Hello. I am currently finalizing my research plan, but I've hit a wall in how I want to phrase the thing.
Basically my question is this: What is the point of the research plan?
I've actually gone through two research ideas at this point, both of which I found to be overly specific, and so I've sort of scrapped them because I don't want to screw myself over in the second screening.
I feel like I don't know what I'm supposed to achieve with my plan. Am I supposed to be writing something that gets me through the first screening? Am I supposed to focus on the second screening? They seem to ask for two entirely different kinds of plans (the embassy wants something with a compelling connection to Japan, professors just want good research), and it's pretty stressful.
Are they just testing me on my ability to think of a good plan? Does it matter if my research isn't necessarily groundbreaking or novel? What if it has holes here and there? Do I need to worry about having the *perfect* plan or just something that checks the "why Japan" and other common MEXT interview boxes?
Sorry for the weird question.