The announcement of Japan's plans to double the number of foreign students by 2010 was first made by then Minister of Education Hirofumi Nakasone during the April 2000 Group of Eight education ministers' meeting in Tokyo. Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori also made a statement to this effect during the July G8 Summit leaders' meeting. Since then, the Government has worked on formulating concrete measures to achieve the goal.

Japan Lags Behind Europe, U.S.
This is not the first time efforts to increase the number of foreign students have been in the limelight. In 1983 the government unveiled an ambitious plan to raise the number of foreign students from just over 10,000 at the time to 100,000 by the start of the twenty-first century. The plan was aimed at promoting international understanding and a spirit of cooperation. Although the number rose to 53,787 by 1994, it subsequently plateaued and fell to 51,298 in 1998. Since then it has again edged upward, but reaching the original goal of 100,000 by the end of this year nonetheless remains elusive. The more than 50,000 foreign students now in Japan represent 1.5% of all Japanese university students. This is substantially lower than the proportions in other developed countries, such as Britain, with 16.7% (190,000 students); Germany, with 8.6% (160,000); France, with 8.0% (170,000), and the United States, with 5.9% (480,000). In addition, over 90% of Japan's foreign students come from China, South Korea, Taiwan, and other parts of Asia, with only a small proportion coming from Europe and the United States.

Hoping to break out of this "slump," the government is again throwing its weight behind a plan to raise the number of foreign students to 100,000. The first step it took was instituting the Test for Foreign Students in Japan. Students from abroad who wish to major in the liberal arts must take the Japanese language, general studies, and math portions of the test. Those who wish to major in the sciences must take the Japanese language, science, and math portions of the test. Until now, students who came to Japan either at their own expense or on private scholarships had to take two tests, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and the General Examination for Foreign Students. Now, however, they will only need to take this new one.

The test will be administered twice a year--in June and November--in Japan and at about 10 overseas locations, mainly in Asia. This is a vast improvement over the former setup, under which the General Examination for Foreign Students was given once a year in Japan and just two overseas locations--Malaysia and Thailand--and nearly all students planning to study in Japan had to make a special trip to the country for this purpose. The Japanese Language Proficiency Test, while available both in Japan and at numerous overseas locations, was also held just once a year.

The Ministry of Education is also looking into offering scholarships to students who get the highest marks on the test. Though Japan has a large number of foreign students from the rest of Asia, the country remains a less popular destination for overseas study than Europe or the United States. The Ministry of Education plans to carry out reforms to Japan's education program in the hope of attracting more students from the region. It has also begun urging universities to award doctorate degrees without delay to foreign students who fulfill the requirements of their course.

Copyright (c) 2000 Japan Information Network. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.