Japan’s Harvard Mulls Radical Calendar Change

One of Tokyo University’s self-proclaimed goals is to raise “tough students” ready to take on the world. But to do so, Asia’s highest-ranked university is becoming increasingly convinced it will have to take drastic measures – changing its academic calendar to a fall start date.


An internal preliminary report released by the university Friday found that the prestigious institution, like much of Japan Inc., must globalize to remain competitive. The national university’s position fell four spots to No. 30 in 2011 in the Times Higher Education world university rankings compared with the previous year, once again dragged down by dismal marks in “international outlook.”

The university first proposed the idea of changing its calendar last summer.

In an effort to become more globally friendly, the university wants to encourage its students to study abroad as well as make the Tokyo school an attractive destination for overseas disciples of higher learning. The problem is a timing issue, as Japan’s academic calendar is out of sync with the rest of the world. Students in Japan start their school year in April, while the back-to-school season kicks off in the fall in about 70% of 215 countries studied, according to the report. The scheduling difference has made it difficult for Japanese students to find international programs that don’t cut into the middle of their semesters back home and vice versa.

The consequence of the temporal mismatch is apparent: the report says only 0.4% of Tokyo University’s 13,250 students were studying abroad as of last May. At this rate, the report concludes, “the aim to ‘have all (Tokyo University) students experience study abroad or conduct research overseas by 2015’ is not one whose achievement is within sight.” Meanwhile, about 270,604 U.S. students studied abroad for academic credit in the 2009-2010 school year, nearly a 4% increase from the previous year, according to the Institute of International Education annual report released last November. But just 2.3% of those students opted to study in Japan – the same percentage that chose Costa Rica.

So the next figure shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: exchange students made up just 1.9% of undergraduates at the school. The panel’s report says “we cannot help but worry about whether the university can maintain its prowess and presence” in the face of stiff global competition. Tokyo University was the highest-ranked school in Asia in the aforementioned Times Higher Education annual report, but regional schools like the University of Hong Kong and the National University of Singapore are close on its heels and score much higher on the category that is Tokyo’s biggest weakness — international outlook.

But to move the start date would mean to jostle an entire system that’s been firmly bolted down for decades. Japan’s academic year is tied to the timing of entrance exams and, more importantly, the fixed recruitment schedule. Pushing the school year to start by about half a year later would mean fresh graduates would be in limbo for many months before suiting up for work.

The move would mark a significant change in Japan – and it is one that perhaps can be spearheaded only by Tokyo University, which has produced 15 Japanese prime ministers. The school’s name, commonly shortened to “Todai,” carries impressive weight in Japan, giving its graduates’ resumes a reverent glow during job applications and self-introductions. Todai’s proposal has spurred other universities to mull the calendar shift. Kyushu University said this week it would establish an in-house panel next month to begin deliberating the issue, according to Japanese daily Yomiuri Shinbun.

The good news is that Japanese students want to go abroad, if given the chance. A university survey cited in Todai’s report on Friday showed 35% of students said they definitely want to go abroad and another 58% said they wished they had opportunities to participate in study-abroad programs.

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/01/20/japans-harvard-mulls-radical-calendar-change/