One of the consequences of the 'massification' of higher education in Japan is the total cost of financing that education for 3 million students. Moreover, even as Japan's recessionary economy has experienced long-term price deflation, the costs of higher education and health care have gone up.
One reason for the increase in these areas is a reduction of government subsidy. Japan is consistently cited as having one of the lowest government contributions to education and higher education in the OECD. However, government contributions to higher education overlap with government spending on scientific and medical research, so sometimes it is hard to keep track of this as a social or educational indicator.
The long-term recessionary economy has meant families tap into household savings to pay for education and health care. In the case of working class families who are trying to put a family member into higher education for the first time, savings are often lacking. So are enough scholarships. So universities, students and their families are turning to student loan programs. However, one loan program has hit a snag because of the unintended consequences of a consumer credit law reform.
Read the entire Yomiuri article at the link below. Excerpts follow.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T100819001529.htm
Banks bail on low-interest education loans
The Yomiuri Shimbun
In an unexpected side-effect of new regulations meant to deter aggressive sales practices, some banks, including Resona Bank, have stopped accepting applications for low-interest education loans designed for university and vocational school students.
Three banks operated by Resona Holdings, Inc. and some regional banks have terminated the low-interest loans, designed to help pay admission, tuition and other fees. The loans are extended to students' parents in cooperation with the educational institutions, which sometimes act as guarantor or contribute to interest payments.
It is the first time a major bank group has been known to withdraw from a cooperation loan program of this nature.
The cooperation loan program hit a snag when the revised Installment Sales Law was enacted in December.
27 October 2010
Shiga University president: Japan's scientific research, universities in decline
In a recent Japan Times opinion piece, Takamitsu Sawa, the president of Shiga University and frequent contributor to the Op-Ed of the newspaper, laments the overall decline in research and research at the universities, linking the decline with small government budgets and the 'corporatization' of the national university system.
Key excerpts:
1. The poor performance shown by Japanese universities [in recent global rankings] is a clear indication of the dwindling standards of the nation's science and technology. A dramatic decline has been noted in recent years in the number of academic papers written by researchers at national universities and inter-university research institutes and printed in science journals. Indeed, the number in fiscal 2008 was 10 percent less than in fiscal 2005.
2. What accounts for this rapid decline in Japan's share of scientific research?
First of all, I would like to point to an unusually small budget allocated to science and technology compared with other countries. In Japan, the amount of public money allocated to higher education is equivalent to a mere 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, which makes it 27th among the 28 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development....
The second factor is the 2004 policy of turning national universities into bodies called independent administrative corporations. Ever since then, university instructors have become so busy drafting documents stating medium-term targets, medium-term plans and annual plans, as well as preparing papers needed to secure funds to make their institutions more competitive, that they have had to drastically sacrifice time that otherwise could have been used for research.
The entire article can be read at Japan Times online at this link:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20101018ts.html
Key excerpts:
1. The poor performance shown by Japanese universities [in recent global rankings] is a clear indication of the dwindling standards of the nation's science and technology. A dramatic decline has been noted in recent years in the number of academic papers written by researchers at national universities and inter-university research institutes and printed in science journals. Indeed, the number in fiscal 2008 was 10 percent less than in fiscal 2005.
2. What accounts for this rapid decline in Japan's share of scientific research?
First of all, I would like to point to an unusually small budget allocated to science and technology compared with other countries. In Japan, the amount of public money allocated to higher education is equivalent to a mere 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, which makes it 27th among the 28 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development....
The second factor is the 2004 policy of turning national universities into bodies called independent administrative corporations. Ever since then, university instructors have become so busy drafting documents stating medium-term targets, medium-term plans and annual plans, as well as preparing papers needed to secure funds to make their institutions more competitive, that they have had to drastically sacrifice time that otherwise could have been used for research.
The entire article can be read at Japan Times online at this link:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20101018ts.html
30 September 2010
TEFL Forum: ELT in Japan, Issue #3 (Aug-Sep 2010)
Article 1: Schema theory: Is this set of concepts relevant to TEFL?
Article 2: Truespel - the English-based phonetic notation for both ESL and EFL
Article 3: Writing systems across languages and cultures: Implications for language teaching and learning
Article 4: Japanese publishers of EFL books for self-study/ 自習のための言語・英語材料の出版社
Article 5: Key concepts in EFL literacy: Phonics vs. whole language
Article 6: Three phonics, spelling and whole word activities for EFL learners
Article 7: Should the JET Programme be axed?
20 September 2010
ARWU rankings somewhat kinder to Japan
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), out of Shanghai, China, has its merits: it comes out in August, and when differences across universities are not statistically significant, it places them in a tie rather than letting the chips arbitrarily fall where they may.
This year's list is somewhat kinder to Japanese universities, which clearly still dominate their designated region, the Asia-Pacific.
Full information is at the links below. The quoted material after the links highlights how Japanese institutions did in the top 200. Nine make the list. To summarize, Todai/U. of Tokyo is number 20 worldwide and top in Japan and Asia. Japan's number 2, Kyodai/Kyoto U., is still in the top 30 at a respectable 24.
Despite all the government money now going to Waseda and Keio, no private university is in the top 200 (the main weakness: science and technology). This is really a list of elite national universities (now 'national university corporations' or 'NUCs') in Japan. However, it is important to note that most NUCs are not elite, and it's interesting that the top universities in Taiwan and S. Korea were also national universities (of Japan--national imperial universities!).
http://www.arwu.org/index.jsp
http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010_2.jsp
in top 100
---------------------
20 The University of Tokyo Asia/Pacific 1
24 Kyoto University Asia/Pacific 2
75 Osaka University Asia/Pacific 6
79 Nagoya University Asia/Pacific 7
84 Tohoku University Asia/Pacific 8
in top 200
--------------------
101-150 Tokyo Institute of Technology Asia/Pacific 10-18
151-200 Hokkaido University Asia/Pacific 19-26
151-200 Kyushu University Asia/Pacific 19-26
151-200 University of Tsukuba Asia/Pacific 19-26
This year's list is somewhat kinder to Japanese universities, which clearly still dominate their designated region, the Asia-Pacific.
Full information is at the links below. The quoted material after the links highlights how Japanese institutions did in the top 200. Nine make the list. To summarize, Todai/U. of Tokyo is number 20 worldwide and top in Japan and Asia. Japan's number 2, Kyodai/Kyoto U., is still in the top 30 at a respectable 24.
Despite all the government money now going to Waseda and Keio, no private university is in the top 200 (the main weakness: science and technology). This is really a list of elite national universities (now 'national university corporations' or 'NUCs') in Japan. However, it is important to note that most NUCs are not elite, and it's interesting that the top universities in Taiwan and S. Korea were also national universities (of Japan--national imperial universities!).
http://www.arwu.org/index.jsp
http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010_2.jsp
in top 100
---------------------
20 The University of Tokyo Asia/Pacific 1
24 Kyoto University Asia/Pacific 2
75 Osaka University Asia/Pacific 6
79 Nagoya University Asia/Pacific 7
84 Tohoku University Asia/Pacific 8
in top 200
--------------------
101-150 Tokyo Institute of Technology Asia/Pacific 10-18
151-200 Hokkaido University Asia/Pacific 19-26
151-200 Kyushu University Asia/Pacific 19-26
151-200 University of Tsukuba Asia/Pacific 19-26
19 September 2010
Should the JET Programme be axed?
Should the JET Programme be axed?
by Charles Jannuzi
University of Fukui
(and JET Programme ALT 1989-1992)
The JET Programme (official site: http://www.jetprogramme.org/index.html ) is a teaching and cultural exchange program in Japan that brings over 4400 people from overseas (for a detailed breakdown of the stats, see: http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/introduction/statistics.html ). It then places most of them as 'assistant language teachers' (ALTs) in middle schools and high schools all across the country. While there are a small number of people from countries where English is a foreign language (officially 36 countries participate), and there are posts for 'coordinators for international relations' (CIRs), who specialize in things like translation, the vast majority of JET Programme participants are natives of an anglophone country, young adults, recent graduates from university, and they will team teach as ALTs.
There has been a lot of discussion online and in newspapers recently about the purposes and usefulness of the JET Programme because the program is quite likely to be either drastically cut or eliminated altogether. In terms of money spent and personnel employed, JET is already past its earlier peaks anyway.
It should be noted that discussions like this one here at ELT in Japan are usually held because the rationale for the program is being questioned--indeed, its reason for being has always been questioned, since the program's inception 25 years ago, back in the bubble 80s. However, these sorts of discussions have no effect on whether or not the program is increased, maintained, curtailed or eliminated. Rather such disucssions are more like: Who do you think will win the World Cup next time? We are spectators who must speculate.
Defenders of the program have often argued that, even if the JET Programme is relatively low impact in terms of teaching and language learning, its main goal is something called 'cross- cultural exchange' (or often 'cross-cultural understanding'). One problem with this notion is that it is difficult to pin down just what that is or how to quantify it (even roughly quantify it). Since the program only employs people by the few thousand and scatters them thinly across the country, that really doesn't seem to be much of a population for cross-cultural exchange compared to the large numbers of Chinese, for example, who have come to Japan to work or attend school.
Another problem with the idea of the JET Program as 'cultural exchange' is that it supports a major prejudice that pervades Japan and its thinking about the rest of the world. That is, for Japan, cross-cultural exchange consists of maintaining good relations with anglophone countries like the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
A last weakness in the cultural defense of the program could be stated thus: Isn't the whole idea of foreign language education based, at least in part, on the rationale of furthering cultural understanding? So wouldn't the needs of cross-cultural exchange be met equally or better by emphasizing foreign language teaching and learning?
I predict that the ongoing economic, monetary and fiscal crises that Japan has will lead to the JET Programme being abolished or cut to a size that most will forget the program exists. However, I would like to hope that the program could be revised or transformed so that something worthwhile could be scraped up from the ashes.
Japan as a country needs a foreign policy independent of the hegemon, the United States. Perhaps a step towards that would be to achieve some sort of real mutual understanding with the rest of Asia (including Russia). This could also be expanded to include non-anglophone countries all around the world, but perhaps most significantly Latin America and Africa. However, the economic and cultural significance of developed and developing Europe (outside of the UK) would justify as much a focus as the US or the UK or other developed English-speaking countries get now in Japan in terms of 'international relations' and cross-cultural exchange.
With that in mind, the JET Programme could be revised to something along these lines: It should become a true EXCHANGE program of EFL and foreign language teachers, from the primary to the university level. For example, language teachers from China, S. Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Italy, Russia, etc. come to Japan for one year. Japanese EFL and foreign language teachers go abroad and work in schools in such countries for one year.
All this is not to say that the current JET Programme (or its antecedents) has been a failure. It is not really a matter for me to judge. I am only offering here an idea that might help make such exchange a venture with a deeper educational impact.
If the JET program has failed, it seems most likely just another aspect of Japan's inability to reform and improve foreign language education at all levels of education. If the ALTs comprise a 'token foreign element' at public and private schools in Japan, the same thing could be said for the foreign nationals teaching EFL at the thousands of universities and colleges in Japan. So if Japan, its education system, and its government can not come to a collective understanding of what they need in terms of foreign language education, THAT--as has been made clear to me numerous times--is a matter for Japan and the Japanese.
-------------------------------------
Note: for more detailed statistics and facts about the JET Programme, see the following sources:
Yomiuri Newspaper reports 54% of Japan's PhDs unemployed.
However, online Yomiuri articles are quickly 'firewalled' so Japan HEO will look for corroborating articles at other sources, such as Kyodo, Japan Times, etc.
The 54% refers to those who finished a PhD and joined the already dismal job market this spring.
In a nutshell, the trends with PhDs in Japan are: (1) most hope to get a post in Japanese academia and/or a government-funded research institute (most of which overlap significantly with academia here), (2) there simply isn't enough growth in jobs to match the increase in PhDs, (3) companies have always been reluctant to hire PhDs (too old, speciality irrelevant, etc.) while they have given up on more and more research due to the two-decade-long bad economy, (4) more and more PhDs have to settle for jobs that do not require a PhD and/or are outside the speciality of the degree holder.
Some background reading is available at these two Nature.com articles:
Scientists to spare
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/071025/pdf/nj7165-1084a.pdf
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/071025/full/nj7165-1084a.html
Employing Japan's postdocs
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/070621/pdf/nj7147-1028b.pdf
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/070621/full/nj7147-1028b.html
The 54% refers to those who finished a PhD and joined the already dismal job market this spring.
In a nutshell, the trends with PhDs in Japan are: (1) most hope to get a post in Japanese academia and/or a government-funded research institute (most of which overlap significantly with academia here), (2) there simply isn't enough growth in jobs to match the increase in PhDs, (3) companies have always been reluctant to hire PhDs (too old, speciality irrelevant, etc.) while they have given up on more and more research due to the two-decade-long bad economy, (4) more and more PhDs have to settle for jobs that do not require a PhD and/or are outside the speciality of the degree holder.
Some background reading is available at these two Nature.com articles:
Scientists to spare
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/071025/pdf/nj7165-1084a.pdf
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/071025/full/nj7165-1084a.html
Employing Japan's postdocs
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/070621/pdf/nj7147-1028b.pdf
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2007/070621/full/nj7147-1028b.html
Japanese universities do even worse with THES world rankings
In the new THES global rankings, Japan higher education only manages to place 5 universities in the top 200. No institution in Japan makes the top 10 or 20. Only one university makes the top 30--that is Toudai/University of Tokyo. No private universities placed. Kyoudai/Kyoto University's rank of 57 seems out of place because we are used to seeing Kyoudai as a top 30 institution in the old THES-QS tables. These results are even more disappointing than the QS results summarized and posted here last week. Also, China has placed SIX institutions in the top 200--a result that will be interpreted as China overtaking Japan in still yet another area. On the other hand, the top university in China, Beijing University, has yet to crack the top 30.
See the full list of 200 and total score at the link below. The excerpt after that shows only the Japanese universities that made it into the top 200.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html
26 University of Tokyo
57 Kyoto University
112 Tokyo Institute of Technology
130 Osaka University
132 Tohoku University
See the full list of 200 and total score at the link below. The excerpt after that shows only the Japanese universities that made it into the top 200.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html
26 University of Tokyo
57 Kyoto University
112 Tokyo Institute of Technology
130 Osaka University
132 Tohoku University
08 September 2010
Japan gets 10 institutions in the QS World University Rankings Results for 2010
Japan gets 10 institutions in the QS World University Rankings Results for 2010
This year it is the 'THES-less' QS rankings. THES is pursuing a different methdology with a different partner.
The results for Japan are about the same as last year with a bit of 'slippage' down in the rankings for most all the institutions. Japan does not rate any in the top ten or top twenty. Todai and Kyodai are neck-and-neck in the top 30 now. Waseda is the only private university to make the top 200.
While we can not say conclusively that Japan's university reforms of the last two decades CAUSED the deterioration of its institutions' rankings, we can say they obviously didn't help (unless someone wants to make the forlorn argument that the reforms ameliorated the deterioration somewhat).
See link below for the full list of 200 at the QS website.
http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010/results
Top 30, which includes TWO universities from Japan (Toudai and Kyoudai):
1 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
2 Harvard University United States
3 Yale University United States
4 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States
6 University of Oxford United Kingdom
7 Imperial College London United Kingdom
8 University of Chicago United States
9 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) United States
10 Princeton University United States
11 Columbia University United States
12 University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) United States
13 Stanford University United States
14 Duke University United States
15 University of Michigan United States
16 Cornell University United States
17 Johns Hopkins University United States
18 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) A* Switzerland
19 McGill University Canada
20 Australian National University (ANU) A* Australia
21 King's College London (KCL) United Kingdom
22 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
23 University of Hong Kong (HKU) Hong Kong
24 University of Tokyo, The Japan
25 Kyoto University Japan
26 Northwestern University United States
27 University of Bristol United Kingdom
28 University of California, Berkeley (UCB) United States
29 University of Toronto Canada
30 University of Manchester United Kingdom
---------------------
THREE more Japanese universities making the top 100:
49 Osaka University Japan
60 Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
91 Nagoya University Japan
---------------------
FIVE more making the top 200:
102 Tohoku University Japan
153 Kyushu University Japan
172 University of Tsukuba Japan
175 Hokkaido University Japan
182 Waseda University Japan
This year it is the 'THES-less' QS rankings. THES is pursuing a different methdology with a different partner.
The results for Japan are about the same as last year with a bit of 'slippage' down in the rankings for most all the institutions. Japan does not rate any in the top ten or top twenty. Todai and Kyodai are neck-and-neck in the top 30 now. Waseda is the only private university to make the top 200.
While we can not say conclusively that Japan's university reforms of the last two decades CAUSED the deterioration of its institutions' rankings, we can say they obviously didn't help (unless someone wants to make the forlorn argument that the reforms ameliorated the deterioration somewhat).
See link below for the full list of 200 at the QS website.
http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010/results
Top 30, which includes TWO universities from Japan (Toudai and Kyoudai):
1 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
2 Harvard University United States
3 Yale University United States
4 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States
6 University of Oxford United Kingdom
7 Imperial College London United Kingdom
8 University of Chicago United States
9 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) United States
10 Princeton University United States
11 Columbia University United States
12 University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) United States
13 Stanford University United States
14 Duke University United States
15 University of Michigan United States
16 Cornell University United States
17 Johns Hopkins University United States
18 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) A* Switzerland
19 McGill University Canada
20 Australian National University (ANU) A* Australia
21 King's College London (KCL) United Kingdom
22 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
23 University of Hong Kong (HKU) Hong Kong
24 University of Tokyo, The Japan
25 Kyoto University Japan
26 Northwestern University United States
27 University of Bristol United Kingdom
28 University of California, Berkeley (UCB) United States
29 University of Toronto Canada
30 University of Manchester United Kingdom
---------------------
THREE more Japanese universities making the top 100:
49 Osaka University Japan
60 Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
91 Nagoya University Japan
---------------------
FIVE more making the top 200:
102 Tohoku University Japan
153 Kyushu University Japan
172 University of Tsukuba Japan
175 Hokkaido University Japan
182 Waseda University Japan
01 September 2010
TEFL Forum: ELT in Japan, Issue #3 (August 2010)
27 August 2010
ELT in Japan, Issue #3 (August 2010)
Feature 1: Schema theory: Is this set of concepts relevant to TEFL?
Feature 2: Truespel - the English-Based Phonetic Notation for ESL and EFL as Well
Feature 3: Writing Systems Across Languages and Cultures: Implications for Language Teaching and Learning
Feature 4: Japanese publishers of EFL books for self-study/ 自習のための言語・英語材料の出版社
Feature 2: Truespel - the English-Based Phonetic Notation for ESL and EFL as Well
Feature 3: Writing Systems Across Languages and Cultures: Implications for Language Teaching and Learning
Feature 4: Japanese publishers of EFL books for self-study/ 自習のための言語・英語材料の出版社
And then there were 13
In 2008 the Japanese government announced its ambitions to increase the number of international students in higher education from around 120,000 to 300,000 by the year 2020.
At the same time, the higher education system was supposed to working collectively on forming a core global 30 of top universities in internationalized undergraduate programs, post-graduate education, and research. However, Japan seems to lurch from government to government and has never really got very far out of the economic doldrums for nearly two decades. This economic stagnation has compounded fiscal and monetary crises, which were also deepened by the global economic turmoil of the past several years.
Now the government has scaled back its plans for 30 world-class universities to 13--mostly because it can't really afford to fund even 13 and also because most other universities probably didn't think it was worth jumping through all the hoops in order to qualify for the funding. Meanwhile the goal of 300,000 international students seems more remote than ever in light of the fact that so much funding for international students has fallen through this year because of the ongoing fiscal crisis at the national level as well as the funding shortages at the universities.
Finally, it is this publication's opinion that the language policy goals of the '300,000 International Students Plan' are also dubious. First, most Japanese universities do not have enough faculty prepared to plan, teach and evaluate courses in English. Second, since most of the international students come from countries where English is a foreign or supplementary language, the Japanese universities and programs are completely unprepared to teach and guide the research of students who have beginning to intermediate English proficiency. And since the vast majority of international students in Japan come from China, this issue is hardly a trivial one. Still it seems unlikely that the Japanese government and the universities will be able to dig themselves out of the fiscal and financial crisis well enough for the language policy issues to get worse than they already are now (with 120,000 international students and most from China).
Further reading at the Ministry of Education's website is at the following links. Excerpted content (in italics) follows the links.
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news/1283454.htm
http://www.mext.go.jp/component/english/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2009/08/26/1283454_2.pdf
Japan formulated the 300,000 International Students Plan in July of 2008, with the aim of receiving 300,000 international students by 2020. The “Global 30” Project for Establishing Core Universities for Internationalization is being implemented to realize this goal by selecting measures for the internationalization of universities including the recruitment of international students, along with forming Japan’s centers of internationalization. Selected universities will receive prioritized financial assistance of 200 to 400 million yen per annum over the next 5 years. Endowed with this aid, each university will strive to recruit 3000 to 8000 international students.
In 2009, the following 13 universities were selected as global centers:
Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, The University of Tokyo, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Keio University, Sophia University, Meiji University, Waseda University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University
Core universities will take the following steps to create an attractive educational and research environment for international students.
１）Expansion of course programs by which degrees can be earned through English-only classes
⇒ Establish courses at the universities selected through which English-only degrees can be obtained: 33 undergraduate courses and 124 graduate courses over the next 5 years
２）Enhancement of systems for receiving/hosting international students
⇒ Enhance systems for receiving/hosting international students, such as specialist support in studying and academics, as well as for completing various procedures and formalities both in/out of the university; and provide internship programs at Japanese corporations, etc.
３）Provide international students with opportunities to learn about Japanese language and culture
⇒ A plan to provide high-quality instruction in Japanese language and culture
４）Promotion of strategic international cooperation
⇒ Establish two separate overseas offices per core university, to enable local recruitment through admissions tests, etc., and boost the number of Japanese students studying abroad through exchange study programs, etc.
At the same time, the higher education system was supposed to working collectively on forming a core global 30 of top universities in internationalized undergraduate programs, post-graduate education, and research. However, Japan seems to lurch from government to government and has never really got very far out of the economic doldrums for nearly two decades. This economic stagnation has compounded fiscal and monetary crises, which were also deepened by the global economic turmoil of the past several years.
Now the government has scaled back its plans for 30 world-class universities to 13--mostly because it can't really afford to fund even 13 and also because most other universities probably didn't think it was worth jumping through all the hoops in order to qualify for the funding. Meanwhile the goal of 300,000 international students seems more remote than ever in light of the fact that so much funding for international students has fallen through this year because of the ongoing fiscal crisis at the national level as well as the funding shortages at the universities.
Finally, it is this publication's opinion that the language policy goals of the '300,000 International Students Plan' are also dubious. First, most Japanese universities do not have enough faculty prepared to plan, teach and evaluate courses in English. Second, since most of the international students come from countries where English is a foreign or supplementary language, the Japanese universities and programs are completely unprepared to teach and guide the research of students who have beginning to intermediate English proficiency. And since the vast majority of international students in Japan come from China, this issue is hardly a trivial one. Still it seems unlikely that the Japanese government and the universities will be able to dig themselves out of the fiscal and financial crisis well enough for the language policy issues to get worse than they already are now (with 120,000 international students and most from China).
Further reading at the Ministry of Education's website is at the following links. Excerpted content (in italics) follows the links.
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news/1283454.htm
http://www.mext.go.jp/component/english/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2009/08/26/1283454_2.pdf
Japan formulated the 300,000 International Students Plan in July of 2008, with the aim of receiving 300,000 international students by 2020. The “Global 30” Project for Establishing Core Universities for Internationalization is being implemented to realize this goal by selecting measures for the internationalization of universities including the recruitment of international students, along with forming Japan’s centers of internationalization. Selected universities will receive prioritized financial assistance of 200 to 400 million yen per annum over the next 5 years. Endowed with this aid, each university will strive to recruit 3000 to 8000 international students.
In 2009, the following 13 universities were selected as global centers:
Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, The University of Tokyo, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Keio University, Sophia University, Meiji University, Waseda University, Doshisha University, and Ritsumeikan University
Core universities will take the following steps to create an attractive educational and research environment for international students.
１）Expansion of course programs by which degrees can be earned through English-only classes
⇒ Establish courses at the universities selected through which English-only degrees can be obtained: 33 undergraduate courses and 124 graduate courses over the next 5 years
２）Enhancement of systems for receiving/hosting international students
⇒ Enhance systems for receiving/hosting international students, such as specialist support in studying and academics, as well as for completing various procedures and formalities both in/out of the university; and provide internship programs at Japanese corporations, etc.
３）Provide international students with opportunities to learn about Japanese language and culture
⇒ A plan to provide high-quality instruction in Japanese language and culture
４）Promotion of strategic international cooperation
⇒ Establish two separate overseas offices per core university, to enable local recruitment through admissions tests, etc., and boost the number of Japanese students studying abroad through exchange study programs, etc.
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