Kyoto Law Phd Entrance Exam

Hello there.

I have been accepted by a supervisor at Kyoto University for a PhD in law. However they want me to enroll first as a research student, and I will only officially be made a doctoral student after passing an entrance exam. Try as I might I cannot find any information on what this test entails. Does anyone have any idea?

Thanks a lot!

Have you tried asking your supervisor and/or current students?

because they don't know your educational level and your knowledge. you may have no ability to pass the entrance examination which Japanese students have.
the professor want to confirm you have a possibility to accomplish the doctoral course.(not confirm to pass the entrance exam. this is no hope.)
the professor offers you a special back door, after he has confirmed your ability.
if you have enough ability during your research student period, he will negotiate to other professors about your entering graduate school.

are you still want to pass the regular examination with NO HOPE ?

This is very common for Ph.D. students in Japan.
If you've been offered a Ph.D place and you turn out ok, then you will progress to Ph.D. studies somehow. I wouldn't worry about the exam. It's just a formality/protection check point thing.

may be common only in non-scientific fields.

in scientific fields, Japanese students must pass the entering exam. of graduate school. No negotiation.
again, they will use a different rule for foreigners. there is no way, because foreigners do not understand Japanese fully, and foreigner's education levels are different.

that is not the special of Japan. I am sure that universities in all countries do the same way.

I've not heard of requirement for written entrance exams for graduate programmes in western Europe and I don't believe the US mandates them. But they do generally have formal checkpoint processes at intervals during research periods.

They may be required and supposed to be non-negotiable in Japan, but plenty of non-Japanese speakers have been awarded science Ph.D.s by Japanese Universities, so there must be ways round it, even for those courses.

Thanks for the responses everyone! I realize the common sense approach would be to ask the supervisor, but I thought I would try to find out for myself rather than bothering him.

I still find the idea of an entrance exam for doctoral studies strange, especially if the applicant has a proven postgraduate record and accredited publications, but alas.

http://law.kyoto-u.ac.jp/hoseiriron/h1_senbatsu.html
have you read that ?

if you already have a master degree,
here it is:
◇博士後期課程（外国人特別選抜）
special application for doctoral course (semester II) by foreigners
http://law.kyoto-u.ac.jp/hoseiriron/h1_dr_foreigner.pdf

their guideline to give degrees.
http://law.kyoto-u.ac.jp/hoseiriron/hakushi_gp.pdf
http://law.kyoto-u.ac.jp/hoseiriron/shinsakijun.pdf

if you are from China mainland, Taiwan, or Hong Kong,
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/international/students1/ku-aao.html

Thank you for you help. A big part of the problem for is that I can't read Japanese, unfortunately. This no doubt makes my life much more difficult! Hehe.