From The Field | Articles

It is over 30 degrees and there are copper-coloured snakes winding in and out of the bushes. Just out of the corner of your eye it’s a worrying 500 metre drop down to the paddy fields below, where dragonflies the length of a child’s forearm lance in and out of the Japanese sampa hats worn by the farmers. In central Kyushu, the Permian/Triassic boundary is recorded as an evil-looking black line slung at a shallow angle across the cliff face. Below the boundary the limestones are a pasty yellow colour and devoid of any recognisable fauna – a dead and sterile time in the history of the great ocean Panthalassa. Immediately above, the rocks become black and mottled-looking, dark peloids are strung across the rock like pearls on a string and stacked into narrow layers that can be traced for several metres across the rock face. You can see that thin threads of micrite are woven in and around the laminae, producing an unsettling, and overwhelmingly organic texture reminiscent of the wispy mycelium you find growing on old leftover lasagne. Although the rocks are slightly unsettling, this is a particularly lovely corner of Japan in summer time, and just one of a thousand sites with rich invertebrate fossil assemblages. There’s certainly plenty to work on in Japan, enough at least for an MSc and PhD, and the great news is that the Japanese Government could be paying you to study there.

For those of you who read Al McGowan’s account of doing a PhD in the United States (www.palass.org/modules.php?name=palaeo&sec=careers), this article is very much in the same vein and I hope that it will provide the stimulus for other students to conduct graduate study outside of the UK. I’ve just finished studying for my MSc at the University of Tokyo, piggybacking into the graduate program via a Japanese Government Monbukagakusho (MEXT) scholarship. Being awarded the MEXT scholarship and entering into the graduate program of your choice at a Japanese university are two separate processes, and as far as possible I shall try to separate the two. In addition, although my experiences with the University of Tokyo were limited to a brief period as a research student and then MSc, there’s no reason why this article should not be of help to aspiring PhD candidates too (indeed, a French student, David Casenove, is in the process of writing his PhD on the palaeobiology of protoconodonts in Tokyo at this very moment). The MEXT scholarships (as well as their larger cousins, the JSPS fellowships – see www.jsps.go.jp/english/) are a tremendous resource for scientists and students pursuing any aspect of graduate or postgraduate study, and I hope that this article will encourage some of you to consider research in Japan.

Graduate degrees at Japanese universities

Unlike the UK, MSc degrees in Japan typically last two years, and if you add on several months at the beginning to allow for your entry through MEXT and application to graduate programs, you can be looking at two-and-a-half years to complete your Masters – a lot longer than in the UK. A PhD can take between three and five years, similar to the Unites States, although the last two years may not be funded. As a scientist, the first year of your studies (MSc or PhD) will include attending a number of courses, on the way to accumulating the necessary number of credits for graduation. At the end of your first year you will probably have to submit a literature review on chosen topic of research, and at the end of the second year a written thesis that you will have to orally defend in front of the department faculty. Again, similar to the United States you can be flexible in your areas of research and will be able to design your own project, rather than having to audition for an assigned topic. As a MSc student, this gives you a huge boost in developing the skills necessary for independent research, and supervisors will commonly grant you the freedom to pursue whichever weird and wonderful approaches you fancy (although this can be problematic if you want them to take part). You will commonly have to fund any fieldwork yourself, however in many cases the MEXT monthly stipend will cover some of this, and some labs will have their own sources of funding which can be co-opted to research projects. Departments are not a single entity and cost centres are related to labs or seminar groups connected to one or two facility members so that equipment, lab space and general costs are directly related to your supervisor and can be a bit of a lottery.

I spent a total of two weeks fieldwork collecting microbial carbonates from an obscure backwater in the southernmost of Japan’s four large islands, and funded this extravagant research schedule through variously pouring drinks in ‘alternative’ bars around the rough end of Shinjuku, appearing in bizarre TV commercials and appallingly revisionist period dramas, scientific proofreading, and teaching pidgin English to aspiring young air-hostesses. It says a lot for Japan that most of these are considered perfectly normal pastimes for visiting foreign scholars, and I have friends who explored plenty of more unconventional ways to secure funding for their research. Part-time work in Japan is perfectly legal for foreigners and you may well end up being paid in cash. While on a MEXT scholarship, however, you will need to apply for the cumbersomely named ‘Permit To Engage In Activity Other Than That Permitted By The Status Of Residence Previously Granted’. These are valid for a year and will be provided by the University.

Cost of living

I overspent at times in Tokyo and had to be bailed-out by family and friends at least once, however this was pretty inexcusable as, surprisingly, the cost of living in Japan can be scandalously cheap, especially if you consider that a bowl of noodles and dumplings in pork broth is a decent meal (it really is). For 1000 yen (currently around £7), even in Tokyo, you could buy between eight and ten plates of sushi at one of the cheaper revolving kai-ten restaurants; the aforementioned bowl of noodles and Chinese dumplings; or a sizzling pancake of pork and vegetables cooked on a hotplate at your table. If you want to eat western food life can get considerably more expensive, particularly things like cheese, sausages and fresh fruit. Cooking for yourself becomes an incredibly cheap option as soon as you invest in a rice cooker, since seasonal fresh fish and vegetables cost very little and are a staple on top of rice if you know how to cook them. Imported beer can be expensive, but Japanese sake and shochu for example are delicious and can cost very little. Food is also easy to get hold of, as there are ‘combinis’ located virtually everywhere, and the vast majority are open 24 hours. Vegetarians may struggle initially (especially those who eschew fish), but vegetables are cheap and the Japanese have an amazing array of soya-based alternatives – there’s even an entire style of cooking devoted to it. Moreover, most Japanese food is extremely low in cholesterol, although can be high in salt.

Health insurance is a must and relatively easy to sort out, MEXT will talk you through all the documents and afterwards all you have to do is pay a monthly premium of 800 yen (currently £5-6), payable in cash at any of the ubiquitous convenience stores. For things like field trips, winter sports, and other strenuous activities the university will have all the relevant documentation and a year’s coverage will rarely cost more than 4000 yen (currently £30). I’ve never driven a car in Japan (and never needed to, the public transport system is both cheap and superb) and so can’t comment, however you’ll need an international licence to start with. Practical things like field kit start out relatively cheap, although don’t appear to have an upper limit in price. Laptops and computer hardware can be cheap: while wandering round Tokyo’s electrical district in Akihabara I’ve seen new and used laptops for under £150 stacked in boxes outside in the street like a jumble sale. Added to which, the average Japanese university student has a keen sense for everything electrical/electronic, and so with a little help it’s extremely easy to install the equivalent of a Ferrari engine, spoiler, and under-dash UV lights.

Funding

Funding will vary between universities, as well as within departments. If you are designing a research project that requires field trips to the Bahamas or run time on expensive equipment (especially in different departments) then it’s obviously wise to consult your host supervisor first. As mentioned already, at MSc level you’ll be funding things like fieldwork yourself, which can usually be covered by the MEXT stipend and/or proceeds from part-time employment. At PhD level, departments may well have more funding to contribute towards certain projects, and will encourage you to apply to external sources of funding (typically JSPS). Doing part-time teaching assistant work is also typical for PhD students, and can be a useful source of income.

In Summary

Being allowed to complete my MSc degree at the University of Tokyo was a unique privilege, and one that is having a huge influence on my wanting to stay in scientific research. The MEXT scholarships are an incredibly generous source of funding at whatever level, and during my time in Japan I met plenty of postdoctoral students who were happy to spend two years at the University of Tokyo on this basis alone. Entry into graduate programs at Japanese Universities can be extremely hard and expensive (especially for the Japanese); however, the MEXT scholarships are a great way of getting onto these degrees. Students from all over the world are now starting to filter into Japanese MSc and PhD programs, and still more are there on the basic Research Assistant programs, publishing their work and taking advantage of the fantastic facilities. Graduate study abroad fosters international scholarship, breadth of scientific and cultural experience, and encourages students as early as MSc to have the confidence to undertake independent research. The two most crucial pieces of advice are to: (1) Research the member(s) of staff you’d like to work with and contact them well in advance; and (2) Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of learning a new language, you’ll never have to be 100% fluent and it’s a terrific opportunity to make friends along the way.

Simon Darroch.