Scholarship

NWK Scholarship Awards and Student Ambassadors Program

::2025 Application Information:: For details on the application and selection process, please contact Jaymie Takeshita at jaymietake [at] gmail [dot] com. Application submission deadline is June 17, 2025.

Established in 1977, the NWK Scholarship Program is one aspect of our organization that we are extremely proud of.  Every year, the NWK Scholarship Committee selects outstanding high school seniors of Wakayama-descent to receive scholarships to help them pay for their college education.

This program has awarded over 250 scholarships, perfect attendance awards, and financial aid awards to date.

In 2023, NWK Scholarship Committee offered Post-Secondary Scholarships for the first time, open to students of Wakayama descent who are currently enrolled in community college/vocational programs, or college & university as undergraduate and/or graduate students. The first cohort of recipients was chosen in 2024 and the current cohort of recipients was announced at the 2025 New Year's Party: Alyssa Miyamoto, Kylie Kinjo and Riley-Piper Takenaka. Details on the application process for the upcoming year will be announced in Fall 2025.

The Scholarship Committee also works with our Student Ambassador Program, which sends students to Japan on a cultural and heritage discovery trip. To read more about the Student Ambassador Program, click here.

NWK scholarship recipients and presenters, 2012.  Photo credit: Tom Kohtani.

Nanka Wakayama Kenjinkai Scholarship, Inc. was approved as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization in 2001.

For more details on our scholarship program, please contact Jaymie Takeshita at jaymietake [at] gmail [dot] com.