On our website we have published the thesis titles for the past three years in the reports on the prize winners. Please feel free to refer to these. 

Also, tips for essay-writing are available now. Please refer to these as well.

No. There is no template/format FALIA specifies and so it’s up to you. But in case you are not sure about a writing format, you can refer to “APA style” which consists of rules or guidelines for writing.

Also, prior to your submission, we would recommend you to have your essay proofread by a native of Japanese (for your essay in Japanese)/a native of English (for your essay in English) if possible. In that case, please state the proofreader’s name in your application form.

We recommend that essays in the following format
be submitted for the FALIA Essay Competition.

English essays: Double spaced, 12-point font size
Japanese essays: 10.5-point font size, 36 lines of 40 characters each per page

The title page, index page and references are not included in the word count.
Graphs and charts are not counted as words. But please be sure that the main focus of your essay shall be the written texts, and the graphs and charts shall be used as supplemental items to support the point of the arguments in your essay.

＜Word Limit＞
Essay in Japanese 
4,000 ～12,000 characters
Essay in English
4,000 ～5,000 words

※Significantly longer or shorter essays may be disqualified.

Yes, you need to cite and reference properly as Works Cited or Bibliography and　referencing footnotes or endnotes. This applies not only to published essays and books, but also to internet sources. FALIA will scan all the entries with our plagiarism checker. (In case your essay is found to be written in inappropriate manner such as plagiarism, it will result in the cancellation and required reimbursement of the prize.) If you are unsure about how to reference, you can check online with “APA style” which is one of the famous writing guidelines.

Yes, it’s allowed. But please make sure that all the members in the group fulfil the applicant eligibilities #1 -3 and apply by the application deadline.

This is because each prize winner can invite one school official from the winner’s　university to the awarding ceremony. In case we find a supervisor’s name filled in the field in the application form, we will invite the supervisor. In case there is no name written in the field, we will invite a professor of your seminar or an official at　International Student Office and etc..
If the winner and supervisor attend the ceremony from a distant university, FALIA will cover the domestic travel expenses (e.g. Airline, Shinkansen) and arrange the 1 night accommodation at our expense if needed.

Yes, all prize winners are required to attend the award ceremony (scheduled to be held on January, 2021).
If you cannot participate in the award ceremony, you will not be deemed eligible for this essay competition.

<Applicant Eligibility>

1. Must be an undergraduate or a graduate international student living in Japan whose status of residence is “Student (Ryu-gaku)”
2. As a general rule, must be a national of a country that sends participants to FALIA seminars.
3. Must still be a college student in Japan when we hold the award ceremony and must be able to attend it.

If you are selected as a nominee for one of the prizes after the selection process, you
will be required to submit the following documents for the purpose of verification of your eligibility.
(FALIA will directly contact those nominees sometime in Nov. - Dec.)

• Student Registration Certificate (original copy)
• Copy of Residence Card (both sides)
• Declaration Form on “Double Posting” etc.