2025 Academic Year

Application Guideline

Global Program in Economics and Management (GPEM)

2-year Master's Program
for Foreign Student Screening (October Entrance)

1st period 2nd period 3rd period

Pre-application December 2, 2024 - March 14, 2025, 16:00(JST)

January 17, 2025 – February 14, 2025 – March 17, 2025 –

Application
January 31, 2025, 16:00 February 28, 2025, 16:00 March 31, 2025, 16:00
Period
(JST) (JST) (JST)
Result
Mid March, 2025 Mid April, 2025 Mid May, 2025
Notification

Admission Date October 1, 2025

Tohoku University
Graduate School of Economics and Management
Admission Policy
The Graduate School of Economics and Management at Tohoku University offers two majors. The Department
of Economics and Management seeks students who are strongly interested in economy or business management,
have basic academic skills in those areas, and aspire to work as researchers or highly specialized professionals in
such fields in the future. Students are educated with the aim of providing them broad perspectives and profound
knowledge, the ability to conduct original research at an international level, and the ability to contribute to social and
academic development. The Department of Accountancy (Accounting School) seeks students who have the basic
academic skills for accounting and who aspire to be accounting professionals working in international settings.
Students are educated with the aim of providing them academic and practical knowledge of accounting,
international perspectives, communication skills, and the ability to contribute to social development with strong
professional ethics. The Graduate School of Economics and Management also actively accepts working adults
aspiring to learn economics or business administration based on new problem awareness or to improve their skills
as accounting professionals while using their real-world experience.

Department of Economics and Management, Master’s Program

This department offers two courses: the Economics and Management Research Course, and the Global
Program in Economics and Management (GPEM). Each course has the screening categories below. Non-Japanese
applicants for the Economics and Management Research Course must have adequate Japanese language
proficiency. Applicants for GPEM must have the ability to work in international settings. Examination methods differ
depending on the screening category. All categories require applicants to meet specified standards for admission
according to the examination method.
General screening
Applicants having adequate English language proficiency and specialized knowledge of economics or business
administration will be selected. Examinations are conducted in writing, orally, and based on the submitted
documents. The applicants’ specialized knowledge is an important criterion.
Screening for working adults
Working adults having vocational capabilities and knowledge of specialized fields will be selected.
Examinations are conducted orally and are based on submitted documents. The applicants’ specialized knowledge
and research aptitudes are important criteria.
Screening for undergraduate students in the Faculty of Economics at Tohoku University
Graduate candidates in the Faculty of Economics at Tohoku University who demonstrate high academic
performance and who have a clear purpose for studying at the graduate school will be selected. Examinations are
conducted orally and are based on submitted documents. The applicants’ specialized knowledge and the propriety
of their research plans are important criteria.
Foreign student screening
Only non-Japanese applicants are accepted for GPEM. Applicants having high English language proficiency
and high basic academic skills at the undergraduate level will be selected. Examinations are conducted based on
submitted documents. The applicants’ basic academic skills are important criteria.
Double degree program student screening for the University of Paderborn
Applicants are accepted only for GPEM. Students in the master’s program in the Faculty of Business
Administration at the University of Paderborn will be selected. Examinations are conducted based on submitted
documents. The applicants’ specialized knowledge is an important criterion.

Applicants are recommended to acquire specialized knowledge, research skills, and international perspectives
at the undergraduate level before admission.

1
Application Guideline

GPEM was established to foster skilled professionals who possess deep knowledge of economics
and management, the ability to discover and solve problems, and an international perspective, so that
they will be able to work in societies with differing languages, cultures, and values. Foreign students are
eligible to apply under Foreign Student Screening. This screening allows admitted foreign students to
complete the program by taking classes taught entirely in English.

I. Major and Enrollment Quota

Major Quota1 Admission Category

Economics and Global Program in Economics

26 and Management
Management Foreign Student Screening
1 The quota includes those admitted through other entrance examination categories.

II. Application Qualifications etc.

To be eligible, the applicant must not be a Japanese citizen. In addition, by September 30, 2025, the
applicant must have satisfied at least one of the qualifications listed in “A. Basic Qualifications” and
must have fulfilled the requirements described in “B. Requirements” below.
A. Basic Qualifications
1. be a graduate of a Japanese University
2. have a bachelor's degree in accordance with National Institution for Academic Degrees
and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education
3. have fully completed a 16-year school education program overseas
4. have fully completed a 16-year program of school education while in Japan by taking
classes via distance learning offered by an overseas school
5. have completed a curriculum of an overseas university (have already completed a
16-year program of school education in the relevant nation) while in Japan at an
educational facility that is ranked within the relevant nation's educational system and
which has been designated separately by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (hereinafter, "Ministry of Education")
6. have been conferred a degree equivalent to a bachelor's degree upon completion of a
curriculum that has a course term of three years or longer at a university or other school
(limited to schools whose overall educational and research activities have been
evaluated by the relevant country's government or a government-approved individual, or
are designated separately as having met this requirement by the Ministry of Education) in
a country other than Japan (including cases in which the student completed the
curriculum by taking subjects conducted by said school via distance learning while the
student resided in Japan, and cases in which the student has completed a curriculum at
an educational facility that is positioned within that country's educational system per the
previous item).
7. have completed a professional program (the program must have a course term of more
than four years or fulfill other criteria stipulated by the Ministry of Education) at a special
technical school after the date stipulated by the Ministry of Education on which that

2
 school was specially designated by the Ministry of Education
8. have been certified by the Ministry of Education
9. have enrolled in the graduate school of another university (hereinafter "another graduate
school") in accordance with the School Education Act, Article 102, Item 2, and possess
sufficient academic abilities to receive an education at Tohoku University graduate school
10. have been acknowledged, through individual entrance qualification screening, to possess
academic abilities either equal to or exceeding those of a university graduate and are at
least 22 years old
Note 1: If you wish to apply using Application Qualifications items 6, 8, 9, or 10 above, you
should contact us ([email protected]) in advance to screen your eligibility.
Note 2: Applications from students who have completed undergraduate study at Japanese
universities in 3 years are not accepted.
B. Requirements
A TOEFL iBT® Test score of 79 or higher (TOEFL iBT® Home Edition and Paper Edition are
acceptable.) or an IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 or higher is required.

III. Pre-application procedure

The applicant should apply by accessing the GPEM Pre-application system on the website of
Graduate School of Economics and Management.
Please check the following first:
A. Applicants should register the required information of two referees by accessing to the
Recommendation letter system of the GPEM pre-application system. Our system will
automatically request your referees to upload a recommendation letter. Be sure to ask for and
obtain consent from your referees before registering their information.
B. When both recommendation letters are uploaded, you will receive an email, informing you of the
URL to the GPEM Pre-application system. You are required to fill in your information and upload
some documents (PDF etc.). Important requirements are on the “V. List of Required Documents”.
C. Once we confirm all of your required documents have been uploaded to our system and confirm
you are qualified to apply, you will be notified of the next steps by email from us.
D. Pre-application period
December 2 (Mon.), 2024 to March 14 (Fri.), 2025 16:00 (JST)

IV. Online Application Procedure

A. Complete the application procedures by the online application system, The Admission Office
(hereinafter referred to as TAO) by complying with the guide which is sent to you after the
pre-application within the application period. The outline is as follows.
1. Confirmation of application guidelines and obtaining necessary documents.
Please carefully check this application guideline.
2. Payment of Application Fee
Please see “k. Application Fee” of “V. List of Required Documents” for more information.
3. Apply on the TAO application website
Please visit the TAO website (https://admissions-office.net/en/portal), create an account
and enter the required information on the TAO page that you are guided after passing the
pre-application. Once you have registered, you cannot make any changes to your
3
 registration. When registering, please do so carefully and make sure that there are no
errors.
The temporary save function is available, please use it effectively for checking.
The application procedure is completed by both paying the application fee and registering the
application information on the TAO. Please note that the application procedure is not completed
only by paying the application fee or registering the application information.
B. Application Period
Application periods are as follows. Be advised that we accept the applications only from the
applicants who have completed the pre-application.
First Application Period: January 17 (Fri.) to January 31 (Fri.), 2025 16:00 (JST).
Second Application Period: February 14 (Fri.) to February 28 (Fri.), 2025 16:00 (JST).
Third Application Period: March 17 (Mon.) to March 31 (Mon.), 2025 16:00 (JST).

V. List of Required Documents

Online Admission
Required Documents Pre Application
Application Procedure
a Academic Transcript O - O (Original)
b Certificate of Graduation (or O - O (Original)
Expected Graduation)
c Online Verification Report of △ - -
Higher Education Qualification
Certificate or Online Verification
Report of Student Record
d Research Plan O - -
e TOEFL® Test or IELTS O - △
(Academic) Score
f General Test score for the O - -
Graduate Record Examination
(GRE®) or Official Score Report
for the Graduate Management
Admission Test (GMAT®)
g Proof of Expected Scholarship △ - -
Funding, etc.
h Resident Registration △ - O (Original)
i Pledge O - O (Original)
j Photo Data of the Applicant O - -
k Application Fee - O -

O：Required，△：if applicable，-：Not required

a. Academic Transcript
Submit a transcript from your university or the university from which you most recently
graduated. Not required for students who graduated from the Tohoku University

4
 Faculty of Economics.
b. Certificate of Graduation (or Expected Graduation)
If you are applying under item No.2 of “A. Basic Qualifications” of “II Application
Qualifications”, submit your bachelor's diploma (or certificate of expected graduation).
Not required for students who graduated from the Tohoku University Faculty of
Economics.
c. Online Verification Report of Higher Education Qualification Certificate or Online
Verification Report of Student Record
Only those who graduated or expected to graduate from a university in People's
Republic of China.
d. Research Plan (1,000 words in English)
Research plan should include a concise and informative title.
e. TOEFL® Test or IELTS (Academic) Score
If submitting a TOEFL® Test score, please have ETS send the Institutional Score
Report for your test, which must have been taken on or after March 1, 2023, to this
graduate school. The Institution Code is 0232. We only accept TOEFL iBT® scores
from a single test date, not MyBestTM scores.
If submitting an IELTS score, please submit the IELTS Test Report Form (official
certificate) original, for your test, dated on or after March 1, 2023. We don’t accept
IELTS One Skill Retake.
Neither of these tests is required if you graduated from a university in a country
where English is an official language, such as the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand. In such cases, please contact us in advance for instructions.
If you provide multiple English skill scores, we will calculate and use the highest
score.
Inquiries: [email protected]
f. General Test score for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE®) or Official Score
Report –Test Taker Copy for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT®)
If submitting a GRE® Test score, please have ETS send the Graduation Institution
Score Report for your test, which must have been taken on or after March 1, 2020,
to this graduate school. The DI Code is 4137.
If submitting a GMAT® score, your test must have been taken on or after March 1,
2020. Please request to send your GMAT® Official Score Report to us from your
official GMAT account.
※ TOEFL®, TOEFL iBT®, TOEFL ITP® and GRE® are registered trademarks of
ETS.
g. Proof of expected scholarship funding, etc. (if applicable)
h. Resident Registration
This must be submitted only if you are a non-Japanese citizen currently residing in
Japan (unless your period of residence is less than 90 days).
i. Pledge (official form)
j. Photo Data of the Applicant
- The photo must be colored and be taken within 3 months prior to the application.
- With the upper half of the body, without a headband, facing front.
5
 - No backgrounds or patterns.
- Available data must be in jpeg or jpg format and between 100 KB and 5 MB in size.
- The ratio of 4:3 (length: width)
k. Application Fee: JPY 30,000
We will send the payment instructions to the applicants who pass the pre-application.
Please follow the instructions and upload a copy of the receipt to the TAO.

Note 1: Scores from TOEFL®, IELTS, GRE® and GMAT® tests taken online are accepted.

Note 2: All the submitted documents and information must be written in English or Japanese.

Note 3: All documents to be uploaded should be in PDF format except “j. Photo Data of the
Applicant”.
Note 4: We do not accept pre-applications documents which are not completed by the due date,
even in the event we require you to resend or resubmit documents to complete your
pre-application.
Note 5: Once you fill in your information and upload the required documents to the GPEM
pre-application system, your submission cannot be cancelled or altered.
Note 6: Certificates uploaded during the pre-application must be submitted in original at
the time of admission procedures. If the original cannot be verified at the time, admission will
be cancelled.
Note 7: After submitting the application documents (Including your registered information on the
TAO, the same hereinafter), your application documents cannot be cancelled or altered. The
application fee cannot be refunded.
Note 8: We cannot accept incomplete applications.
Note 9: If it is discovered that the application documents include any false declaration, even after
enrollment, then admission will be cancelled.

VI. Screening
You will be evaluated based on your submitted documents.

VII. Admission Notification

You will be informed of the results of your application via TAO during the following periods.
First Application Period: by mid-March 2025
Second Application Period: by mid-April 2025
Third Application Period: by mid-May 2025
The announcements for the first and second application periods will include successful applicants
along with wait-listed applicants. The announcement for the third application period will include only
successful applicants. Wait-listed applicants who have been formally accepted may be announced
during the announcements for the second and third application periods. Unsuccessful applicants
will not be notified.

VIII. Admission Procedures

Detailed information related to the admission procedures will be provided in the enrollment

6
 documents sent after the announcement of successful applicants.
Follow the instructions and complete the necessary procedures by the deadline. The admission
procedure is not online but by post.

Mailing Address:
Instruction Section, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University
27-1 Kawauchi, Aoba-Ku, Sendai 9808576 JAPAN
Send all the documents by registered mail, or EMS, DHL, FedEx, etc. Application materials will
not be returned.
Please note that if you do not complete the admission procedures by the deadline, you will be
treated as if you have not enrolled.

IX. Admission and Tuition Fees

A. Admission Fee: JPY 282,000 (subject to change) [to be paid in September 2025]
B. Fall Semester Tuition: JPY 267,900 (yearly JPY 535,800) (estimated) [paid in October 2025
entrance period or later]

Note 1: If tuition amounts are revised during your term of enrollment, the new tuition will become
applicable from the time of that revision.
Note 2: Information related to waivers and deferments of tuition fees will be provided in the
entrance procedure documents sent after the announcement of successful applicants.

X. Entrance Period
The Entrance Period will be in October 2025.

XI. Notes
A. If you have questions about applying, please contact: [email protected]
B. After entering, you must enroll in Personal Accident Insurance for Students Pursuing
Education and Research (Gakkensai) and Comprehensive Insurance for Students Lives
Coupled with PAS for International Students (Inbound futai-gakuso). Additionally, if you expect
to rent private housing, you must enroll in an insurance/mutual relief policy such as
Comprehensive Renters' Insurance for Foreign Students Studying in Japan.
C. No questions regarding the screening result will be accepted.

XII. Privacy Policy on the Treatment of Personal Information

A. All personal information gathered by Tohoku University shall be treated with due care in
compliance with the relevant university regulations, such as the Act on the Protection of
Personal Information (2003, Act No. 57), and the National University Corporation Tohoku
University Policy on the Protection of Personal Information, and security measures will be
taken to protect it.
B. Personal information, such as examination scores, used to screen applicants will be used
exclusively for educational purposes, such as selecting applicants, enrollment procedures,
pre-enrollment instruction, follow-up surveys, post-enrollment student support (scholarships,
tuition waivers and health management etc.) and academic advising, or in connection with

7
 tuition collection etc., or surveys/research (surveys/analysis related to entrance examination
improvements and reasons for applying; including analysis using the enrollees' personal
information after enrollment).
C. Tasks related to entrance examinations and academic affairs may be outsourced by Tohoku
University to third-party contractors (hereafter, "contractors"). If personal information is
provided in whole or in part to contractors, necessary measures will be taken to ensure it is
handled appropriately in accordance with the relevant university regulations, such as the
National University Corporation Tohoku University Policy on the Protection of Personal
Information.

XIII. Educational Data Usage

Data, including personal information, that Tohoku University collects through its education/learning
activities and stores on its information systems (hereafter, Educational Data) is analyzed with the
latest analytical and A.I. technology and is considered vital to our implementation of evidence-based
education.
Consequently, the university strives to use Educational Data effectively and appropriately in
compliance with our "Statement on Educational Data Usage," "Policy on Educational Data Usage,"
and "Tohoku University's 8 Principles of Educational Data Acquisition."
After being admitted to the university, students' personal information, such as entrance exam
scores etc., is merged with the university's Educational Data.

URL：https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/japanese/studentinfo/education/08/education0801/

October 2024
Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University
27-1, Kawauchi, Aoba-Ku, Sendai 980-8576 JAPAN
Tel.: +81-22 (795) 6263
https://www.econ.tohoku.ac.jp/en

8
Appendix: Faculty Members of Graduate School of Economics and Management,
Tohoku University
2025 Academic Year

Professors
Name Specialized Subject
Kenji MORI (E) Political Economy I (Marxian Economics)
Akiomi KITAGAWA (E) Theoretical Economics II (Macroeconomics)
Yutaka FURUYA (E) History of Economic Thought
Yoh KAWANA (E) Economic History of Western Europe
Naoki ODANAKA (E) History of Social Thoughts
Shinji OHSETO (E) Economic Planning
Akira HIBIKI (E) Environmental Economics
Shigemi IZUMIDA (E) Industrial Organization
Kazuhiro KUROSE (E) Economic Policy
Yasumasa MATSUDA (E) Economic Statistics
Ken-ichi SUZUKI (M) Decision Making
Yoshifumi MUROI (M) Investment and Security Analysis
Yuko NISHIDE (M) Non-profit Organization
Midori WAKABAYASHI (E) Welfare Economy
Hiroshi YOSHIDA (E) Aging Economy
Norio SASAKI (E) Public Finance
Michi FUKUSHIMA (M) Regional Enterprises
Shiro HIOKI (E) Asian Economy
Nozomu KAWABATA (E) Industrial Development
Jun NAGAYASU (E) International Economics

9
Associate Professors
Name Specialized Subject
Kazuho SAKAI (E) History of Japanese Economy
Michio SUZUKI (E) Applied Macroeconomics
Yasunari TAKAURA (M) Management
Takeyasu ICHIKOJI (M) Marketing Management
Atsushi AKIIKE (M) Innovation Research
Koji ASANO (E) Monetary Economics
So KUBOTA (E) Monetary Policy
Iat-Meng KO (M) Data Science in Business
Tsukasa ISHIGAKI (M) Business Statistics
Takenobu YUKI (M) Business History
Takuya ISHIHARA (E) Data Science in Economics
Michio YUDA (E) Health Economics
Ayumu SUGAWARA (M) Global Business History
Ayano FUJIWARA (M) International Business

E and M stand for economics and management, respectively.

10