Japan University Intakes: April vs September Entry 2026
21 Jan 2026, 00:00 Z
Reviewed by
Marcus Pang·Managing Director (Maths)
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Q: “Should I aim for the April intake or the September/October intake?”
A: Both can work. Planning gets much easier when you pick a default intake early, then build a timeline around it. This guide uses official pages as the anchor (so you don’t plan off rumours), and translates them into a Singapore-friendly checklist.
TL;DR (60 seconds) - Official intake months overview (start here): https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/planning/flow-chart/schedule.html - Use the official flowchart to keep the sequence right: https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/planning/flow-chart/ - Don’t forget the immigration/visa context baseline: https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/planning/immigration-procedures/
Status: Last reviewed 2026-01-21. This is a planning guide, not legal or immigration advice. Always verify the latest rules on official pages and your university’s instructions.
If you’re still deciding Japan vs Korea overall, start here:
1) What “intake” really affects (so you don’t choose blindly)
Choosing an intake isn’t just “when school starts”. It affects:
- application deadlines (some are earlier than you expect),
- when you’ll need final documents from Singapore,
- housing timelines (dorms, deposits, move-in dates),
- and how calm or chaotic your visa prep feels.
So instead of asking “Which intake is better?”, ask:
- “Which intake can I realistically execute, with my current timeline and documents?”
2) What the official schedule says (use this as your baseline)
Start with the official schedule page:
That page lays out typical start months for different school types.
Two useful takeaways (in plain English):
- Universities commonly align around April and September/October
