Japan to More than Double Intake of Foreign Students

According to a Japan Times editorial today, Japan is set to increase the number of foreign students studying in Japan to around 300,000 by 2020. This represents a 250% increase over current levels (there are currently about 120,000).

The plan, hatched by a 6  ministry taskforce including the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister (Yes, that’s just one of the ministries. I mean seriously, will someone please break up that ministry into more manageable pieces…..), the Foreign Ministry, and the Justice Ministry, was initially outlined in August of 2008, and called for the simplification of screening procedures for potential students as well as more cooperation between universities and embassies (and home countries).

The Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education met just recently concerning this plan, which looks set to go forward. This is an association that was established by the three Ministries mentioned above in 1989, for the purpose of improving Japanese language institutes and helping foreign students study Japanese.

The figure of 300,000 is a significant increase, considering the comparatively low levels that currently exist. Just as a comparison, Australia, a country of about 1/6 the population of Japan had some 382,000 foreign students in 2008, an increase itself from 204,000 in 2002. Most of these stdeunts come from China, India and South Korea. The US also accepts many more foreign students than Japan, with some 583,000 foreign students in 2006. Many of these students also came from India (the largest contingent of almost 84,000), followed by China and South Korea (the same top three as for Australia). Japan was the fourth largest country of origin for students studying in the US.

It should be somewhat of an embarassment that a country like Australia, which is so much less financially wealthy and has a much smaller population nonetheless supports more than 3 times the number of foreign students as Japan. The proposed increases will be a great thing for Japan in my opinion. By bringing in many more foreigners to study, all of whom will need to learn Japanese in order to study and will in the process learn a great deal about Japan, they will help to open many more doors for Japanese research and business. It will increase the world’s understanding of Japan, and Japan’s understanding of the world. And it will bring needed fresh inputs and ideas into the Japanese education system. As the Japan Times editorial notes, the plan’s ‘positive effects extend far beyond helping just individual students and school budgets’. I’m sure there will be problems, as with any new plan. But I believe the long term benefits will far outweigh any difficulties for Japan.