Do You Need Japanese to Study in Japan? English-Taught Programs for Indian Students

Dr. Jayanthy Ramakrishnan

06/11/2026

11 min read

No, you do not need Japanese to study in Japan, if you choose an English-taught degree. English-taught programs in Japan admit students on English-test scores and academic results, with no Japanese test at the application stage. They are a minority, though. JASSO, the government agency behind the Study in Japan website, says classes at Japanese universities are “generally held in Japanese”, and that a Japanese-taught bachelor’s programme expects JLPT N1 or N2 plus at least 250 points on the Japanese section of the EJU.

So the real question is which programme you apply to. A degree taught in English needs proof of English, usually TOEFL or IELTS. A degree taught in Japanese needs advanced Japanese before you start. And a few “international” programmes sit in between: Kyoto University’s Kyoto iUP needs no Japanese to apply but teaches the final two years in Japanese.

This guide explains the difference, lists the main English-taught routes at the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Waseda and Nagoya, covers graduate programmes and the MEXT scholarship, and explains why some Japanese still helps. Every programme fact comes from the university’s own pages or from JASSO’s Study in Japan site, read on 3 November 2026.

Do you need Japanese to study in Japan?

It depends on the language the degree is taught in. JASSO’s pages on universities and graduate schools describe three situations:

JASSO says the number of bachelor’s programmes taught entirely in English has grown in recent years, and that English-taught programmes are more common at graduate level. It also notes that colleges of technology and specialised training colleges (senmon gakko) offer no degree programmes in English, so for those routes Japanese is unavoidable.

If you are heading for a Japanese-taught degree, our JLPT exam guide for Indian students explains the levels, the test dates in India and how to register.

Which universities offer English-taught bachelor’s degrees?

A handful of large universities run full bachelor’s degrees in English. These are the routes their own admissions pages describe today.

University of Tokyo: College of Design and Global Science Course

UTokyo’s undergraduate admissions page says the final admissions to PEAK (Programs in English at Komaba) ended with the Fall 2026 enrolment, as UTokyo moves its English programmes to a new faculty.

• UTokyo College of Design starts in September 2027 and offers a five-year combined bachelor’s and master’s programme. Its admissions overview says “All courses are taught in English” and admits 100 students through two routes. Route B, which uses school-leaving results and tests other than Japan’s Common Test, lists India’s Class XII with these expectations: an average of 93 or above in the top five subjects for CBSE, and 94 or above for CISCE, NIOS and state boards. The application window for September 2027 entry ran from 15 October to 5 November 2026 (5 p.m. Japan time), so later applicants should watch for the next cycle. The page notes that the faculty is still under review by Japan’s Ministry of Education (MEXT) and details may change.
• Global Science Course (GSC) is a transfer programme, not a first-year entry. According to its eligibility page, you must have completed your first two years of undergraduate study at a university outside Japan, including basic undergraduate chemistry and two of mathematics, physics or biology, and earned at least 62 credits on UTokyo’s credit system. You join the third year of the Faculty of Science and graduate with a UTokyo Bachelor of Science. All classes and lab sessions are in English, and no Japanese is required to apply.

Our University of Tokyo guide covers fees, scholarships and the graduate options.

Waseda University: six English-based schools

Waseda’s International Admissions Office says it offers English-based degree programmes at six undergraduate schools: Political Science and Economics; Social Sciences (the TAISI programme); International Liberal Studies (SILS); Culture, Media and Society (JCulP); Fundamental Science and Engineering; and Creative Science and Engineering. It states that Japanese is not required for application, and it accepts school results such as AISSCE (CBSE Class XII), IB and A-levels alongside the SAT and ACT.

The SILS admissions guide lists 150 places for September entry, with applications from 7 to 28 January 2027 (an early round closes on 12 January). Read our Waseda University guide for fees and how the schools compare.

Nagoya University: Global 30 (G30)

Nagoya’s G30 International Programs offer 10 undergraduate and 19 graduate degree programmes that are “fully taught in English, with no minimum Japanese language requirement at the time of enrollment”. Undergraduate programmes cover engineering, the sciences, law, economics and Japan-in-Asia cultural studies. For 2027 entry, the first round runs from 2 to 19 November 2026, with a second round in January 2027 for some programmes only.

Kyoto University: an English-only course, and iUP

Kyoto University runs two undergraduate routes for international students, and they are very different.

• The Undergraduate International Course Program of Civil Engineering teaches civil engineering in English. Kyoto iUP’s own FAQ names it as the programme where you can graduate “without learning Japanese, but only with classes conducted in English”. Its guidelines are for an April 2027 intake.
• Kyoto iUP is a 4.5-year programme: six months of preparatory study, including intensive Japanese, then four years of undergraduate study. No Japanese is needed to apply, but the iUP FAQ is explicit that it “is not an English-taught program”. Students learn in English and Japanese for the first two and a half years and take specialised lectures in Japanese in the final two. Applications for October 2027 entry are open from 2 November to 3 December 2026.

See our Kyoto University guide for iUP’s fee waivers and scholarships.

English-taught programmes at a glance

Dates and requirements are as published on each official page on 3 November 2026. Check the page again before you apply, because universities update their guidelines every year.

For a wider search, JASSO keeps a list of schools that offer degree programmes in English.

Can you do a master’s or PhD in Japan in English?

Yes, and this is where most of the choice is. JASSO says globalisation has led many universities, “graduate schools in particular”, to offer degrees taught completely in English, and that many now admit in September or October as well as April.

• UTokyo publishes a list of graduate degree programmes offered in English, mostly in engineering, the sciences, global health and urban studies, including several Global 30 master’s courses.
• Nagoya’s G30 includes 19 graduate programmes, from automotive engineering to economics and law.
• Waseda notes that a full-coverage MEXT scholarship is available if you are seeking graduate-level study.

At graduate level, the language of your laboratory matters as much as the language of the programme. A course can be English-taught while lab meetings run in Japanese. Our guide to Japanese language requirements for a master’s in Japan covers that question in detail, so ask your prospective supervisor before you apply.

Can a MEXT scholarship fund an English-taught degree?

Yes, through either of the two MEXT application routes. JASSO’s MEXT scholarship page explains them:

• Embassy recommendation: you apply through the Japanese embassy or consulate in India. For undergraduate scholars, JASSO gives the length as five years including Japanese language training.
• University recommendation: a Japanese university recruits candidates through its student-exchange agreements with schools overseas, screens them and recommends them to MEXT. JASSO says only universities approved by MEXT can do this, and that you should first check whether the university you want has a recommendation quota. Scholars on this route usually arrive in September or October, and normally have no preliminary Japanese course.

Our MEXT scholarship application guide walks through both routes, the documents and the timeline from India.

What English test scores do English-taught programmes ask for?

Most ask for TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic, and some accept Duolingo, Cambridge or EIKEN. JASSO’s guideline is TOEFL iBT 71–80 or IELTS 5.5–6 for an English-taught bachelor’s degree, and TOEFL iBT 75–80 or IELTS 6 for a graduate degree. The universities above set their own levels:

• UTokyo College of Design: expected scores (not cut-offs) of TOEFL iBT above 80 for tests taken before 21 January 2026, or above 4 for tests from that date; IELTS above 6.0; Duolingo above 110. Only tests taken from 1 January 2025 count. Route B applicants are exempt if all their classes, apart from foreign languages, were in English for at least three of their last four school years.
• UTokyo GSC: minimum TOEFL iBT 80 or IELTS 6.5, unless English is your first language or was your language of instruction at school and university for the last eight years.
• Kyoto iUP: no minimum score; the FAQ gives typical scores of successful candidates as TOEFL iBT 90 and IELTS 6.5. Only TOEFL or IELTS is accepted.
• Nagoya G30: minimum scores are in the admission requirements. Applicants with three or more consecutive years of English-medium secondary education, including the final year, can submit a school statement instead of a test score.

The English-medium exemptions matter for Indian students. If your school taught in English, check whether you can skip the test before booking one, and check the exact wording, because the rules differ: Nagoya counts three years of secondary school, UTokyo’s College of Design three of the last four years, and GSC eight years.

Why learn some Japanese even on an English-taught degree?

Because life outside the classroom runs in Japanese, and some programmes expect it before you graduate.

• Some degrees require it. Waseda’s SILS degree policy says students whose mother tongue is not Japanese must acquire the ability to “read, understand, write and converse smoothly in Japanese” by graduation. Waseda teaches it through its university-wide language programme.
• Daily life and part-time work. UTokyo’s GSC offers a beginner Japanese course “to help with everyday life in Japan” and strongly recommends students use the classes on offer. Our guide to part-time jobs in Japan explains the rules.
• Finding a job in Japan. JASSO quotes a former student who says that even on an English-only degree, studying everyday Japanese makes it “easier to live in Japan and find a job”. See our guide to jobs in Japan for international students.

If you plan to start Japanese before you leave India, N5 and N4 are the entry levels. Our JLPT guide explains which level to aim for and when.

How should you choose between English-taught and Japanese-taught?

• Choose English-taught if you want to start within a year, have no Japanese yet, and your subject is offered in English. The choice is narrower, especially for bachelor’s degrees.
• Choose a programme like Kyoto iUP if you want the full range of a Japanese university and are ready to study Japanese intensively from your first month.
• Choose Japanese-taught if you already have, or can reach, JLPT N2 or N1 before applying. It opens far more universities and subjects.
• Whichever you choose, check the programme’s own page each year. PEAK’s closure shows that English-taught routes do change.

If you are deciding between English-taught programs in Japan, talk to our Japan admissions team about universities, MEXT and your application.