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Kokugakuin University Visiting Fellows Program

Kokugakuin University Visiting Fellows Program (2024-2025)

• 1. Qualifications

  1) Applicants for the Visiting Fellows program shall be researchers engaged in a field of study dealing broadly with Japanese culture and society.

  2) The focus of a Visiting Fellow’s research must be one shared with one or more faculty members of Kokugakuin University to allow appropriate collaboration with and the provision of optimum assistance to the Visiting Fellow.

  3) In principle, Visiting Fellows must be candidates for the Ph. D. degree (or equivalent), affiliated with universities or research intuitions located outside of Japan.

  4) Citizenship or nationality is not taken into consideration when selecting Visiting Fellows.

  5) The successful applicant for the Visiting Fellows Program shall possess a sufficient command of the Japanese or English language to allow successful completion of research and academic activities in Japan.

  6) During the term of his or her designation as a Kokugakuin Visiting Fellow, an individual may not receive other fellowships or funding exceeding JPY300,000 (or equivalent) per month, and may not take on any employment not permitted by the conditions of his or her visa.

• 2. Annual Quota

  No specific Visiting Fellows quota  is set, but it is anticipated that a few persons will be selected each year of the program. (As of 2023, the maximum number of accepted candidates is 2 annually.)

• 3. Period of Research

  1) Once selected as a Visiting Fellow, an individual shall begin his or her research in Japan between October 1 and December 1, 2024.

  2) An individual shall conclude his or her term of research as a Visiting Fellow on or before September 30, 2025.

  3) The status of Visiting Fellow shall be granted for a period between six and twelve months. In principle, no change in the period of research is permitted once the applicant begins his or her research at Kokugakuin.

• 4. Stipend and Travel Expenses

  1) A Visiting Fellow shall be provided with economy class airline passage between the Fellow’s home country and Tokyo if the Fellow needs to travel to and from Japan; an airline ticket to Tokyo for inbound passage shall be provided at the beginning of the research term and one from Tokyo for outbound passage at the end of the term. The route covered by the tickets shall be reasonable economy and in terms of availability.

  2) Each Visiting Fellow shall be provided with a monthly stipend of JPY300,000 (months where one’s stay is fewer than twenty-five days shall be paid on a per diem basis (JPY10,000 per day). If a Visiting Fellow takes advantage of on-campus residence (single occupancy), the scholarship will be reduced to JPY210,000 (months where one’s stay is fewer than twenty-five days shall be paid on a per diem basis (JPY7,000 per day).

  （Visiting Fellows will be levied taxes on the aforementioned stipend in accordance with Japanese law.）

• 5. Responsibility of Visiting Fellows

  Visiting Fellows shall agree to fulfill the following conditions to promote international research and academic cooperation:

  1) Visiting Fellows shall appear before faculty colloquia to present research plans at the beginning of the research period, and to present the results of research at the conclusion of the research period;

  2) Visiting Fellows shall cooperate with requests for occasional lectures in their area of specialty at Kokugakuin, so far as such requests do not impede research activities;

  3) Before returning to their home countries, Visiting Fellows shall present the results of their research to the chairperson of the International Exchange Programs Office and the university president in the form of oral presentations and/or written papers;

  4)During their term as Visiting Fellows, individuals shall dedicate themselves to research activities at Kokugakuin and shall publicize the results of their research, one or more times within two years of the completion of their term as Visiting Fellows, via academic paper(s), monograph(s), or presentation(s) at academic conference(s) or symposium(s). If the results of research cannot be published within two years, the researcher must promptly notify Kokugakuin, along with the reason;

  5) Visiting Fellows shall note specifically in each publication that the research was made possible with the support of the Kokugakuin University Visiting Fellows Program, and this responsibility shall be applied not only to the publications within two years after the research period at Kokugakuin but to all works which the Kokugakuin’s support contributes to. In the event that research results take the form of monograph(s), academic journals, or other paper publication(s), the Visiting Fellow shall donate three copies of the publications to Kokugakuin University;

  6) Unless otherwise specified, Visiting Fellows shall be responsible for all expenses incurred in their research and everyday life. Examples of such expenses may include, among other things, medical fees, taxes and National Health Insurance fees, and expenses for transportation involved in their research.

• 6. Application Procedures

  Applicants shall submit the documents listed in Section 7 by the application deadline, following the instructions noted in 1), 2), and 3) below. The application process shall not be considered complete until Kokugakuin acknowledges receipt of the documents.

  1) Applicants shall submit the required documents by registered mail, trackable courier service, or by PDF file attachment to email.

  2) Deadline for arrival of all documents at the International Exchange Programs Office is December 12, 2023, Japan Standard Time.

  3) The International Exchange Programs Office at Kokugakuin will send the applicant acknowledgement of receipt of documents within three days. If the applicant does not receive acknowledgement, he/she should contact the International Exchange Programs Office without delay.

• 7. Application Documents

  Applicants shall submit the following documents, completed in either Japanese or English. If documents are submitted in other languages,
  they must be accompanied by an accurate translation in Japanese or English.
  1) Application form (Form 1)
  

  2) Research proposal
  

  3) Recommendation letter from the head of the applicant’s home institution / organization or equivalent.
  

  4) Recommendation letter from a researcher who can attest to the research abilities of the applicant
  ※In the event the authors of letters 3) and 4) are the same person, the two letters may be combined in a single document.
  

  5) Document certifying the status of the applicant as a student or employee of the home institution
  

  6) Curriculum vitae, including the applicant’s academic record, career record, published research, membership in academic societies, and relevant social activity
  

  7) Health certificate (issued by the home institution or other medical authority) certifying the applicant’s health is sufficient to conduct research during the period as a Visiting Fellow.)
  

  8) Recommendation letter from a tenured faculty member of Kokugakuin University (Form 2) agreeing to act as cooperating academic advisor to the applicant in the event the applicant is selected as Visiting Fellow. The letter may also be submitted to the International Exchange Programs Office directly by the recommending Kokugakuin faculty member.
  

  In some cases, Kokugakuin University may request the applicant for further information and/or documentation. The applicant may be rejected in the event any false statement or data is found in the submitted documents. The submitted application documents will not be returned to the applicant.

  Application Form

• 8. Notification of selection

  Successful applicants will be notified of their selection by March 31, 2024. During the screening process, applicants may be asked to attend an interview session using a video conferencing system.

  The successful applicants will be sent an official letter of invitation from the President of Kokugakuin University accordingly. In the case that the applicant is not approved to enter Japan for research activities, the nomination as a Kokugakuin University Visiting Fellow will be cancelled.

• 9. For applications forms or further information, contact:

  International Exchange Programs Office, Kokugakuin University
  4-10-28 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8840 Japan
  TEL +81-3-5778-7061    FAX +81-3-5778-7062
  Attention:  Akihiko Ishiyama (Mr.) 
  E-mail:  kokusai “a” kokugakuin.ac.jp     (Please change “a” into @ to send emails.)