After a pandemic that drastically reduced the numbers of Japanese students going abroad and foreign students arriving, Japan is again on a drive to internationalize higher education. Low economic growth, a labor shortage due to the declining birthrate and lagging competitiveness in science and technology prompted the government to set new targets. Following this, many Japanese universities are likely to further promote exchanges with their counterparts in G7 and other nations. Efforts to globalize the nation’s education are expected to increase.
During a Council for the Creation of Future Education meeting in March, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a plan to attract 400,000 foreign students to Japan and send 500,000 Japanese students abroad each year by 2033. In its latest round of proposals, the council presented a plan to reduce the hurdles to studying abroad and promote the benefits. Kishida has cited the necessity of raising a globally minded workforce of highly skilled professionals to establish his “new capitalism” concept.
The government will work to expand mid- and long-term study plans for Japanese students, improve the environment for encouraging acceptance of promising foreign students, promote international exchanges from junior high and high school levels, review residency requirements, facilitate employment, internationalize universities and create an attractive educational environment for foreign talent, Kishida said after a council meeting on April 27.
He also announced the government will implement major structural measures to increase overseas dispatches of excellent Japanese students on a large scale and bolster financial support for them. Japan is promoting mutual study abroad programs with its G7 counterparts through the G7 Summit in Hiroshima and the associated Education Ministers’ Meeting, Kishida said.
Eager to promote diversity and inclusion, universities are rolling out new programs and reinforcing past ones. Initiatives include language and culture classes to prepare students for studying abroad, dedicated Japanese language centers, and an increased emphasis on issues such as gender and the U.N.’s sustainable development goals.
A 2021 study analyzing internationalization initiatives at Japanese universities included criteria related to curriculum planning as well as administration. Universities are zeroing in on areas such as foreign faculty ratios and the extent to which information is disclosed in languages other than Japanese. Many universities have also created specific courses on global issues, built international dormitories and instituted measures to boost the employability of international graduates.
The government’s new numerical targets come after a 2008 goal of 300,000 foreign students by 2020 was surpassed in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. By last year, that number had dropped to 230,000. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology reports that the number of Japanese students studying abroad peaked at around 80,000 in the early 2000s. By 2020, however, that number had plunged to just over 40,000.
Factors making this latest attempt at internationalization challenging include low desire among Japanese to study abroad. Additionally, foreign students face the hurdle of overcoming the language and cultural differences inherent to Japan.
Since 2014, the education ministry has funded 37 institutions in its Top Global University Project. According to the project’s website, these universities “are leading the internationalization of Japan’s education” by “developing interdisciplinary joint curricula by inviting laboratories of foreign universities; creating an environment that attracts high-caliber faculty and students; and promoting international activities.” Unfortunately, the project ends in 2024.
To maintain cooperation between top global and other universities, the Japan Forum for Internationalization of Universities was launched in 2021 in association with the education ministry. To attract foreign students, 18 universities offer virtual campus tours, joint degree programs with foreign universities and business Japanese courses.
For the five years up to 2023, the government also funded virtual interaction between students in Japan and overseas through its Collaborative Online International Learning initiative. Under COIL, students held discussions and worked on joint projects.
