ModJpn

Disregard previous post. It seems that a portion (with stipend info, etc) of the award notification went to my permanent address while the medical certificate went to the current address. Now there are fireworks. --ModJpn

Hey All, Finally got my notification after stressing out for the better part of a year. Full grant to Japan. I was getting a bit worried because everyone seemed to get their notifications much earlier in the week....but I am in Japan and it was "golden week." I am stoked to say the least, but I have to admit that it was a bit anti-climatic. I know that sounds crappy coming from someone who actually got a grant...and I feel crappy typing it. I guess I expected fireworks to shoot out of the envelope. Instead I got letter that said congrats, now go pee in a cup. Good luck to everyone still waiting for results. For those that didn't/don't make it this year, try again next year. That's what I did and it seems to have worked. Here's my info for the spreadsheet. name: ModJpn country: Japan (not Jordan as listed in spreadsheet) region: East Asia & Pacific grant: Full interview: N status: Accepted address: Current/overseas (even though I said I would be moving by March 1st) notification: 5/6/2012 postmark: 4/26/2012 method: Large white airmail envelope academic status: Grad research area: Modern History area: Nagoya

That's awesome!! Congratulations. Nice to hear that the wait is (hopefully) almost over. In what field will you be conducting your research?

CONGRATS!!!! Where will you be located? ---This wait is making me crazy. Have any grads heard anything from J Akeley on when we might receive word regarding Japan research grants?

Congrats on the Japan Foundation grant! When do you have to make your final decision? I have until the end of May to accept the JSPS, but I might not be able to decline if the uni here in Nagoya goes much further in the process. I spoke with a Fulbright grantee from last year and he received his letter in mid-to-late March...which makes it that much more frustrating this year. I've emailed Akeley twice in the last two months and I don't want to be too annoying, but please do let me know if you hear anything. I'm ABD in the Northwestern History department and now doing some preliminary research on my diss. project (and beefing up my language ability). I chose Nagoya because there is a prof here that I wanted to work with, but I plan to make frequent trips to the Tokyo/Yokohama area. This year I'm on a fellowship from Northwestern, but the funding is a bit limited...especially if you calculate the dollar-to-yen exchange these days. YIKES.

I'm also a Fulbright Japan candidate and I haven't heard much. I emailed J. Akeley last week and he responded with a standard message about the impossibility of predicating when notifications would be sent out and his hopes that they would be in the mail by the end of the month. I'm not holding my breath, though. Since we seem to be the only three people interested in Japan, I thought I would drop a load of questions on y'all. Where are you hoping to be placed? Grad or undergrad? Did you apply for any other grants/fellowships? I'm a grad hoping to do research on modern Japanese history. I am currently in Nagoya, but my home university is in the Chicago area. After an eternity of waiting I found out that I'm an alternate for the Japan Foundation, possibly awarded a JSPS short-term grant, and we all know how the Fulbright is going. uggghhhhhh....Petty was right, "the waiting is the hardest part."

I emailed Jonathan Akeley back at the end of March and he said that they hoped letters would be mailed around mid April. Here's hoping they arrive sometime soon. I think things on the Japan-side have slowed considerably due to the earthquake/tsunami. I know that the Fulbright office in Tokyo had reduced their office hours for much of March. Good luck! Will you be doing research?

Hi All, Glad to hear so many of you have been successful in yourattempts to enter M.A./Ph.D. programs. Funding or no, it’s still quite an accomplishment. For those planning to reapply next year, Iwould recommend taking a look at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). I’m currently a Ph.D. candidate in theHistory program, with a focus on Japan, and the faculty and funding are exceptional. All students admitted to the History programreceive five years of guaranteed funding (including four summers) and there arenumber of internal grants for language study and research trips. Although Northwestern is not known for havinga strong emphasis on Asia, the (History) program is in a period of transitionand there seems to be a new focus on Japan/China/India. Plus, they don’t require GRE scores (or didn’twhen I applied) and you get full access to area libraries. I personally spend a great deal of timebrowsing the stacks at the University of Chicago. Sorry if this sound a bit too much like an advertisement,but I really think Northwestern is overlooked by Asianists. Also, feel free to contact me if you havequestions about grad school more generally. I received my M.A. from the University of Oregon (History-Japan) beforemoving to the Chicago area. Seems like I have in academia FOREVER!