About this Program
The Young Leaders' Program (YLP) is one of the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Programs commenced in 2001. YLP aims to contribute to cultivate future national leaders in Asian and other countries, moreover, to contribute to establish friendly relationship among various countries and to improve policy planning activities by forming a network among national leaders through deepening their understanding of Japan
Eligible Countries and Participants
Young public administrators, business managers and legal professionals who are expected to play active roles as future national leaders in Asian and other countries have an eligibility to apply for the YLP program. (See below 3 for Courses, Host Universities and details about eligible participants.)
Courses and Host Universities
There are five courses in the YLP Program (Government, Local Governance, Business Administration, Law and Healthcare Administration). All courses commence in September or October, and offer a one-year master’s program conducted in English. Students who complete the course are awarded a Master’s Degree. The host universities of the courses are as follows:
- Courses: School of government and host universities is National graduate institute for policy Studies (GRIPS), number of accepted students per year for 20 student and those who have at least 3 years of full-time work experience (preferably 5 years or more) in public administration.
- Courses: School of Local Governance and host universities is National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), number of accepted students per year for 10 student and those who have at least 3 years of full-time work experience (preferably 5 years or more) in public administration.
- Courses: Business Administration and host university is Hitotsubashi University, number of accepted students per year for 15 and entrepreneurs, business managers and public officials who have at least 2 years of full-time work experience.
- Courses: Law and host universities is Kyushu University, number of accepted students per year for 15 and those who have at least 4 years of work experience in a law office or in the legal section of a company or government department.
- Courses: Healthcare Administration is Nagoya University, number of accepted students per year for 10 and those who have at least 3 years of full-time working experience in healthcare fields in public sector at government department.
Required Documents
The recruitment of applicants and nomination of candidates to the Embassy of Japan are conducted by the recommending institutions. Subsequently, the selection is conducted in the following process.
(1) First screening by the host universities (through document screening and interview)
(2) Second screening by the YLP Committee established by MEXT
(3) Finalization of selection results by MEXT.
- Roles of Recommending Institutions:
Recommending institutions are government bodies and relevant organizations in the eligible countries qualified by MEXT to take roles of recruitment and nomination of candidates to the YLP program. MEXT also designates courses of which each recommending institution can nominate candidates. The roles of recommending institutions in the process of recruitment and nomination are as follows (See ‘GUIDELINES FOR JAPANESE GOVERNMENT (MEXT) SCHOLARSHIP FOR 2024: YOUNG LEADERS’ PROGRAM (YLP) STUDENTS’ for more details.):
1. Notification about the YLP Program and acceptance of applications
2. Selection of candidates to be recommended
3. Recommendation of candidates to the Embassy of Japan
4. Notification of results to candidates
