University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges Student Receives Japanese Government Scholarship

The prestigious Monbukagakusho scholarship is a three-year award.

Consul General of Japan Yasushi Misawa presents the scholarship to Jocelyn Castillo.

HONOLULU – The Office of the Vice President for Community Colleges is pleased to announce the recipient of a three-year Monbukagakusho scholarship from the Japanese Government. University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges student Joshlyn Castillo, who has studied at both Leeward CC and Kapiʻolani CC, is the only 2017 Monbukagakusho Scholarship recipient from the USA.

The Monbukagakusho (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology) in Japan offers a unique scholarship opportunity for students who wish to study at a Japanese Senshu-Gakko (specialized training college). Castillo's scholarship includes one year of intensive Japanese language study at Bunka Institute of Language in Tokyo from April 2017 to March 2018. This scholarship also includes two years of specialized training in Business Japanese Interpreting Course at the same institution from April 2018-March 2020. Over the three years of the scholarship, tuition, housing and airfare are covered and recipients receive a monthly stipend.

"Receiving the Monbukagakusho scholarship is nothing short of a dream come true! Being able to study in Japan is my best experience as a student to date, and I'm forever grateful to those that helped me get here along the way," said Castillo.

This is an unprecedented third consecutive year that a UH Community College student has been selected from applicants throughout the world. Last year, Chiaki Jones, a Leeward Community Colleges graduate, was selected as the sole USA recipient. Jones is finishing her first year of intensive Japanese language at the Osaka Japanese Language Education Center. Then Jones will be studying animation for the next two years at Kyoto Computer Gakuin.

Filifaatali Mauai, III, also a Leeward Community College graduate, was the sole USA recipient in 2015.  After finishing his first year at the Bunka Institute of Language in Tokyo, Mauai is in his first year of two years studying graphic arts at Toyo Institute of Art and Design in Tokyo.

“I am pleased and proud of the accomplishments of our community college students who have excelled and successfully competed on a global level with students from around the world," said John Morton, vice president for community colleges. "I am confident that Joshlyn, Chiaki and Fili will succeed in their pursuits and return to Hawai‘i to further their education at the University of Hawai’i."

Over 65,000 students from approximately 160 countries and regions around the world have studied in Japan through the six types of Japanese Government Scholarship program established in 1954.