Program in Brief

Educates early and mid-career professionals in local or national governments, international organizations and policy institutes in the technical skills needed to be professional policy analysts.

• Program Director: Professor Makoto Tanaka
• Associate Director: Professor Hozumi Morohosi
• Associate Director: Professor Hyoung-kyu Chey
• Degree Offered: Master of Arts in Public Policy
• Scholarship:
  For International Students Only:
  • Japanese Government (Ministry of Education,Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [MEXT])
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)　Target countries for ADB Scholarship
  • JICA

• Language of Instruction: English
• Time Schedule:
  • Program Duration…2 years
  • Enrollment…October
  • Graduation…September
• How to Apply: Click here

The two-year program (MP2) provides early and mid-career professionals and staff members with the technical skills needed to be professional policy analysts. The program provides a strong platform for advanced research (including doctoral studies). Students are required to write a masters thesis in one of four areas of public policy: Economic Policy, International Development Studies, International Relations, and Public Policy.

Target Group

MP2 targets early and mid-career public policy professionals with demonstrated capacity for advanced policy analysis, commitment to public service, and the potential for leadership roles in policy analysis and management. Applications are invited from officials and staff of national and local governments, as well as other international and domestic organizations concerned with public policy analysis and management.

We also accept Japanese students.

Program Design

MP2 has a similar structure to that of the one year program, but MP2 students receive more advanced training and guidance in the technical and practical skills needed for public policy analysis, design, and implementation. In the first year, students complete a series of core, concentration, and elective courses. All MP2 students develop a common interdisciplinary and analytical foundation through the core courses, take specialized courses that provide them with strong analytical and quantitative skills, and select from a wide-variety of elective courses. In their second year, students further develop their research skills and utilize them in writing and defending a master’s thesis under the guidance of a highly-trained specialist in their chosen field of concentration (specialization).

MP2 provides a strong platform for advanced policy research (including doctoral studies). Students are required to write a master’s thesis in one of the approved areas of concentration. Currently, four areas of concentration are available: Economic Policy, International Development Studies, International Relations, and Public Policy. Practical instruction is available from current and former government officials with distinguished careers in public service. In addition to three policy workshops, students receive specialized guidance through a program of independent study.

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Click below for details of concentrations: 　
Economic Policy 　
International Development Studies 　
International Relations 　
Public Policy

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Career Destinations

Graduates from this program are expected to become researchers in public policy or hold professional positions in local or national governments and international organizations.

Two-year Master’s Program of Public Policy (MP2) Curriculum 2023/2025

(as of October 2023)

Please see GRIPS Bulletin for brief descriptions of courses offered

Origin and Affiliation of Students

(as of October 2022)

Recent Theses（2021-2022）

• Perceived challenges in overseas job recruitment in the Philippines during Covid-19: The case of manning agencies and seafarers
• The Impact of Expansionary Monetary Policy on Income and Wealth Inequalities: Evidence from Thailand
• The impact of having an additional child on Mother’s Employment in Sri Lanka
• Household Resilience as a Pathway to Food Security: Evidence from the Philippines
• Study on The Elderly Cash Transfer Program in Indonesia: External Validity Evidence with Different Threshold using The Regression Discontinuity Design
• Exploring Punctuated Equilibrium Theory: An Alternative Explanation of Determinant Factors for Policy Punctuations in The Welfare State Policy
• "Out-of-Pocket Expenditure on Health Care with Special Reference to Poorest Income Quintile Households in Sri Lanka: an Analysis Using Household Survey Data"
• The Effect of Government Expenditure on Environmental Pollution in Indonesia