Asia KAKEHASHI Project

What is Asia KAKEHASHI Project?

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe created this initiative to strengthen relations between Japan and the rest of Asia, KAKEHASHI (Japanese for “Building Bridges”), provides full scholarships for 1,000 Asian high school students to study in Japan’s public and private high schools over the next five years. Together with 40,000 Japanese teens, these students will improve their global competence skills and learn more about each other’s countries.

It is a full scholarship funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to build bridges between high school students in Japan and in Asia.
This scholarship provided opportunities to Asian high school students to study and be culturally immersed in Japan for 10 months.
Selected students will study in a Japanese high school while staying with a host family or in a school dormitory.
The other main goal of this program is to expose Asia high school students to Japanese culture, local communities, and industries and as well as Japanese high school students to Asian students.

MEMO

Name of Program: Asia KAKEHASHI Project
Country: Japan
Program Type: Government Fully-Funded Scholarship
Program Duration: 9 months
Program Start Date: June 2022
Program End Date: March 2023
Placement: Japanese High School and Host Family
Deadline of Application: December 8, 2021

Note: Program dates are subject to change

Asia KAKEHASHI Project (Memorandum for 2022-23)

Requirements

Duly accomplished Pre-application Form.
Recent 2×2 ID-sized photo with white background attached in the application form.
Signed Certification and Consent Form by a parent or legal guardian.
Photocopy of Authenticated PSA Birth Certificate.
Photocopy of most recent Form 137 or Transcript of Records from your Philippine high school.
Photocopy of valid or government ID. School ID is accepted.

Note: Application form with incomplete information and requirements will lead to disqualification.

(New) Asia Kakehashi Project-Pre-Application Form 2022-23

Application Form

Eligibility

Philippine citizen residing in the Philippines, at the same time of application, selection and preparation for travel and must have spent more than 50% of the last 5 years in the Philippines and with current family plans of returning in the Philippines after the program.
Must be born after April 2, 2004 and before April 1, 2007. The student must be between 14-17 years of age at the time of application.
Be enrolled in 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th grade at the time of application; have not completed more than 11 years of primary education nor received a high school diploma (senior high school) by the start of the program.
Be among the top 25% of academic performance in grade level.
Have an equivalent of a B average or better without failing grades. Obtained minimum of 60% marks in principle in all subjects in the latest examination at school and overall minimum average of 60% marks in all subjects for the past two years.
Strong academic and social skills, openness, and flexibility.
Demonstrated Japanese language ability sufficient to study in a native Japanese-medium setting.
Sufficiently healthy to participate in the program.
No previous significant travel to Japan on a Japanese government sponsored program.
Committed to cultural immersion in the Japanese through a home-stay or dormitory experience.
Able to meet cross-cultural challenges with maturity, humor or open mind.
Plans to share his/her experience with his/her home and community upon return.

Note: Priority will be given to the students of families with low income (ITR of parents must be included in the pre-application form)

What has to be prepared by program finalists (not included in the Scholarship):

Submission Policy

All applications must be received by AFS Intercultural Programs Philippines NOT LATER than December 8, 2021 at 4:00 PM.
Due to the present community quarantine regulations set by the Philippine government, application must be submitted as soft/scanned copies only.
All pages and requirements must be scanned clearly with 100 dpi resolution, compiled in a SINGLE PDF file, and sent to [email protected] with an email subject format:
KAKEHASHI 2022-2023 Application_Surname_First Name
(Example: KAKEHASHI 2022 – 2023 Application_Ali_Fatima).

Other Important Notes:

Pre-application is provided free of any charges and can be photocopied.
AFS/Japan Embassy in the Philippines Staff and AFS Alumni do not collect any fees from applicants or schools.
Japanese Host School do not provide an official Transcript of Grade nor a Diploma.
Japan Grade Accreditation will be the participant’s school (Philippine School) discretion; All concerns regarding grade placement/accreditation in the Philippines is not covered by the Asia KAKEHASHI Project. Thus, participants are highly encouraged to communicate this kind of concern to their school in the Philippines.
Participants are highly encouraged to communicate this kind of concern to their school in the Philippines.

How can I apply for the program?

Answer: Download the application form from our website, and fill up the pre-application form and the essays. As for the school information section, you would need to ask your school to fill up that part and sign it as well. Afterwards, scan all the required documents (Application Form, PSA Birth Certificate, Passport and/or School ID, Form 137/Transcript of Grades) with at least 100 dpi resolution, compile it in a SINGLE PDF file, and send it to [email protected].

Can I input my answers directly into the form?

I do not have a passport yet. Can I still submit my application?

My passport is expired. Can I input the details of the expired passport?

Our school did not issue a school ID this year, and I do not have any other valid ID. What should I do?

I transferred to a new school this year, which school should I write in the school information part?

I cannot go to our school because of the community quarantine guidelines in our area, can I submit my form without the signature of the school administrator?

My school does not issue a Form 137. Can I submit my report card/transcript of grades?

Can I submit my NSO Birth Certificate?

I’m currently in Grade 10. Will I go straight into Grade 12 upon return to the Philippines after the program?

Will I still qualify for the program even if I’m in Grade 12, but my birthdate is within the indicated range (April 2, 2004 to April 1, 2007)?

My birthday is April 1, 2004, can you reconsider my application for the program?

My parents are exempted from paying the taxes, what should I do about the ITR Requirement?

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Check out the finalists and alternates for program cycle 2022-2023

Final Selection Results

Click Here