Are you getting ready to study in a Japanese University? We know that there are so many things that you must be prepared; perhaps far more than you think, and some of you might be in distress. There are lots of stuff that you need to learn; how to apply through online admission systems, how to write your statement of purpose (personal statement), complete and submit your application documents, prepare for essay tests and interviews, and so on. You need to handwrite most of your application documents in Japan, and many of you probably do not do so in your own countries. There are important points in each step, so we will inform you what you should keep in mind.

First of all, make sure to submit the same information with your online application and your application in paper.　Some people enter their school name in English on their online application form, and then write the same school name in Chinese characters (kanji) on their application documents, but do not do this. Always use the same school name; if you don’t, the people who check the documents will get confused. We also recommend to use the same photo for everything.

Secondly, try to make your handwriting as neat as possible. You should prepare your documents in advance; care about how your handwriting will look like to those who read it. If your documents are made in haste, your handwriting will become sloppy or unbalanced, and you are likely to skip letters unintentionally. People at the university admission offices are checking hundreds of submitted documents every day. They can see the difference between documents written carefully and those written without much care. Handwritings does not have to be beautiful, though. Just try to write your kanji a little larger than the other characters, and your hiragana slightly smaller than kanji. We recommend you to, if you have enough time, acquire a habit of “careful writing” by tracing Japanese characters or checking the basics such as the order of strokes.

Third, read the instructions carefully; underlining the important information will help. Each of the universities will ask you to fill and submit the documents in its own way.
For example, some admissions offices have forms that should be printed and pasted onto an envelope. However, other universities use similar forms and ask you to just enclose it instead of sticking it on an envelope.
Applicants are expected to write their name in kanji, but if your kanji name includes characters that are not used in Japan, you might have to use katakana (such instructions are usually stated in parenthesis.) There is no common rule that applies to all universities, so you should read the instructions thoroughly or you might make a crucial mistake. We recommend you to make a copy of the application guidebook of the school of your choice, and check all the important points from the beginning to the end using a colored ink pen.

Last of all, make sure to use Japanese manuscript paper (genkou youshi) correctly. Leave the first box blank at the beginning of a paragraph. Put punctuation marks at the bottom left of the box (when you are writing horizontally). Do not use question marks. Do not mix the desu/masu style and the da/de aru style. If you are requested to write on a lined paper instead of a manuscript paper, writing with a pencil first and then tracing it will be the best way. Do not squeeze the characters, try to make them look balanced. Adjust your handwriting to fit within the line; do not go over the line or write outside the bottom line. You may, in some rare settings, have to write in a blank space without any lines. If that is the case, we recommend that you draw some lines by yourself using a ruler before starting to write.

All of these important points are common for both foreign and Japanese students who are taking entrance exams for universities and exams for employment. You might feel a little bothersome, but you will be able to avoid the risk of being underestimated if you check and make sure that you are doing everything correct.