Admission Requirements

Applicants for each of the Institute’s four courses must meet the eligibility requirements below.

A. Graduate School Admission Course

  1. Applicants must have earned bachelor’s degrees or expect to receive them before the beginning of their graduate school studies.

B. Undergraduate Transfer Course

  1. Applicants must have completed at least their second year of university or expect to complete the second year before their transfer. Graduates of junior colleges and vocational schools are also eligible.

C. University Admission Course

  1. Applicants must have completed 12 years of regular academic study and be qualified to enter university in their home countries or must expect to be so qualified before the beginning of their study at the Institute.

D. Special Japanese Language Course

  1. Applicants must be currently enrolled as undergraduates or graduate students at an institution of higher learning.

Those to whom the eligibility requirements above do not apply should see the Japanese version of the 2016 Application Procedures or contact the J. F. Oberlin University Institute for Japanese Language and Culture.


In addition, all applicants must meet the eligibility requirements below.
  1. They must have attained a passing grade on level N5 or higher of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test or be able to provide a certificate of at least 150 hours of Japanese study from a language school. (However, it is preferable for students who do not use kanji on a daily basis to have passed level N4 or higher on the JLPT or have a certificate of at least 300 hours of Japanese study.)
  2. They must be motivated to pursue further study or research.
  3. They must not have completed more than one year of previous study in Japan prior to entering this program.
  4. They must have the financial means to study in Japan.



Notes:
To students who took the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test in 2009 or earlier:
N1 on the new test is approximately the same as level 1 on the old test.
N2 on the new test is approximately the same as level 2 on the old test.
N3 on the new test bridges level 2 and level 3 on the old test.
N4 on the new test is approximately the same as level 3 on the old test.
N5 on the new test is approximately the same as level 4 on the old test.