Daiwa Scholarships in Japanese Studies: General information

The Daiwa Scholarships in Japanese Studies, a postgraduate programme to support the study of Japanese Studies in either Japan or the UK, were launched in 2015.

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation gratefully acknowledges additional support for this programme from Daiwa Securities Group Inc. who have funded the 2015 to 2022 Scholars.

Since 2015, Scholarships have been awarded to 34 individuals, focussing on Japan in a variety of areas such as archaeology, art, history and Japanese literature both in the UK and Japan.

The intention is to support postgraduate studies related to Japan at a university in Japan or the UK.

An information flyer can be found here.

The deadline for the 2026 programme is Thursday, 29 January 2026.

Interviews are scheduled to take place on Friday 6 March 2026.

The application form for the 2026 programme is available via the link below. Please choose the form for the Daiwa Scholarships in Japanese Studies.

Please read the application notes carefully before moving on to the application form:

Application Forms

Eligibility

Candidates for the Daiwa Scholarships in Japanese Studies must be:

British citizens who hold or are completing a degree in Japanese Studies, defined as a course focusing primarily on the study of Japan, and containing a substantial Japanese language component. Applicants who hold (or are completing) combined honours courses where Japanese accounts for at least 50% of the course are also eligible to apply. The Scholarship would be to cover a further course of study related to Japanese Studies.
enrolled* or enrolling in a further course of study related to Japanese Studies in either Japan or the UK (i.e., the course to be covered by the Daiwa Scholarship in Japanese Studies)

*Please note that Scholarships will not be granted in arrears.

Strong Japanese language ability will be a key selection criterion.

Scholarships will not be awarded to former recipients of Daiwa Scholarships or to the same individual more than once.

Conditions of Scholarship

Of those applicants seeking funding for courses at UK universities, preference will generally be given to students who will undertake part of their studies in Japan.
Scholarships will be awarded to cover the period required to attain the degree in question. In cases where the applicant has already begun his or her studies, the Scholarship will fund the whole remaining period required.
The Scholarship will cover university fees for the course in question, plus living expenses. Living expenses will be payable at a rate of £1,400 per month for periods spent in the UK, and ¥280,000 per month for periods spent in Japan.
In the case of part-time courses, living expenses will be reduced by 50% ( £700 per month in the case of those studying in the UK and ¥140,000 for those studying in Japan).
The Foundation will only cover the equivalent of home student fees (domestic student fees).
The Foundation will contribute £1,000 towards the cost of one economy class return air fare between the UK and Japan in the case of Scholars who will be flying out to Japan to begin their course of study.
The Foundation will contribute £1,000 towards the cost of one economy class return air fare per annum between the UK and Japan in the case of relevant travel being undertaken.
Continuation of funding will be conditional on satisfactory progress being made. Scholars will be required to submit annual progress reports to the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation.
Amounts payable to Scholars in receipt of other funding (e.g., a salary; Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, JSPS, Japan Foundation, university scholarships or bursaries) will be reduced by the amount of this other funding.
Scholarships will not be granted in arrears.
Scholarships will not be awarded to former recipients of Daiwa Scholarships or to the same individual more than once.

Any queries can be referred to scholarships@dajf.org.uk.