Arrival Information for MEXT Scholarship Students 2021
Updated on : March 3rd, 2022
The information below is for the MEXT scholarship students who entered TU in October 2021, and returnees of the Japan-Korea Joint Government Scholarship Program for the Students in Science and Engineering Departments (hereafter NIKKANSEI). The word "MEXT scholarship students" on this webpage is used to indicate "MEXT scholarship students who entered TU in October 2021" and "NIKKANSEI".
Update History
Mar. 3: Updated Some points for those who are entering in March 2022. They are written in Blue.
Nov. 5: Updated "Health Check"
Oct.29: Updated "End of Quarantine, Coming to Sendai" & Deleted "(Reference) Announcement as of 27th September"
Oct.20: Updated "Others" on "Departure Preparations"
Oct.14: Updated "Questionnaire" & "COVID-19 test"
Oct.12: Added "Additional Requirements for Those who are from Countries/Regions where COVID-19 Variants are Prevalent"
Oct.11: Updated "Visa Application" & "Questionnaire"
Oct. 6: Updated "[IMPORTANT]" & Added "Update History"
Oct. 4: Added "(Reference) Announcement as of 27th September"
Oct. 1: Published
We opened our website on Oct. 1st 2021.
International Education Section of Student Exchange Division, Tohoku University is providing arrival support for MEXT scholarship students. Please check this website frequently as we will update it in the near future. Thank you for your kind understanding!
NIKKANSEI is required to follow some different procedures.
MEXT has announced the quarantine period is not shortened even if you have been vaccinated.
The measure Japanese government announcement on 27th September does NOT apply to MEXT scholarship students.
The Japanese government announced the shortening quarantine measure as of 27th September, however they have not indicated if the measure applies to MEXT scholarship students as of the day this website was published. Therefore, please follow the instructions on this website.
(Reference) Announcement as of 27th September
Please rigorously implement infection prevention, such as wearing masks, disinfecting hands, avoiding the "3Cs" etc.
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
Avoid the “Three Cs”!
5 Situations that Increase the Risk of Infection
Getting Started～Overall Flow
| Step | Embassy Recommendation | University Recommendation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0. | Health Check: Please monitor your temperature and health condition and log them twice each day while you are in your own country. |
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| 1. | Obtain a Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Certificate | *You will receive the certificate from the department office. | |
| 2. | Apply for a visa: After the Embassy of Japan etc. in your country contacts you, apply for and obtain a visa. |
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| 3. | Arrange airline tickets: The Embassy of Japan will contact you and arrange your flight ticket. | Arrange airline tickets: The University will contact you and arrange your flight ticket. | *MEXT will bear the cost of the airline ticket.
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| 4. | Confirm flight, prepare for the departure | *Check your itinerary and make sure you have everything you need for the trip. | |
| 5. | Undergo COVID-19 test (PCR test etc. in your own country): Undergo a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departure and obtain a negative test result in the required format. | *If your result is positive, you cannot depart for Japan. | |
| 6. | Submit your Health Checklist and report your COVID-19 test result to Tohoku University before departing for Japan. |
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| 7. | Arrival in Japan: *Pledge and Certificate of negative COVID-19 test will be required to enter Japan. *Answer the questionnaire on the airplane or at the airport on arrival and present your QR code at the quarantine station. *Undergo another COVID-19 test at the airport of your arrival in Japan, and submit the test result to Tohoku University. |
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| 8. | Quarantine: *After leaving the airport, go to the hotel where you will quarantine. *While under quarantine you are required to use a rental smartphone to provide daily reports of your location and health condition. | *You will stay at a hotel near your airport of arrival for 7 *The university will make the hotel arrangements. You do not have to make reservations. | |
| 9. | Travel to Sendai: Go to Tokyo Station by bus after leaving your hotel. From Tokyo Station, take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Sendai Station. | *The Student Exchange Division will arrange the tickets. *You will receive them at the hotel during your stay. | |
| 10. | Travel to your housing: | *Those staying at Tohoku University housing must complete the moving-in procedures before moving in. | |
For New Enrollment Students You will be contacted later by your department at Tohoku University about the following. ◆ Arrangements necessary to receive scholarship money: Resident Registration, opening a bank account, submitting airline ticket stubs, enrollment confirmation ◆ Other procedures: Enrollment procedures, class registration etc. Note: The above information is current as of March 1 Note: Expenses borne by each student will vary from person to person.
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Arrangements and Fees
| MEXT | Tohoku University (or travel agency) | Student | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paid by MEXT | Arranged by TU | Paid by TU | Arranged by the student | Paid by the student | ||
| PCR test/ certificate issuance before traveling to Japan | Yes | Yes |
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| Airline Ticket | Yes | Yes |
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| Private health insurance | Yes | Yes | Valid for 21 days upon arrival | |||
| Smartphone | Yes | Yes |
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| PCR test for those from areas where COVID-19 variants are prevalent | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Disinfectant /masks | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Airport taxes | Yes* | Can be paid after 1st scholarship payment | ||||
Transportation (airport to hotel) | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Hotel | Yes | Yes* | Can be paid after 1st scholarship payment | |||
| Meals/other expenses for hotel stay | Yes | Yes | ||||
Transportation (hotel to Sendai) | Yes | Yes* | Can be paid after 1st scholarship payment | |||
*About JPY 150,000 total
Departure Preparations
Please complete the following before leaving your country of origin.
Pledge | *It was requested to consent to the contents by TU in late September. Please double-check the contents before departure. Sample/ |
|---|---|
Google Account | *MEXT scholarship students need to create a google account before departure for Japan because they are requested to record their location with a personal Google account on a smartphone TU provides during the quarantine period after entering Japan. |
Health Check | * From the day after you receive an email about priority entry, please begin monitoring your temperature and health condition and logging them twice each day in the Tohoku University Health Checklist. Submit your Health Checklist to Tohoku University before departing for Japan. *Please report your morning condition by noon in your local time every day via here.
* If you have COVID-19 symptoms, you cannot travel to Japan. |
Visa Application | * After the Embassy of Japan etc. in your country contacts you, apply for and obtain a visa. *Share the expected visa issue date after applying for visa. [Every students] *Send a copy of your visa by email after getting visa. [Every students] |
Flight Arrangement | * MEXT will specify the schedule and route of travel and issue an airline ticket. The ticket will be an economy class ticket from the international airport nearest the student's residence (generally within the student's country of origin) to an international airport in Japan commonly used to travel to the host university. * In general, you must bear all transportation costs from their residence to the nearest international airport, airport taxes, airport fees, special travel taxes, transportation expenses within Japan and baggage/shipping fees. * Please wait to arrange your flight until you hear from the university or Japanese embassy/consulate. You will definitely be contacted. Please do not reserve your ticket before then. We will contact each student in turn. Please look into airport/luggage fees and rules on travel to Japan yourself. |
COVID-19 test | * You must, at your own expense, undergo a COVID-19 test within 72 hours before departing for Japan and obtain proof of a negative result. Proof of a negative COVID-19 test result will be required to enter Japan. The certificate must be in the specified format. Please be sure to use it. *For those who use a domestic flight, please make sure to undertake a PCR test 72 hours before leaving your country, not the first domestic flight (An announcement from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). * Immediately before departing, please report your test result to Tohoku University using the form below. Include an image of your negative test certificate. You can take a picture and upload as JPEG or PDF format. * If your test result is positive, please contact us promptly using the email address at the bottom of the website.
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Others | * MEXT states that students cannot bring family members with them to Japan. Please come to Japan by yourself. * In addition to items and clothes you will need for your daily life/studies in Japan, please make sure to bring your own thermometer, masks, hand sanitizer, sanitary products etc. (about a month's supply). Please also bring a Wi-Fi capable device such as a smartphone, laptop PC, etc. (You will be able to use Wi-Fi in the hotel room. You will need a Wi-Fi device to communicate with the university during your stay there.) * Scholarship payments will be made about 2 months after your arrival in Japan. Please bring about USD 2,500(JPY300,000) to cover living expenses until then. * For information on Japan (Sendai), please check the TU Support website. * Cancellation fees : If you are unable to come to Japan due to the result of a PCR test conducted within 72 hours before your departure, or if you are unable to enter Japan due to some other reason upon arrival at an airport in Japan, you might be responsible for cancellation fees for your flight and hotel. |
Checklist before your departure
Here are the final things you must check before departing.
◆Double check your flight date and time.
◆Submit to Tohoku University： Please upload as JPEG or PDF format.
□ Health Checklist
□ Certificate of negative COVID-19 test
→Does the certificate use the REQUIRED FORM?
→Did you submit the report form for your negative result to Tohoku University? (A digital copy of your certificate is required.)
Health Checklist & COVID-19 Test Result Form
◆Keep all the following documents etc. with you on the plane.
□ Passport
□ Smartphone (needed to complete questionnaire)
□ Certificate of negative COVID-19 test
□ Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Certificate (Only University-recommended scholarship students)
(Please print out;)
□ E-ticket (Please print out two copies of the ticket.)
□ Pledge written in Japanese (for MEXT Scholarship students. Student Exchange Division will send it before your departure. Please note that it is DIFFERENT from the one TU sent to you before visa application in September. )
□ Smartphone delivery letter (Student Exchange Division will send it before your departure.)
□ Questionnaire based on the provisions of Article 12 of the Quarantine Act (Student Exchange Division will send it before your departure.)
◆Other
□ Prepare your own thermometer, masks, hand sanitizer, sanitary products etc. (about a month's supply).
□ Prepare a Wi-Fi capable device such as a smartphone, laptop PC, etc.
□ Cash (approx. USD 2,500).
□ If needed, prepare prescriptions for any medications you are taking.
Quarantine at the Airport
Questionnaire | * To enable follow-up checks of your health during the 7 * |
|---|---|
COVID-19 test | * Upon entering Japan, you must undergo another COVID-19 test at the airport at which you arrived. It may take a very long time from obtaining the test result to completing customs/immigration procedures. Please be patient. |
No entry to Duty-free Shops | *MEXT scholarship students are not allowed to use Duty-free shops by the Japanese government directives. Enter Japan as soon as you pass the quarantine station after landing. |
Entering Japan and Going to the Hotel
Entering Japan | * Proof of a negative COVID-19 test certificate from your country of nationality, Pledge (for MEXT Scholarship students) and the smartphone delivery letter will be required to enter Japan. * At the arrival gate, staff from Tohoku University's appointed travel agency holding a signboard that says "MEXT" will be waiting for you. Please be sure to meet with the staff. * The travel agency staff will give you a smartphone. You will need it during the quarantine period, so please do not lose it. * Staff from Tohoku University's appointed travel agency will help with the hotel arrangements. You will travel from the airport to the hotel by charter bus. Travel agency staff will guide you. * Before going to the hotel, please exchange your money at the airport. |
|---|---|
Going to the Hotel | * Before coming to Tohoku University (Sendai), you will be quarantined at a hotel near the airport. The quarantine period is 8 * We will ask the travel agency to allow you to pay hotel fees after the first scholarship payment. Therefore you do not need to pay them there. |
Others | * You will have to submit your used boarding pass to the university. Please keep it in a safe place. * All students will be enrolled in overseas travel insurance. The university will cover the fees. It will be valid for 21 days from your arrival. |
Quarantine at the Hotel
* Monitor your health and use your own thermometer to take your temperature during the quarantine period.
* You are required to use the rental smartphone to provide daily reports of your location and health condition, and take calls on the teleconferencing app if necessary. The smartphone will come with all the necessary apps already installed and any necessary settings will be preset, but you must send the daily reports and provide responses yourself. Please be sure to do so.
The Health Monitoring Center for Overseas Entrants (HCO) will contact you with a teleconference app "My SOS". Please do not forget to log in the app before starting quarantine. Also, please be sure to respond to a message about health monitoring from HCO everyday during the 714 days quarantine.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare ・ Quarantine Station ・ Health Monitoring Center for Overseas Entrants (HCO)
Regulations on Mandatory 714-Day Isolation
https://www.hco.mhlw.go.jp/en/
●Daily for 714 Days ・ Your Obligations
・Report your location with the Overseas Entrants Locator (My SOS) app
・Report your health condition (My SOS)
●At any given time ・Health Monitoring Center for Overseas Entrants (HCO)
・Confirm your location on the teleconferencing app (MySOS)
●Miscellaneous
・Settings for saving location records on the smartphone
・Use the COCOA/COVID Contact Confirming App
Failure to respond to or comply with requests/instructions will result in deportation in accordance with Japanese law and make you ineligible to enroll at Tohoku University as a MEXT Scholarship Student. You are under obligation to monitor your health and respond to any requests during the quarantine period. Please do so every day without fail.
《Request》
Information (excluding personal information) gathered by the airport quarantine station and Health Monitoring Center for Overseas Entrants may be provided in information for future MEXT Scholarship Students. We ask for your cooperation with any future university requests.
MEXT asks that you please rigorously observe the following instructions while staying at the hotel:
→ Do not leave the hotel.
→ Do not leave your room, except for essential reasons.
→ Do not use the hotel's public spaces, lounges, etc., or enter other guests' rooms.
→ You may use the tour desk, convenience store etc. for shopping and laundry.
→ Eat in your own room.
* MEXT's instructions state that students are not to go to restaurants and convenience store during their quarantine. Please obtain meals at a convenience store or order room service. The hotel will prepare your meals and deliver to your room every day. You must pay for meals yourself at the hotel. The hotel will not prepare your meal(s) on the arrival day. Please refer to here and bring some food. You will be informed on the rules for using the convenience store/laundry room before your arrival.*You may not use laundry as well during the quarantine. Please be advised to bring enough clothes for the period.
* Please take COVID-19 precautions at the hotel. Tohoku University will provide masks and hand sanitizer for use at the hotel.
* While staying at the hotel, please take your temperature twice a day and monitor your health. Comply with the Japanese government's daily follow-up health survey. Failure to comply with this survey or other government instructions will result in punishment in accordance with Japanese law. (A detailed explanation will be given when you check in.)
* If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the hotel tour desk or Tohoku University.
Entering Japan from Countries/Regions where COVID-19 Variants are Prevalent
The Japanese government has identified about 40 countries/regions where variant strains of COVID-19 are prevalent.
If you arrive from one of these countries, you will undergo another PCR test on the 3rd day of your hotel quarantine.
You will not be allowed to leave your hotel room until this test's result is issued (even to use the convenience store or laundry room).
During this time, you will be able to get meals from the hotel's room service.
If your test result is negative, you will be able to use the hotel facilities (convenience store, laundry room, etc.).
The number of such countries/regions may increase hereafter.
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html#section3
(3) Enforced quarantine measures for all the travelers who enter, re-enter, or return to Japan from countries/regions with community transmission of coronavirus variants and countries/regions whose authorities have announced confirmation of domestic infection of new variants of coronavirus
Additional Requirements for Those who are from Countries/Regions where COVID-19 Variants are Prevalent
End of Quarantine, Coming to Sendai
* After the quarantine period is over, you will come to Tohoku University (Sendai). Our travel agency will arrange your ground transportation (for the trip to Sendai) and you must pay for travel within Japan yourself. You will be allowed to pay the fares for the ground transportation within Japan after getting first scholarship payment. The travel agency will issue invoice and request you the payment by bank transfer (Detailed information will be announced later). To ensure a quick and safe journey, all students will travel by train and bullet train. The travel agency staff will give you your tickets at the hotel while you are staying.
* You will return the rental smartphone to the tour desk in the quarantine hotel when you check out.
*If you wish to send your baggage to the dormitory, please arrange a scheduled delivery so you can receive it after getting to the dormitory by yourself. Please make sure to specify the arrival time as well. Regarding shipping slip and the procedure, please ask the front desk staff at the quarantine hotel.
* Please be sure to wear a mask while traveling. Use hand sanitizer while on trains and taxis as well. Please eat before you board the train or taxi. Do not eat while riding in vehicles.
From the Hotel to Sendai (MIYAGI Pref.) Transportation from Narita airport to Sendai station (Subject to Change)
Ground transportation | Route: Hotel → Narita AP Terminal 1 → Narita AP Terminal 1 Sta. → Keisei Ueno Sta. → <walk> → JR Ueno Sta. → Sendai Sta. (1) At the tour desk in the quarantine hotel; ◆Narita Airport Terminal 1 Bus Terminal
◆Keisei Ueno Station map *Please see "For JR Ueno Station" on "Station Exit" |
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Before Heading to Dormitory Get a Smart Card for Transport
We recommend you to get a Suica from a ticket machine (tap "Purchase new Suica" on the screen of a machine) or JR EAST Travel Service Center at JR Sendai Station and top up with approx. JPY 3,000 for starters, before heading to the dormitory. Suica is a smart card for transportation paying as you go for Sendai City Subway, Sendai City Bus and JR train, even for purchasing stuff at major convenience stores and drugstores.
From Sendai Station to Dormitory
You will have to arrange the transportation by yourself or follow the instructions from your department.Student Exchange Division does not specify how to get to your dormitory, but please make sure to arrive at the dormitory by 17:00 at the latest.
See page 24 of the Pocket Guide for the details.
If you take a taxi from JR Sendai Station to get to your dormitory, it would take about 15 - 30 minutes. The fare would be about JPY 2,000-4,000 but differ depending on the traffic condition. At JR Sendai Station, go down to the 1st floor to find a taxi stand, just outside of the station.
After arriving at Sendai
You will go to the university dormitory you have been assigned. Please make sure to bring the Residence Permit (only those who will stay at the university dormitory).
* Register as a resident of Sendai and open a Japan Post Bank account. (University staff will give you instructions.)
* Undergo enrollment procedures at the university. (University staff will give you instructions.)
* Submit your ticket stubs, boarding pass etc. to the university. (University staff will give you instructions.)
Useful Websites
Maps & Directions
- Bus & Subway Commuting Guide
Campus Life
1. TU Campus Life
2. TU Computer Network Access Guideline
3. Medical Handbook
4. Sendai Living Guide (Hospital List)
8. Aeon Sendai - Supermarket (Downtown)
9. Gyomu Super - Supermarket (Downtown, Halal food available)
Contact
Arrangement & Inquiries (Please put your name in the email subject.):
International Education Section, Student Exchange Division
Hours: 9:00 am-17:00 pm, Mon-Fri
Counter #6-B, 2nd floor, Education and Student Support Center (A01 on the map), Kawauchi Campus,
41 Kawauchi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8576 Japan
E-mail: mext-tohoku*grp.tohoku.ac.jp (please replace the "*" with "@")