Studying a MA in Japanese as a diplomat

Hi guys,

For quick background, I am working in the Department of East Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in my home country. I completed my undergraduate degree in Public Administration and then did an MA in IR in the UK. I have a JLPT N1 certificate but speaking is my weakest area with loads of mistakes..

Japan is my dream posting. To set myself apart from my colleagues, I would like to apply for the MEXT scholarship to enroll in an master's program in IR in Japan. But since all the classes are taught in English (plus I already hold an MA in IR from a UK university) and 6 month Japanese language training is definitely not enough to improve my Japanese speaking skills as a diplomat, I was thinking about doing my master's in Japanese and intensively learn the language.

I just found out that all my fellow colleagues who are working at the embassy in Tokyo have a Bachelor's degree in Japanese language, so they are very fluent in speaking.

As a diplomat, who wants to achieve a high level of competence in formal Japanese (especially speaking), what kind of route should I take? Master's in IR or Japanese?

Thank you very much!

by mellifluous_07

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