Japan's Ambitious Ten-Year Plan for Internationalization and International Education

• In Event: Journeys of Transformation and Strategy: An Insightful Exploration of Educational Approaches, International Higher Education, and EA Perspectives in a Global Context

Proposal

In April 2023, the Japanese government's Council for the Creation of Future Education, chaired by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida released a comprehensive and ambitious internationalization policy paper to address the country's continuing birth rate decline, labor shortages, wage stagnation, longstanding economic slump, and the dampening impact of the pandemic on international student mobility. Prime Minister Kishida's proposal envisions the two numerical international student mobility targets hosting 400,000 international students in Japan and sending 500,000 Japanese students abroad by 2033. The plan includes various measures to improve English-language education, increase EMI (English as a medium of instruction) courses and programs, expand study-abroad scholarships, enhance international and intercultural understanding, improve post-graduation support for international students seeking employment in Japan, and so on.

This presentation will examine the government's strategies to overcome barriers to internationalization, such as language, cultural and bureaucratic challenges, and post-graduation employment prospects. The government's proposal, distinctive for its simultaneous focus on inbound and outbound mobile students, is assessed for its feasibility and potential impact on transforming Japanese society's outlook on international and intercultural experiences.

First, I will open the presentation with some scene-setting about Japan's past internationalization efforts, acknowledging successful milestones and lessons learned. For example, the session will highlight the gradual achievement of previous goals, such as attracting 100,000 international students from 1983 to 2003 and reaching 300,000 by 2019. The current effort to revitalize internationalization efforts in higher education to foster a new form of capitalism driven by human investment will be explored. It is said that Japan's changing labor market dynamics, which have been brought about by the rapidly shrinking and aging population, are influencing its internationalization efforts and increasing the demand for international talent. The plan is part of the government's effort to send more Japanese students to the international arena while drawing and retaining overseas students to address the domestic labor shortage. The Japanese government seems to be hoping that expanding these two-way international student mobility flows can create an ecosystem in international education. But what is the reality on the ground?

Second, I will critically assess the recruitment policy for international students, focusing on whether the international student target numbers are realistic. In looking back at Japan's previous efforts to draw more international students, one of the most notable outcomes was an increase in vocational school students and enrollment in Japanese language schools. This seems to have occurred not because of policy but because of a demand for these students in Japan's workforce and a willingness to enroll them in language schools. Under these circumstances, there is a lack of quality assurance and policy support for Japanese language schools, and it raises major issues for the new policy. It is pointed out that policies based on numerical targets were promulgated in an attempt to catch up with leading Western host countries, and that problems which occurred on the ground as international students were hosted have been overlooked as reaching these targets takes precedence.
Also, the presenter will delve into the particulars of the government initiative and assess them through the lens of data and information, identifying gaps between higher education policies and institutional practices. What is the evidence behind which the policy is based?

Third, I will address the hurdles of inspiring Japanese students to study abroad while emphasizing the significance of fostering a global perspective and embracing challenges early in their academic journeys. Pre-pandemic, 70% of Japanese students studied abroad for less than a month, according to the MEXT's (Japan's education ministry) statistics in 2022. Furthermore, government figures show that over 60% of high school students surveyed in Japan said they do not want to study abroad (MEXT, 2019). And among young people in Japan, over 50% responded they do not want to study abroad, compared to 22% in South Korea and 24% in the United States (Cabinet Office, 2019). Respondents cited reasons like language barriers, financial difficulties, and concerns about the employment process after returning.
Moreover, it is said that young Japanese people today are so self-contained in their small communities, and it is difficult for them to have aspirations or dreams for the future. It is because these young people have never seen a growing Japan compared with older generations. In Japan, there is a generational gap in terms of studying abroad and global perspectives (international education).
Furthermore, systematic and customary problems in Japan prevent university students from studying abroad. In the country, job hunting for university (undergraduate) students typically begins in their third year. This is a major obstacle to studying abroad for one to two semesters. Japanese students often say that year-abroad or semester-abroad cannot compete in the long-term recruitment process of Japanese companies even if they want to do so. Thus, short-term study abroad programs –less than one month—are most popular among Japanese students. Their preference illustrates the attraction of lower expenditure and being able to study overseas before a long job-hunting process. Thus, peculiar Japan's hiring practices thwart Japanese students' desire to study abroad. In theory, studying abroad for one to two semesters based on their academic interests could be an effective way for students to develop careers. In reality, Job search (hunting) would often be the first priority in students' college life (higher education experiences).

Japan's internationalization policy has a strong dimension of revitalizing the Japanese economy and could be termed an economically-driven international education strategy. Japan has to deepen its understanding of the meaning of and measures needed for international and Japanese students to learn and live together, or for international students and residents to live side by side in local communities, and to make use of this understanding when making and implementing policy. The government's comprehensive plan seeks to navigate those challenges above, ushering in a new era of internationalization in Japanese higher education and cultivating a generation with broader horizons. Can Japan capitalize on this newfound prominence?

Authors

• Hiroshi Ota, Hitotsubashi University

• Yukiko Shimmi, Tohoku University

• Akinari Hoshino, Nagoya University