 2022, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, 文部科学省) recruited for a special government-sponsored scholarship, offered “in light of the prolonged situation in Ukraine,” to give Ukrainian students a chance to study Japanese language and culture. The scholarship was 117,000 yen a month. Additional recruitment ran from 5 to 26 August 2022, and the support period was set at “within one year from October 2022 (Reiwa 4),” with no extension permitted. This special measure is not a program currently being recruited.

Embassy-recommended government scholarships

The regular government scholarship program is recruited in Ukraine every year. The Embassy of Japan in Ukraine announced recruitment for AY2027 research students on 19 May 2026. Applicants must be Ukrainian nationals, in principle born on or after 2 April 1992, and meet the educational requirements in the recruitment guidelines. Documents were submitted by email, with a deadline of 30 June 2026. This year’s recruitment has closed; the next round will follow the embassy’s announcement.

A master’s program for civil servants: JDS

The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS), run by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA, 国際協力機構), is a grant-aid scholarship program under which young government officials from various countries earn a master’s degree at a Japanese graduate school, and Ukraine is among the eligible countries. According to JDS’s Ukraine recruitment page, eligible applicants are Ukrainian nationals aged 22 to 39 who have worked for at least two years as a regular staff member at a designated institution. Classes are taught in English, the host universities are International University of Japan and Rikkyo University, and the annual quota is four places. Recruitment for AY2026–27 admission has already closed. JICA notes that two Ukrainian officials have been studying at Rikkyo University since 2024.

For researchers: JSPS International Fellowships

The central program for hosting researchers is the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s (JSPS, 日本学術振興会) program for inviting foreign researchers. A dedicated quota for Ukraine could not be confirmed from JSPS’s published materials. As a regular program open regardless of nationality, Ukrainian researchers are eligible to apply.

Per the AY2026 application guidelines (in English), the “International Fellowships (Standard)” for postdoctoral researchers are open to researchers of any nationality of a country with diplomatic relations with Japan, within 6 years of earning a doctorate, for a period of 12–24 months. It provides a monthly stipend of 362,000 yen, a round-trip airfare, and a one-time settling-in allowance of 200,000 yen on arrival in Japan. One thing worth noting: it is not the researcher who applies, but the host researcher in Japan. A researcher at a Japanese university or research institution decides who to host and applies through their own institution. Foreign nationals living in Japan with a residence card are eligible, but permanent residents are not.

Students who evacuated to Japan and the “Student” status of residence

For Ukrainian students who have evacuated to Japan and are looking for scholarships, the type of status of residence they hold matters. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA, 出入国在留管理庁) has, as an emergency measure, been granting evacuees from Ukraine the status of residence “Designated Activities” (特定活動). Those recognized as a person eligible for complementary protection, a status that began on 1 December 2023, can in principle change to “Long-Term Resident” (定住者).

JASSO’s study-encouragement scholarship (48,000 yen a month at the graduate and undergraduate level, respectively), on the other hand, defines a “privately financed international student” as someone holding the status of residence “Student” (留学). The 2022 special government scholarship also required obtaining “Student” status. Which scholarships someone still enrolled at a university while holding an evacuee status of residence can apply for differs from program to program. Check the specific conditions with the international-student office at your university.

MEXT has a consultation desk for schooling and Japanese-language education for people who have evacuated from Ukraine. It can be reached by email (ukraine-helpdesk@mext.go.jp) and by phone, weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., in Plain Japanese and English. The ministry states that it cannot advise on status of residence, living expenses, or travel costs. Families with children in elementary or junior high school may also find the school records and documents a family can prepare before entering a Japanese school useful.

Leaving Ukraine to come to Japan

For students heading from within Ukraine to a Japanese university, there is one more hurdle. In June 2022, the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine, in its guidance on student visas for Ukrainian evacuees who had been admitted to a Japanese university, warned that adult men (aged 18–60) needed to obtain their own exit permit from the authorities during martial law. A Cabinet decision in August 2025 subsequently removed men aged 18 to 22 from the border-crossing restrictions. The details of this rule are covered in what martial law in Ukraine does, and does not, stop. It remains important for the accepting university and the student to confirm the conditions for leaving the country well in advance.