In October 2023, the Japan Student Services Organisation (JASSO) published the application guidelines for the 2nd stage of the Tobitate (Leap for Tomorrow) Young Ambassador Programme, a Japanese public-private partnership aimed at encouraging Japanese students to study abroad.

The Program was first launched in 2014 with the expectation that individuals and private companies would play a key role, through the provision of financial support, in developing a community of globalised human talent - young people equipped with a global outlook to succeed in tomorrow’s world. Between 2014-2022, 9,500 high school and university students were selected under this programme and given the opportunity to study overseas.

On August 5, 2022, it was decided that Tobitate would continue and the Next Tobitate Initiative would be from 2023 to 2027 as the next stage. The goal of the second stage is aimed at bringing the number of Japanese students studying abroad back to pre-COVID levels as soon as possible, following the sharp decline in student numbers overseas due to the pandemic. Backed by donations from corporates (the targeted donation sum is JPY 100 million yen, or GBP 550,000), the 5-year programme targets to provide up to one year of financial support for 4,000 high school students and 5,000 university students.

The applications for both high school and university students open on 1 December 2023, and applications close on 24 January 2024 and 28 February 2024 respectively.

https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/kokusai/tobitate/1422994_00003.htm
https://tobitate-mext.jasso.go.jp/about/english.html

What does this mean for the UK sector?

The decision to re-open the Tobitate programme clearly reflects the high demand for scholarships and financial support from Japanese students wishing to study abroad but who have been affected by the high inflation in destination countries as well as the depreciation in the Japanese yen against major foreign currencies. The call for applications in the second stage of Tobitate is therefore welcome news for Japanese students as well as the UK higher education sector at a time when enquiries for scholarship opportunities by Japanese students have been on the rise.
Although Tobitate is designed to support students on short to medium-term study abroad courses, this is mainly to align the programme to the culture of Japanese students who tend to prefer to start with a short to medium-term study abroad course as their first study abroad experience before progressing onto a degree or masters level programme. The long-term end in mind, as informed by government officials, is really to encourage these students to apply for longer-term courses (namely undergraduate and postgraduate courses) in the long run.

UK universities will be able to direct relevant students to this programme when inquired about financial support. It would also be important for the sector to continue to collaborate with the EFL and further education sector, agents, school counsellors and the Japanese government to promote the UK as a wider study destination as there is a high chance that these students on short to mid-term courses will seek to continue their study abroad experience and eventually apply for longer-term courses.