Entrance qualification for a doctoral course (second half) is granted to a person falling under any of the following.
1. A person who has obtained a master's degree or a professional degree [Article 102, paragraph (1) of the Act]
2. A person who has been granted a degree equivalent to a master's degree or a professional degree in a foreign country [Article 156, item (i) of the Enforcement Regulation]
3. A person who has been granted a degree equivalent to a master's degree or a professional degree by taking, in Japan, a correspondence course provided by a foreign school [Article 156, item (ii) of the Enforcement Regulation]
4. A person who has completed a course of a foreign school designated as equivalent to a foreign graduate school in Japan (a foreign university branch in Japan designated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (equivalent to a graduate school)) and has been granted a degree equivalent to a master's degree or a professional degree [Article 156, item (iii) of the Enforcement Regulation]
5. A person who has completed a course of the United Nations University and has been granted a degree equivalent to a master's degree [Article 156, item (iv) of the Enforcement Regulation]
6. A person who graduated from a university, etc. and has engaged in research at a university or a research institute, etc. for not less than two years and who is approved by a graduate school as having the academic ability equivalent to a person with a master's degree [Public Notice of the Ministry of Education No. 118 of 1989]
7. A person aged 24 or over who has been admitted by a graduate school through an independent entrance examination [Article 156, item (vii) of the Enforcement Regulation]
* Graduation from a 6-year undergraduate course in the field of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy or veterinary science in itself would not simply be deemed to be equivalent to the completion of a master's course and entrance qualification for a doctoral course would not be granted only with that fact.
