Japan, once the pride of Asia, might be economically weakening due to its long economic stagnation and the rapid rise of China in recent years. But, perhaps unnoticed, Japan has been emerging as a cultural powerhouse in Asia through its soft power projection.
It has not been an easy ride, Japan faces stiff competition from China, which has a huge diaspora in many countries, and rising South Korea, whose hallyu (Korean Wave) is spreading widely in Southeast Asia. Yet it seems Japan is markedly gaining the upper hand over its rivals in Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia.
Popular cultural products like manga comics, cartoon films, food, fashion, arts, J-Pop music and finally the Japanese language have penetrated Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.
Children at a young age are exposed to Japanese comics and cartoon films.
“I became interested in Japan through cartoon films. I like Naruto characters very much,” a teenager, who prefers to use her Japanese nickname Hitachiin, said during a Japanese education exhibition in Jakarta on Saturday.
Many people are also becoming patrons of Japanese food, which is healthy but out of reach for many. Japanese restaurants are mushrooming in Indonesia’s major cities, with long queues at expensive Japanese restaurants in Jakarta’s posher malls a common scene on weekends.
“Every week, we dine at a Japanese restaurant because our children like Japanese food. In the beginning I didn’t like it much but now it has become my favorite food,” Susi Alexandria, a housewife living in South Jakarta, said.
Another example of this growing Japanese cultural fever is its language.
“I am very happy to say that around 750,000 Indonesians are currently studying the Japanese language in Indonesia,” Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Yoshinori Katori said recently during a language debate contest in Jakarta.
According to a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation, 3.56 million people around the world are currently learning Japanese outside Japan. Surprisingly, Indonesia ranks third in the world after South Korea’s 960,000 learners and China with 830,000.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/11/28/japanese-fever-hits-young-indonesians.html
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Exec: Non-English speakers cannot do business in 10 years
English is an indispensable business tool for Japanese, who must compete globally as the domestic markets shrink. This especially applies to young people.
So says Tadashi Yanai, president of Fast Retailing Co., operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain.
"Just think about Japan in 10 years' time. People who can do their jobs only in Japan will not be able to survive," Yanai, 62, speaking in Japanese, told The Asahi Shimbun in an interview. "Japanese students must think that they are competing with students from other Asian countries."
Fast Retailing will make English its official language for business from 2012.
Yanai spoke about what he expects from students entering the job market and why he believes English is essential for their future.
Excerpts from the interview follow:
Q: What is your definition of "global personnel"?
A: My definition is simple. It's people who can do the jobs they do in Japan anywhere in the world. Japan is losing its allure as a market due to a shrinking population, and companies must compete in the world to grow. What is needed is the ability to understand the culture and thinking in a different country and communicate heart to heart with its people.
Q: Is that why English will be the official language at your company?
A: If people cannot speak English in business in the future, it will be tantamount to not having a driver's license even though they have to drive. English is the language for business not only in the United States and Europe but also in Asia. I think (English is indispensable in business) even though I am running a company in the retail sector, which is most focused on the domestic market. That thinking must be taken for granted in the manufacturing sector, and also applies to the service sectors other than retailing.
Q: But was it necessary to go so far as to designate English as the official language?
A: Without officialdom, employees will not work hard. We can talk in Japanese if we have only Japanese employees. But we will employ non-Japanese people in half of the positions in the head office within three to five years. Without English, we will not be able to even hold meetings.
But I want to emphasize that English is merely a tool for business. Japanese will remain the standard language for our thinking and culture. We have no intention of assimilating our thinking to those of overseas enterprises.
Q: What if students who excel in all subjects except for English want to work for your company?
A: We don't need such students.
Q: You don't mince your words, do you?
A: Life is not a box of chocolates. Just think about Japan in 10 years' time. People who can do their jobs only in Japan will not be able to survive. Some Chinese students learn everyday Japanese conversation in half a year. Japanese students must think that they are competing with students from other Asian countries.
Q: Without working so hard, you could lead a reasonably affluent life in Japan, couldn't you?
A: If the nation becomes poor, you cannot maintain that "reasonably affluent" life. Believing in honorable poverty is dangerous.
Having said that, I can understand how you feel. When I was a student, I thought about how to make a living without working. I joined a company using someone's connections, quit the company in less than a year and crashed in a friend's apartment as a sponger. While the friend went to work, I stayed at his apartment. I lived like that for about half a year.
Q: Did you have something to gain?
A: I was wondering all the way through whether I should live a life like that. I did nothing productive. I was thinking about going abroad to study commerce, but I felt it was like a mere excuse. In the end, my father, who was operating a clothing store in my hometown, called me back, and I took over his business. Contrary to my expectations, I found I was cut out for it.
Q: In your younger days, you were not the hard worker that you are now, were you?
A: Because of my experience during that time, I want to tell young people to devote their energies to work. When you're a student, it's a time to be free and comfortable. But it is also something like a rootless wanderer. Work, on the other hand, has the power to change the world. It takes 10 years to go on your own in business. You can think about your life in many ways after that period.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201111250021
So says Tadashi Yanai, president of Fast Retailing Co., operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain.
"Just think about Japan in 10 years' time. People who can do their jobs only in Japan will not be able to survive," Yanai, 62, speaking in Japanese, told The Asahi Shimbun in an interview. "Japanese students must think that they are competing with students from other Asian countries."
Fast Retailing will make English its official language for business from 2012.
Yanai spoke about what he expects from students entering the job market and why he believes English is essential for their future.
Excerpts from the interview follow:
Q: What is your definition of "global personnel"?
A: My definition is simple. It's people who can do the jobs they do in Japan anywhere in the world. Japan is losing its allure as a market due to a shrinking population, and companies must compete in the world to grow. What is needed is the ability to understand the culture and thinking in a different country and communicate heart to heart with its people.
Q: Is that why English will be the official language at your company?
A: If people cannot speak English in business in the future, it will be tantamount to not having a driver's license even though they have to drive. English is the language for business not only in the United States and Europe but also in Asia. I think (English is indispensable in business) even though I am running a company in the retail sector, which is most focused on the domestic market. That thinking must be taken for granted in the manufacturing sector, and also applies to the service sectors other than retailing.
Q: But was it necessary to go so far as to designate English as the official language?
A: Without officialdom, employees will not work hard. We can talk in Japanese if we have only Japanese employees. But we will employ non-Japanese people in half of the positions in the head office within three to five years. Without English, we will not be able to even hold meetings.
But I want to emphasize that English is merely a tool for business. Japanese will remain the standard language for our thinking and culture. We have no intention of assimilating our thinking to those of overseas enterprises.
Q: What if students who excel in all subjects except for English want to work for your company?
A: We don't need such students.
Q: You don't mince your words, do you?
A: Life is not a box of chocolates. Just think about Japan in 10 years' time. People who can do their jobs only in Japan will not be able to survive. Some Chinese students learn everyday Japanese conversation in half a year. Japanese students must think that they are competing with students from other Asian countries.
Q: Without working so hard, you could lead a reasonably affluent life in Japan, couldn't you?
A: If the nation becomes poor, you cannot maintain that "reasonably affluent" life. Believing in honorable poverty is dangerous.
Having said that, I can understand how you feel. When I was a student, I thought about how to make a living without working. I joined a company using someone's connections, quit the company in less than a year and crashed in a friend's apartment as a sponger. While the friend went to work, I stayed at his apartment. I lived like that for about half a year.
Q: Did you have something to gain?
A: I was wondering all the way through whether I should live a life like that. I did nothing productive. I was thinking about going abroad to study commerce, but I felt it was like a mere excuse. In the end, my father, who was operating a clothing store in my hometown, called me back, and I took over his business. Contrary to my expectations, I found I was cut out for it.
Q: In your younger days, you were not the hard worker that you are now, were you?
A: Because of my experience during that time, I want to tell young people to devote their energies to work. When you're a student, it's a time to be free and comfortable. But it is also something like a rootless wanderer. Work, on the other hand, has the power to change the world. It takes 10 years to go on your own in business. You can think about your life in many ways after that period.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201111250021
Friday, November 25, 2011
60% of next year's college graduates secure jobs60% of next year's college graduates secure jobs
More than half of the college students who will graduate next March had found jobs as of Oct. 1, while some 171,000 graduating students are believed to still be struggling to gain employment, according to a poll by the labor and education ministries released Friday.
While those who have landed a position at 59.9 percent are up by 2.3 percentage points from the same point last year, when the figure fell to its lowest level since the survey was first conducted in 1996, the number is still low compared with the early 2000s — a period bleak enough to be dubbed the "employment ice age.".
Among students at national and prefectural universities, 67.4 percent of the former had found jobs, up 4.2 points from a year earlier, as had 57.4 percent of the latter. The poll found 61.7 percent of male students found work, up 2.2 points, and 57.7 percent of females, up 2.4 points.
The rate for students at two-year junior colleges came to 22.7 percent, up 0.2 point.
Meanwhile, 41.5 percent of high school seniors who want to work after graduation had found jobs as of the end of September.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111119a9.html
While those who have landed a position at 59.9 percent are up by 2.3 percentage points from the same point last year, when the figure fell to its lowest level since the survey was first conducted in 1996, the number is still low compared with the early 2000s — a period bleak enough to be dubbed the "employment ice age.".
Among students at national and prefectural universities, 67.4 percent of the former had found jobs, up 4.2 points from a year earlier, as had 57.4 percent of the latter. The poll found 61.7 percent of male students found work, up 2.2 points, and 57.7 percent of females, up 2.4 points.
The rate for students at two-year junior colleges came to 22.7 percent, up 0.2 point.
Meanwhile, 41.5 percent of high school seniors who want to work after graduation had found jobs as of the end of September.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111119a9.html
Saturday, November 19, 2011
EDUCATION RENAISSANCE / Universities targeting parents to attract students
The following article is a translation from The Yomiuri Shimbun's Educational Renaissance series. This installment, the third and last of three articles, focuses on universities' efforts to attract students by holding explanation sessions specially designed to win over parents.
About 120 parents gathered at Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, on July 31 to attend an hourlong meeting for parents whose children are considering attending the university. The event was aimed at explaining various issues students will face, including those related to scholarships and job hunting.
The meeting was followed by a campus tour. About 60 parents were guided by Atsushi Kuroko, head of the planning and admissions department, and other school officials and to various facilities including a center to support supplemental study.
"Please encourage your children to visit the center if they aren't able to keep up with their classes. In the case of boys, fathers aren't good at handling sons, so mothers should take the lead," Kuroko said, making the parents laugh.
"This is the third introductory session I've attended. But I've never attended a tour specifically designed for parents before. The explanations were so easy to understand I had nothing to ask," said a pleased mother who visited the campus with her daughter.
The school launched the campus tour for parents in 2007, adding to the explanation sessions for parents it launched in 2000. In 2008, the institute had school officials who help with postgraduate employment attend the session. Thanks to university's efforts, the number of parents attending open houses--originally intended for students--reached 1,285 in the 2011 school year compared with 582 in the 2007 school year.
"A parents-only session allows us to hear parents' opinions firsthand and discuss them," Kuroko said.
At a time when universities are competing fiercely to get more students--39 percent of private universities in the country under-enrolled--schools are trying a variety of measures to appeal to parents.
Nanzan University in Aichi Prefecture has held open house events for parents in March every year since 2007. This year, in a newly built building, about 300 parents listened to university students talk about their experiences studying abroad and took a trial lesson.
Ritsumeikan University has held an event designed for parents titled, "Let's go to Kitano Tenmangu shrine to pray for entrance exam success," during their summer open house since 2009.
The university's cooperative association students give tours around the Kinugasa campus in Kyoto.
"It seems like parents enjoy the walk and the chance to talk with students," a member of the association said.
"Parents' opinions have a strong influence on a student's choice of schools. It is important to win the hearts of parents who visit schools," said Kenji Yasuda, a senior official of Daigaku Tsushin, an education information firm.
"Recently, parents want to tour campuses together with their children. I expect there'll be more events where they can take part together," Yasuda added.
It appears there is nothing to stop the battle between universities to win the hearts and minds of parents.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/T111117003665.htm
About 120 parents gathered at Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, on July 31 to attend an hourlong meeting for parents whose children are considering attending the university. The event was aimed at explaining various issues students will face, including those related to scholarships and job hunting.
The meeting was followed by a campus tour. About 60 parents were guided by Atsushi Kuroko, head of the planning and admissions department, and other school officials and to various facilities including a center to support supplemental study.
"Please encourage your children to visit the center if they aren't able to keep up with their classes. In the case of boys, fathers aren't good at handling sons, so mothers should take the lead," Kuroko said, making the parents laugh.
"This is the third introductory session I've attended. But I've never attended a tour specifically designed for parents before. The explanations were so easy to understand I had nothing to ask," said a pleased mother who visited the campus with her daughter.
The school launched the campus tour for parents in 2007, adding to the explanation sessions for parents it launched in 2000. In 2008, the institute had school officials who help with postgraduate employment attend the session. Thanks to university's efforts, the number of parents attending open houses--originally intended for students--reached 1,285 in the 2011 school year compared with 582 in the 2007 school year.
"A parents-only session allows us to hear parents' opinions firsthand and discuss them," Kuroko said.
At a time when universities are competing fiercely to get more students--39 percent of private universities in the country under-enrolled--schools are trying a variety of measures to appeal to parents.
Nanzan University in Aichi Prefecture has held open house events for parents in March every year since 2007. This year, in a newly built building, about 300 parents listened to university students talk about their experiences studying abroad and took a trial lesson.
Ritsumeikan University has held an event designed for parents titled, "Let's go to Kitano Tenmangu shrine to pray for entrance exam success," during their summer open house since 2009.
The university's cooperative association students give tours around the Kinugasa campus in Kyoto.
"It seems like parents enjoy the walk and the chance to talk with students," a member of the association said.
"Parents' opinions have a strong influence on a student's choice of schools. It is important to win the hearts of parents who visit schools," said Kenji Yasuda, a senior official of Daigaku Tsushin, an education information firm.
"Recently, parents want to tour campuses together with their children. I expect there'll be more events where they can take part together," Yasuda added.
It appears there is nothing to stop the battle between universities to win the hearts and minds of parents.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/T111117003665.htm
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Considering How to Train Global Human Resources”symposium
Osaka Foundation of International Exchange and Osaka Prefectural Office will be holding a symposium entitled “Considering How to Train Global Human Resources” with the aim of training global human resources who will play an active role in the world. http://www.event21.jp/global/
At the symposium， a discussion will be held on what global human resources are， what global human resources must do， and from this provide a key to those who will bear the future， the young people， on how they can become global human resources.
Mr. Mineo Nakajima， President of Akita International University， a university that holds all of its classes in English and obligates its students to study 1 year overseas， will give a lecture on “Training Global Human Resources and Japanese Universities”.
Also， Ms. Mari Yamashita， Director of the Public Relations Center of the United Nations， will talk about her own experiences and give a talk entitled “Let’s Fly to the World! The World’s Expectations of Japan-from the View Point of the United Nations”， where she will talk about what the world is expecting from Japan.
Panelists for the panel discussion include Mr. Toru Nakahara， Principal of Izumi High School， who was also a lawyer in the United States for 10 years， and Mr. Tomohiko Nakayama， the Manager of the Personnel Department of the Global Company， Daikin Industries， with Mr. Takeshi Matsuda， President of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies， as moderator.
Graduates from American Universities will talk about their experience and there will also be an explanation about study in American Universities and Graduate Schools given by the Japan-US Educational Commission.
Registration is free. Please through the following homepage: http://www.event21.jp/global/
◆ Program Details
Date ：December 3， 2011 (Saturday) 13:30-17:00
Venue ：ATC Hall (Asia Pacific Trade Center) Hall C， 2-1-10 Nanko Kita， Suminoe-ku Osaka City
Target ：High school， University， Vocational school students， Educational Institution Staff，
Company personnel， etc.
Capacity：800 people (Pre-registration. Registration will close when capacity is reached.）
Fee ：Free
12:30-13:30 Opening and Registration
13:30-13:40 Opening Remarks
13:40-14:10 Keynote Lecture “Global Human Resources Training and Japanese Universities”
Mineo Nakajima President， Aichi International University
14:10-14:40 Lecture “Let’s Fly to the World! The World’s Expectations of Japan-from the View Point of the United Nations”
Mari Yamashita Director， UN Public Relations Center
14:40-15:00 “ABC’s of American Universities and Graduate Schools”
Chizuru Sasada Japan-US Educational Council（Fullbright Japan）
Press Relations Room and Overseas Study Information Service Senior Overseas Study Adviser
15:00-15:15 Break
15:15-15:45 “Experience of Graduates from American Universities and Explanation on Enrolling in the US”
ＵＳＣＡＮＪ（U.S. College Alumni Network of Japan）
Yuuki Amaki（University of California Los Angeles（UCLA）Graduate）
Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages Overseas Study Coordinator and Hybrid English Learning Program Development Center Research Staff
Yoshitaka Yamamoto （Harvard University Graduate） Tokyo University Graduate School MA Student
15:45-16:55 Panel Discussion
Panelist ：Mineo Nakajima President， Aichi International University
Mari Yamashita Director， UN Public Relations Center
Tomohiko Yamada Manager， Daikin Industries Personnel Department
Toru Nakahara President， Izumi High School
Yoshitaka Yamamoto Harvard University Graduate
（Content） What are Global Human Resources? Why are Global Human Resources wanted? What are required of Global Human Resources? How do you train human resources (what should be done?)
Moderator: Takeshi Matsuda President， Kyoto University of Foreign Studies
17:00 Closing
(For details)
http://www.event21.jp/global/
http://www.pref.osaka.jp/hodo/attach/hodo-08584_4.pdf
At the symposium， a discussion will be held on what global human resources are， what global human resources must do， and from this provide a key to those who will bear the future， the young people， on how they can become global human resources.
Mr. Mineo Nakajima， President of Akita International University， a university that holds all of its classes in English and obligates its students to study 1 year overseas， will give a lecture on “Training Global Human Resources and Japanese Universities”.
Also， Ms. Mari Yamashita， Director of the Public Relations Center of the United Nations， will talk about her own experiences and give a talk entitled “Let’s Fly to the World! The World’s Expectations of Japan-from the View Point of the United Nations”， where she will talk about what the world is expecting from Japan.
Panelists for the panel discussion include Mr. Toru Nakahara， Principal of Izumi High School， who was also a lawyer in the United States for 10 years， and Mr. Tomohiko Nakayama， the Manager of the Personnel Department of the Global Company， Daikin Industries， with Mr. Takeshi Matsuda， President of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies， as moderator.
Graduates from American Universities will talk about their experience and there will also be an explanation about study in American Universities and Graduate Schools given by the Japan-US Educational Commission.
Registration is free. Please through the following homepage: http://www.event21.jp/global/
◆ Program Details
Date ：December 3， 2011 (Saturday) 13:30-17:00
Venue ：ATC Hall (Asia Pacific Trade Center) Hall C， 2-1-10 Nanko Kita， Suminoe-ku Osaka City
Target ：High school， University， Vocational school students， Educational Institution Staff，
Company personnel， etc.
Capacity：800 people (Pre-registration. Registration will close when capacity is reached.）
Fee ：Free
12:30-13:30 Opening and Registration
13:30-13:40 Opening Remarks
13:40-14:10 Keynote Lecture “Global Human Resources Training and Japanese Universities”
Mineo Nakajima President， Aichi International University
14:10-14:40 Lecture “Let’s Fly to the World! The World’s Expectations of Japan-from the View Point of the United Nations”
Mari Yamashita Director， UN Public Relations Center
14:40-15:00 “ABC’s of American Universities and Graduate Schools”
Chizuru Sasada Japan-US Educational Council（Fullbright Japan）
Press Relations Room and Overseas Study Information Service Senior Overseas Study Adviser
15:00-15:15 Break
15:15-15:45 “Experience of Graduates from American Universities and Explanation on Enrolling in the US”
ＵＳＣＡＮＪ（U.S. College Alumni Network of Japan）
Yuuki Amaki（University of California Los Angeles（UCLA）Graduate）
Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages Overseas Study Coordinator and Hybrid English Learning Program Development Center Research Staff
Yoshitaka Yamamoto （Harvard University Graduate） Tokyo University Graduate School MA Student
15:45-16:55 Panel Discussion
Panelist ：Mineo Nakajima President， Aichi International University
Mari Yamashita Director， UN Public Relations Center
Tomohiko Yamada Manager， Daikin Industries Personnel Department
Toru Nakahara President， Izumi High School
Yoshitaka Yamamoto Harvard University Graduate
（Content） What are Global Human Resources? Why are Global Human Resources wanted? What are required of Global Human Resources? How do you train human resources (what should be done?)
Moderator: Takeshi Matsuda President， Kyoto University of Foreign Studies
17:00 Closing
(For details)
http://www.event21.jp/global/
http://www.pref.osaka.jp/hodo/attach/hodo-08584_4.pdf
Japanese look abroad to boost international appeal
JAPAN'S universities - assailed by claims they have failed to cope with globalisation - are moving to boost their international competitiveness and appeal.
Big changes are happening as campuses are offering more courses in English to boost foreign student numbers.
The government's Global 30 program, launched in 2008, aims to attract 300,000 foreign students to Japan by encouraging 13 universities - including Tokyo, Kyoto, Waseda and Sophia - to become centres for international education.
Waseda University vice-president Katsuichi Uchida said his institution launched its school of international studies in 2004 in anticipation of the direction in which things were heading and now had six faculties teaching in English.
"In that school we take 600 students. Two-thirds are Japanese, one-third are foreign," Professor Uchida said.
"All courses are taught in English and all these students are required to spend a year in another country to study.
"Nowadays this is a kind of a model for the development of undergraduate education programs at Waseda."
He said the university was turning its focus to Chinese students and students from other parts of Asia where Japanese companies increasingly were basing many of their production facilities to capitalise on cheaper labour.
Waseda now has 4000 foreign students, of which 40 per cent are Chinese and 20 per cent South Korean.
"When you are on Waseda's campus you will hear students speaking in Chinese, Korean, English and Japanese," he said.
"Through this kind of environment, Japanese students now recognise diverse cultural backgrounds and languages.
"The purpose for us in receiving international students is not just to educate those students but also Japanese students."
Tokyo University has just flagged starting a September entrance system - to be aligned with the US academic calendar - and its president has emphasised the importance of globalisation of universities in recent speeches.
Professor Uchida said the attitude was changing with universities recruiting foreign students and changing to a more global curriculum and internationally recognised teaching methods.
"We have been the forerunner, but these days the other universities recognise the importance of globalisation," he said.
"We now understand the importance of liberal arts education to nurture critical
ways of thinking. We are now developing small classes and during classes we emphasise the importance of discussion between students and faculty members."
Sophia University president Tadashi Takizawa said the university, a small institution by Japanese standards, had more than 700 foreign students and was increasingly turning its eyes from West to East with a view to attracting students from other parts of Asia.
Sophia is a Jesuit-established institution that has been at the forefront of internationalised education in Japan.
Foreign student numbers in Japan have almost tripled since 2000, with the present total standing about 142,000. However, that's still small even when compared with Australia, which has more than 200,000 foreign students enrolled in higher education courses each year.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/international-students/japanese-look-abroad-to-boost-international-appeal/story-fnahn4sk-1226196048362
Big changes are happening as campuses are offering more courses in English to boost foreign student numbers.
The government's Global 30 program, launched in 2008, aims to attract 300,000 foreign students to Japan by encouraging 13 universities - including Tokyo, Kyoto, Waseda and Sophia - to become centres for international education.
Waseda University vice-president Katsuichi Uchida said his institution launched its school of international studies in 2004 in anticipation of the direction in which things were heading and now had six faculties teaching in English.
"In that school we take 600 students. Two-thirds are Japanese, one-third are foreign," Professor Uchida said.
"All courses are taught in English and all these students are required to spend a year in another country to study.
"Nowadays this is a kind of a model for the development of undergraduate education programs at Waseda."
He said the university was turning its focus to Chinese students and students from other parts of Asia where Japanese companies increasingly were basing many of their production facilities to capitalise on cheaper labour.
Waseda now has 4000 foreign students, of which 40 per cent are Chinese and 20 per cent South Korean.
"When you are on Waseda's campus you will hear students speaking in Chinese, Korean, English and Japanese," he said.
"Through this kind of environment, Japanese students now recognise diverse cultural backgrounds and languages.
"The purpose for us in receiving international students is not just to educate those students but also Japanese students."
Tokyo University has just flagged starting a September entrance system - to be aligned with the US academic calendar - and its president has emphasised the importance of globalisation of universities in recent speeches.
Professor Uchida said the attitude was changing with universities recruiting foreign students and changing to a more global curriculum and internationally recognised teaching methods.
"We have been the forerunner, but these days the other universities recognise the importance of globalisation," he said.
"We now understand the importance of liberal arts education to nurture critical
ways of thinking. We are now developing small classes and during classes we emphasise the importance of discussion between students and faculty members."
Sophia University president Tadashi Takizawa said the university, a small institution by Japanese standards, had more than 700 foreign students and was increasingly turning its eyes from West to East with a view to attracting students from other parts of Asia.
Sophia is a Jesuit-established institution that has been at the forefront of internationalised education in Japan.
Foreign student numbers in Japan have almost tripled since 2000, with the present total standing about 142,000. However, that's still small even when compared with Australia, which has more than 200,000 foreign students enrolled in higher education courses each year.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/international-students/japanese-look-abroad-to-boost-international-appeal/story-fnahn4sk-1226196048362
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Japanese universities want more Indian students
You don't have to master Japanese to be able to study in a Japanese university. This was the most important take-home message of the day-long education fair organised last week by the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation.
Eleven Japanese universities participated in the fair, which showcased their government's 'Global 30' initiative to attract best students from across the world. Japan had kickstarted the initiative in 2009 with the ambitious target of having 300,000 foreign students by 2020.
Language being the biggest barrier for Japanese universities, one of the early decisions taken by that country's government was to relax the rule making it mandatory for all foreign students enrolling for higher studies to learn Japanese. The 11 universities that participated in the fair were among the first to impart education in English.
"This was very challenging because we had to get professors who speak in English and also have a deep understanding of Japanese culture," said Satoshi Hata, who heads the India Office of the East Asian nation's top private university, Ritsumeikan University, which has campuses in four cities, including Kyoto. "The number of international professors teaching in Japan is also increasing," Hata added.
The pride of place at the fair of course belonged to the University of Tokyo, one of the oldest in Japan, having been founded in 1877. The university with a student population of 28,000 has just 35 from India enrolled in its engineering and information science programmes.
At the neighbouring Waseda University, which has 4,000 international students, India's presence adds up 10. The sought-after programmes at this university are political science, economics and engineering. An obvious gain of studying in a Japanese university for Indian students is their employability in Japanese firms, which are expanding steadily across the country.
"We hope to increase the number of students from this country by opening an office in Bangalore in February 2012," Yoshino Hiroshi, director of the University of Tokyo's India Office said. At present, the majority of the international student are from China and Korea. Of the more than 140,000 foreign students studying in various Japanese universities, Chinese students add up to 86,173, whereas Indians total only 546.
Students from India are enrolled mostly in engineering and Japanese language and literature programmes, the latter being particularly useful for those who wish to work as translators in Japanese companies. A number of these Indian students are on scholarships.
"Last year we gave scholarships to around 50 students from India," Kei Eda, first secretary, Embassy of Japan, said. "We want more Indian students to come and study in Japan."But before you set your sights on Japan, start preparing for the Entrance to Japanese Universities Admission for International Students (EJU) exam, which is similar to the GRE. For details on the syllabus and question patterns, go to the website of the Japan Student Services Organisation (JASSO), www.jasso.go.jp.
http://m.indiatoday.in/itwapsite/story?sid=159148&secid=114
Eleven Japanese universities participated in the fair, which showcased their government's 'Global 30' initiative to attract best students from across the world. Japan had kickstarted the initiative in 2009 with the ambitious target of having 300,000 foreign students by 2020.
Language being the biggest barrier for Japanese universities, one of the early decisions taken by that country's government was to relax the rule making it mandatory for all foreign students enrolling for higher studies to learn Japanese. The 11 universities that participated in the fair were among the first to impart education in English.
"This was very challenging because we had to get professors who speak in English and also have a deep understanding of Japanese culture," said Satoshi Hata, who heads the India Office of the East Asian nation's top private university, Ritsumeikan University, which has campuses in four cities, including Kyoto. "The number of international professors teaching in Japan is also increasing," Hata added.
The pride of place at the fair of course belonged to the University of Tokyo, one of the oldest in Japan, having been founded in 1877. The university with a student population of 28,000 has just 35 from India enrolled in its engineering and information science programmes.
At the neighbouring Waseda University, which has 4,000 international students, India's presence adds up 10. The sought-after programmes at this university are political science, economics and engineering. An obvious gain of studying in a Japanese university for Indian students is their employability in Japanese firms, which are expanding steadily across the country.
"We hope to increase the number of students from this country by opening an office in Bangalore in February 2012," Yoshino Hiroshi, director of the University of Tokyo's India Office said. At present, the majority of the international student are from China and Korea. Of the more than 140,000 foreign students studying in various Japanese universities, Chinese students add up to 86,173, whereas Indians total only 546.
Students from India are enrolled mostly in engineering and Japanese language and literature programmes, the latter being particularly useful for those who wish to work as translators in Japanese companies. A number of these Indian students are on scholarships.
"Last year we gave scholarships to around 50 students from India," Kei Eda, first secretary, Embassy of Japan, said. "We want more Indian students to come and study in Japan."But before you set your sights on Japan, start preparing for the Entrance to Japanese Universities Admission for International Students (EJU) exam, which is similar to the GRE. For details on the syllabus and question patterns, go to the website of the Japan Student Services Organisation (JASSO), www.jasso.go.jp.
http://m.indiatoday.in/itwapsite/story?sid=159148&secid=114
Study in Japan, work around the world (part 1)
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, was established in April 2000. Though relatively new to the academic scene, the school is one of the most popular universities among Japan's leading corporations today, with over 400 companies visiting the campus to recruit.
What makes APU so popular? What is unique about the school? These are among the questions answered in this four-part interview series.
The first interviewee is Susumu Yamamoto, a professor at the College of International Management (APM), one of two undergraduate colleges at APU, who also serves as the dean of careers.
News photo
Q: You were working for a leading Japanese company before starting to teach at APU. Why the switch and why APU?
Yamamoto: Yes, that's true. Before taking up my current position at APU in 2006, I worked for Sony, but I also loved studying and I obtained my doctorate. Actually, I had a vague longing to eventually teach at a university. The offer from APU came at such a time and I found it appealing.
APU is very unique for giving most of its lectures in English and Japanese. This means that the students are able to choose from a lecture conducted in Japanese or English.
Q: Tell us about your students. Where do they come from? What is their attitude toward study, work and social life?
Yamamoto: About half of our students as well as professors come from overseas. It is the only school in Japan where undergraduate students come from about 80 countries. They come to APU straight after graduating from high school. Generally speaking, these students enter our school on an English basis with no command of the Japanese language. Consequently, they receive very intensive training in Japanese during their first year.
The students themselves are highly motivated and are hard workers. The same also goes for our Japanese students. Those who come to APU are enthusiasts with a clear objective, often with a rich international experience. They study in Japanese, but then receive intensive training in English. So by the time of graduation, all APU students become fluent in at least two languages, English and Japanese, regardless of nationality.
Our students are very active in after-school club activities, too. For example, our traditional Korean dance group club has become a local sensation for their fine dancing. The distinctive advantage of this club is that many members are not Korean. They learn from each other, from different cultures.
Many also take up part-time jobs during their free time. I don't know when they sleep, but their campus life is so rich and full that I often wish there was a school like APU when I was a young student.
News photo
Q: Why do you think APU has become popular among many leading companies in Japan?
Yamamoto: For one thing, because our students are fully bilingual. We also provide "practical" knowledge by having numerous professors with different business backgrounds teaching our courses. Each class is also very interactive, encouraging everybody to speak up, which in turn enhances the communication ability of each student.
Another background factor is the materialistic change of the Japanese corporations themselves. Japanese companies are seeking manpower that are global in a true sense. Also, research shows that companies plan to hire more international students next year. They are after those who can battle and survive anywhere in the world.
APU develops students with such capabilities. What I mean by "battle and survive" does not mean to fight and win one's way. It is the ability to communicate and solve the issue at hand. The outside world is filled with myriad uncertainties and you never know what may happen next. Those who excel merely in their academic studies often sit at their desks and contemplate for hours, days or even weeks to obtain the "very best solution." But when working on-site, you don't have that time to spare as things change minute by minute. Under such pressing conditions, you must go for the "second-best answer." That thought process is respected at APU, making our courses very realistic and practical.
Q: How well is APU evaluated in the global arena?
Yamamoto: Our reputation is growing rapidly. Many of our graduates go back to their hometown on their holidays as proud workers of prominent Japanese companies. Their parents boast about their children, too, saying that APU is the way to get their children into general management at good companies. Such word-of-mouth information quickly spreads around the community. The good reputation helps us obtain more high-level students from around the world.
All this encourages us. We are also happy that many graduates keep coming back to visit us whenever they have the time. They say that they've come to like APU even more after graduating.
Q: Tell us about the role of APU's career office now and toward the future.
Yamamoto: We support the students' job hunting activities in our own way, by giving guidance on resume preparation, rehearsing their interviews and so on. As the next step, we want to further improve the quality of our career support services. Since image is often different from reality, we must study the details of each company so that we can provide clearer information on what kind of work is actually conducted at a certain company.
Toward the future, we hope to extend our support to our graduates who may continue their studies and find work in other countries. Ultimately, we want our students to become happy, regardless of whatever choice they make in their life after graduating from APU.
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University is at 1-1 Jumonjibaru, Beppu, Oita. For more information, call APU at (0977) 78-1114 or visit www.apu.ac.jp.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/global-career-viewpoint.html?ymdh=2011110709
What makes APU so popular? What is unique about the school? These are among the questions answered in this four-part interview series.
The first interviewee is Susumu Yamamoto, a professor at the College of International Management (APM), one of two undergraduate colleges at APU, who also serves as the dean of careers.
News photo
Q: You were working for a leading Japanese company before starting to teach at APU. Why the switch and why APU?
Yamamoto: Yes, that's true. Before taking up my current position at APU in 2006, I worked for Sony, but I also loved studying and I obtained my doctorate. Actually, I had a vague longing to eventually teach at a university. The offer from APU came at such a time and I found it appealing.
APU is very unique for giving most of its lectures in English and Japanese. This means that the students are able to choose from a lecture conducted in Japanese or English.
Q: Tell us about your students. Where do they come from? What is their attitude toward study, work and social life?
Yamamoto: About half of our students as well as professors come from overseas. It is the only school in Japan where undergraduate students come from about 80 countries. They come to APU straight after graduating from high school. Generally speaking, these students enter our school on an English basis with no command of the Japanese language. Consequently, they receive very intensive training in Japanese during their first year.
The students themselves are highly motivated and are hard workers. The same also goes for our Japanese students. Those who come to APU are enthusiasts with a clear objective, often with a rich international experience. They study in Japanese, but then receive intensive training in English. So by the time of graduation, all APU students become fluent in at least two languages, English and Japanese, regardless of nationality.
Our students are very active in after-school club activities, too. For example, our traditional Korean dance group club has become a local sensation for their fine dancing. The distinctive advantage of this club is that many members are not Korean. They learn from each other, from different cultures.
Many also take up part-time jobs during their free time. I don't know when they sleep, but their campus life is so rich and full that I often wish there was a school like APU when I was a young student.
News photo
Q: Why do you think APU has become popular among many leading companies in Japan?
Yamamoto: For one thing, because our students are fully bilingual. We also provide "practical" knowledge by having numerous professors with different business backgrounds teaching our courses. Each class is also very interactive, encouraging everybody to speak up, which in turn enhances the communication ability of each student.
Another background factor is the materialistic change of the Japanese corporations themselves. Japanese companies are seeking manpower that are global in a true sense. Also, research shows that companies plan to hire more international students next year. They are after those who can battle and survive anywhere in the world.
APU develops students with such capabilities. What I mean by "battle and survive" does not mean to fight and win one's way. It is the ability to communicate and solve the issue at hand. The outside world is filled with myriad uncertainties and you never know what may happen next. Those who excel merely in their academic studies often sit at their desks and contemplate for hours, days or even weeks to obtain the "very best solution." But when working on-site, you don't have that time to spare as things change minute by minute. Under such pressing conditions, you must go for the "second-best answer." That thought process is respected at APU, making our courses very realistic and practical.
Q: How well is APU evaluated in the global arena?
Yamamoto: Our reputation is growing rapidly. Many of our graduates go back to their hometown on their holidays as proud workers of prominent Japanese companies. Their parents boast about their children, too, saying that APU is the way to get their children into general management at good companies. Such word-of-mouth information quickly spreads around the community. The good reputation helps us obtain more high-level students from around the world.
All this encourages us. We are also happy that many graduates keep coming back to visit us whenever they have the time. They say that they've come to like APU even more after graduating.
Q: Tell us about the role of APU's career office now and toward the future.
Yamamoto: We support the students' job hunting activities in our own way, by giving guidance on resume preparation, rehearsing their interviews and so on. As the next step, we want to further improve the quality of our career support services. Since image is often different from reality, we must study the details of each company so that we can provide clearer information on what kind of work is actually conducted at a certain company.
Toward the future, we hope to extend our support to our graduates who may continue their studies and find work in other countries. Ultimately, we want our students to become happy, regardless of whatever choice they make in their life after graduating from APU.
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University is at 1-1 Jumonjibaru, Beppu, Oita. For more information, call APU at (0977) 78-1114 or visit www.apu.ac.jp.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/global-career-viewpoint.html?ymdh=2011110709
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Korea, region to launch ‘Asian Erasmus’
300 students including Chinese and Japanese expected to join program every year
Major universities in South Korea, China and Japan will launch a joint degree program next year as part of efforts to expand academic exchanges, the Education Ministry said Sunday.
The Education Ministry and the Korean Council for University Education announced 10 South Korean colleges and universities chosen to partner with Chinese and Japanese universities under the Campus Asia program.
The program is an Asian version of the Erasmus Mundus, which enables students to earn joint degrees from at least three different higher education institutions in EU member countries.
The 10 Korean universities include Seoul National University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, POSTECH, KAIST, Dongseo University and Pusan National University.
The program is a follow-up to an agreement made by the leaders of Korea, China and Japan to increase exchanges among their universities at the end of their summit meeting on Jeju Island last May.
Since then, the ministry has formed 10 consortia consisting of three partner universities, one from each country. It expects to complete the administrative process by the end of the year before accepting students from next year, according to ministry officials.
SNU, Peking University and University of Tokyo have formed a consortium on the master’s degree level in the academic fields of public policy and international relations. They are working on ways to give students dual or multiple degrees if they complete a one-year course at each school.
In the consortium of Dongseo University in Korea, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China and Ritsumeikan University in Japan, students will be able to take classes at the three different schools for a semester and seize internship opportunities before graduation.
A combined 300 students in Korea, China and Japan, with 100 students from each country, are expected to participate in the Campus Asia program every year.
The Education Ministry and the Korean Council for University Education will provide the chosen Korean universities with 124 million won ($112,000) in student exchanges expenses and about 100 million won in program development costs per consortium from next year to 2015.
Korean students participating in the Campus Asia program will get 800,000 won ($725) roundtrip flight tickets and a minimum in monthly living expenses of 800,000 to 900,000 for a one-year stay. They will have to pay tuition to their Korean schools alone.
With the project development fund, schools will be able to hire teaching assistants, draw up curricula or operate language programs, according to the ministry.
Eight Chinese universities participating in the program include Peking, Tsinghua, Fudan and Jilin universities. University of Tokyo, Kobe University, Ritsumeikan University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagoya University are among the 10 Japanese institutions taking part.
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111030000213
Major universities in South Korea, China and Japan will launch a joint degree program next year as part of efforts to expand academic exchanges, the Education Ministry said Sunday.
The Education Ministry and the Korean Council for University Education announced 10 South Korean colleges and universities chosen to partner with Chinese and Japanese universities under the Campus Asia program.
The program is an Asian version of the Erasmus Mundus, which enables students to earn joint degrees from at least three different higher education institutions in EU member countries.
The 10 Korean universities include Seoul National University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, POSTECH, KAIST, Dongseo University and Pusan National University.
The program is a follow-up to an agreement made by the leaders of Korea, China and Japan to increase exchanges among their universities at the end of their summit meeting on Jeju Island last May.
Since then, the ministry has formed 10 consortia consisting of three partner universities, one from each country. It expects to complete the administrative process by the end of the year before accepting students from next year, according to ministry officials.
SNU, Peking University and University of Tokyo have formed a consortium on the master’s degree level in the academic fields of public policy and international relations. They are working on ways to give students dual or multiple degrees if they complete a one-year course at each school.
In the consortium of Dongseo University in Korea, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China and Ritsumeikan University in Japan, students will be able to take classes at the three different schools for a semester and seize internship opportunities before graduation.
A combined 300 students in Korea, China and Japan, with 100 students from each country, are expected to participate in the Campus Asia program every year.
The Education Ministry and the Korean Council for University Education will provide the chosen Korean universities with 124 million won ($112,000) in student exchanges expenses and about 100 million won in program development costs per consortium from next year to 2015.
Korean students participating in the Campus Asia program will get 800,000 won ($725) roundtrip flight tickets and a minimum in monthly living expenses of 800,000 to 900,000 for a one-year stay. They will have to pay tuition to their Korean schools alone.
With the project development fund, schools will be able to hire teaching assistants, draw up curricula or operate language programs, according to the ministry.
Eight Chinese universities participating in the program include Peking, Tsinghua, Fudan and Jilin universities. University of Tokyo, Kobe University, Ritsumeikan University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagoya University are among the 10 Japanese institutions taking part.
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111030000213
Friday, October 28, 2011
Japan is moving to modernise its universities and confront globalisation head on
JAPAN's universities - assailed by claims that have failed to cope with globalisation - are moving to boost their international competitiveness and appeal.
The university sector here shrugs off industry complaints that it is not generating graduates who can be deployed outside Japan.
But nevertheless big changes are happening as campuses try to boost foreign student numbers and offer more courses in English.
Although Japan boasts some world-class universities, its top performer, the University of Tokyo, has a rank of just 30 on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
That’s arguably too low for a country that is the world’s third-largest economy and a centre of innovation responsible for more patents per capita than any other nation.
In an interview with the HES in Tokyo, the vice president of Waseda University, Katsuichi Uchida, said criticisms from industry were not new and, to an extent, were unjustified.
“Of course we understand the importance of collaboration between universities and industries, but their way of thinking, I am sorry to say, is too narrow,’’ he said.
Professor Uchida said producing globally competitive graduates was important not just to feed the hungry maws of Japan’s trading companies, but to tackle major problems including global warming and food shortages.
Japan’s tertiary education system sees students selected by universities via entrance exams and then streamed into various undergraduate courses that are heavy on theory and collaborative practical work, but light on those activities focused on developing critical faculties.
The result, according to the system’s critics, is graduates suited to niche roles in Japanese workplaces instead of linguistically and culturally competent generalists that can expand Japan’s interests abroad in the modern world.
Although Waseda, a private university, trails Japan’s big public universities on world rankings, both it and Tokyo’s Sophia University are at the forefront of the movement towards internationalisation.
Mr Uchida said that just as in Japanese society, learning in Japan has been focused on collaboratively aiming for consensus or harmony through discussion.
“This kind of system has been unique to Japan,’’ he said. “For the last 30, 40, 50 years this kind of education system has been one key factor behind the success of Japanese corporations because, as you know, Japanese corporations emphasise the importance of a group orientated management style.’’
But times have changed for Japan as the nation realises it cannot depend on domestic demand for economic survival and must once again thrust itself out into the world.
Japanese corporations are embarking on a buying spree acquiring foreign subsidiaries throughout Asia and Australia and turning to universities to provide the staff to help run them.
While the companies complain they can’t find enough of the kind of graduates they need, the situation is better than it used to be.
The government’s Global 30 program, launched in 2008, is aimed at attracting 300,000 foreign students to Japan by encouraging 13 universities – including Tokyo, Kyoto and Waseda and Sophia – to become centres for international education.
Professor Uchida says Waseda launched its school of international studies in 2004 in anticipation of the direction things were heading and now has six faculties teaching in English.
“In that school we take 600 students – two thirds are Japanese, one third are foreign. All courses are taught in English and all these students are required to spend a year in another country to study,’’ he said.
“Nowadays this is a kind of a model for the development of undergraduate education programs at Waseda.”
He said the university was turning its focus to Chinese students and students from other parts of Asia where Japanese companies are increasingly basing many of their production facilities to capitalise on cheaper labour.
Waseda now has 4000 foreign students of which 40 per cent are Chinese and 20 per cent South Korean.
“When you are on Waseda’s campus you will hear students speaking in Chinese, Korean, English and Japanese. Through this kind of environment, Japanese students now recognise diverse cultural backgrounds and languages,’’ he said.
“The purpose for us in receiving international students is not just to educate those students, but also Japanese students.”
Tokyo University has just flagged starting a September entrance system – to be aligned with the US academic calendar - and its president has emphasised the importance of globalisation of universities in recent speeches.
Professor Uchida said the attitude was changing across the sector with universities recruiting foreign students and changing to a more global curriculum and internationally recognised teaching methods.
“We have been the forerunner, but these days the other universities recognise the importance of globalisation,” he said.
“We now understand the importance of liberal arts education to nurture critical ways of thinking. We are now developing small classes and during classes we emphasise the importance of discussion between students and faculty members.
The president of Sophia University – a Jesuit established institution that has been at the forefront of internationalised education in Japan - said industry’s complaints about the sector were not necessarily valid.
President Tadashi Takizawa said universities had to teach students broad concepts and ethics as well as their core skills, and if employers wanted strictly vocationally orientated skills they could look for staff trained in technical or language colleges.
But he also acknowledged the sector could have done more in the past to forge linkages with industry.
He said Sophia, which is a small university by Japanese standards, had more than 700 foreign students and was increasingly turning its eyes from West to East with a view to attracting students from other parts of Asia.
Foreign student numbers in Japan have almost tripled since the year 2000, with the current total standing about almost 142,000. However, that’s still small even when compared to Australia, which has more than 200,000 foreign students enrolled in higher education courses each year.
Japanese inventor and academic Shuji Nakamura – the inventor of the blue laser that integral to DVD, CD and Blu-ray players – said Japanese universities still had a huge leap to make to catch up to their US counterparts.
Professor Nakamura, who abandoned Japan in disgust over the secrecy and hierarchical structure of the company where he did his research, said Japan’s education system was geared to simply preparing pupils for the university entrance exam and little else.
The University of California professor said Japan’s students needed to be taught how to conduct presentations, construct and write papers, particularly in English, and universities needed to allow students to challenge and debate their teachers.
“In American universities, there is no strict hierarchical relationship. At our meetings we can’t even see who is the professor and who is the student,’’ he said.
“Whereas at a Japanese university, the professor is the emperor and the rest are like slaves. The atmosphere is so different.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/rise-of-the-dragon/japan-is-moving-to-modernise-its-universities-and-confront-globalisation-head-on/story-fnama19w-1226175474637
The university sector here shrugs off industry complaints that it is not generating graduates who can be deployed outside Japan.
But nevertheless big changes are happening as campuses try to boost foreign student numbers and offer more courses in English.
Although Japan boasts some world-class universities, its top performer, the University of Tokyo, has a rank of just 30 on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
That’s arguably too low for a country that is the world’s third-largest economy and a centre of innovation responsible for more patents per capita than any other nation.
In an interview with the HES in Tokyo, the vice president of Waseda University, Katsuichi Uchida, said criticisms from industry were not new and, to an extent, were unjustified.
“Of course we understand the importance of collaboration between universities and industries, but their way of thinking, I am sorry to say, is too narrow,’’ he said.
Professor Uchida said producing globally competitive graduates was important not just to feed the hungry maws of Japan’s trading companies, but to tackle major problems including global warming and food shortages.
Japan’s tertiary education system sees students selected by universities via entrance exams and then streamed into various undergraduate courses that are heavy on theory and collaborative practical work, but light on those activities focused on developing critical faculties.
The result, according to the system’s critics, is graduates suited to niche roles in Japanese workplaces instead of linguistically and culturally competent generalists that can expand Japan’s interests abroad in the modern world.
Although Waseda, a private university, trails Japan’s big public universities on world rankings, both it and Tokyo’s Sophia University are at the forefront of the movement towards internationalisation.
Mr Uchida said that just as in Japanese society, learning in Japan has been focused on collaboratively aiming for consensus or harmony through discussion.
“This kind of system has been unique to Japan,’’ he said. “For the last 30, 40, 50 years this kind of education system has been one key factor behind the success of Japanese corporations because, as you know, Japanese corporations emphasise the importance of a group orientated management style.’’
But times have changed for Japan as the nation realises it cannot depend on domestic demand for economic survival and must once again thrust itself out into the world.
Japanese corporations are embarking on a buying spree acquiring foreign subsidiaries throughout Asia and Australia and turning to universities to provide the staff to help run them.
While the companies complain they can’t find enough of the kind of graduates they need, the situation is better than it used to be.
The government’s Global 30 program, launched in 2008, is aimed at attracting 300,000 foreign students to Japan by encouraging 13 universities – including Tokyo, Kyoto and Waseda and Sophia – to become centres for international education.
Professor Uchida says Waseda launched its school of international studies in 2004 in anticipation of the direction things were heading and now has six faculties teaching in English.
“In that school we take 600 students – two thirds are Japanese, one third are foreign. All courses are taught in English and all these students are required to spend a year in another country to study,’’ he said.
“Nowadays this is a kind of a model for the development of undergraduate education programs at Waseda.”
He said the university was turning its focus to Chinese students and students from other parts of Asia where Japanese companies are increasingly basing many of their production facilities to capitalise on cheaper labour.
Waseda now has 4000 foreign students of which 40 per cent are Chinese and 20 per cent South Korean.
“When you are on Waseda’s campus you will hear students speaking in Chinese, Korean, English and Japanese. Through this kind of environment, Japanese students now recognise diverse cultural backgrounds and languages,’’ he said.
“The purpose for us in receiving international students is not just to educate those students, but also Japanese students.”
Tokyo University has just flagged starting a September entrance system – to be aligned with the US academic calendar - and its president has emphasised the importance of globalisation of universities in recent speeches.
Professor Uchida said the attitude was changing across the sector with universities recruiting foreign students and changing to a more global curriculum and internationally recognised teaching methods.
“We have been the forerunner, but these days the other universities recognise the importance of globalisation,” he said.
“We now understand the importance of liberal arts education to nurture critical ways of thinking. We are now developing small classes and during classes we emphasise the importance of discussion between students and faculty members.
The president of Sophia University – a Jesuit established institution that has been at the forefront of internationalised education in Japan - said industry’s complaints about the sector were not necessarily valid.
President Tadashi Takizawa said universities had to teach students broad concepts and ethics as well as their core skills, and if employers wanted strictly vocationally orientated skills they could look for staff trained in technical or language colleges.
But he also acknowledged the sector could have done more in the past to forge linkages with industry.
He said Sophia, which is a small university by Japanese standards, had more than 700 foreign students and was increasingly turning its eyes from West to East with a view to attracting students from other parts of Asia.
Foreign student numbers in Japan have almost tripled since the year 2000, with the current total standing about almost 142,000. However, that’s still small even when compared to Australia, which has more than 200,000 foreign students enrolled in higher education courses each year.
Japanese inventor and academic Shuji Nakamura – the inventor of the blue laser that integral to DVD, CD and Blu-ray players – said Japanese universities still had a huge leap to make to catch up to their US counterparts.
Professor Nakamura, who abandoned Japan in disgust over the secrecy and hierarchical structure of the company where he did his research, said Japan’s education system was geared to simply preparing pupils for the university entrance exam and little else.
The University of California professor said Japan’s students needed to be taught how to conduct presentations, construct and write papers, particularly in English, and universities needed to allow students to challenge and debate their teachers.
“In American universities, there is no strict hierarchical relationship. At our meetings we can’t even see who is the professor and who is the student,’’ he said.
“Whereas at a Japanese university, the professor is the emperor and the rest are like slaves. The atmosphere is so different.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/rise-of-the-dragon/japan-is-moving-to-modernise-its-universities-and-confront-globalisation-head-on/story-fnama19w-1226175474637
Friday, October 14, 2011
Free trip aims to reassure intl students
The education ministry plans to invite 150 foreign university students who are interested in studying in Japan to join free "trial study trips" to this nation, it was learned Wednesday.
The about-two-week trips, which will include visits to areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake, were conceived as a response to the trend of foreign students canceling plans to study in Japan since the March 11 disaster.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to invite 150 students from resource-rich countries--including some in the Middle East--as well as the United States and European countries, where interest in nuclear power issues is high, according to ministry sources.
According to the ministry, of 5,600 foreign students who were scheduled to study in Japan this year, 600 canceled their plans.
The ministry has allocated 100 million yen to the program in a third fiscal 2011 supplementary budget, which is to be submitted to the next extraordinary Diet session. After the budget is passed by the Diet, the program will be implemented.
The program will enable the foreign students to converse with local government officials involved in reconstruction efforts in disaster-hit areas, shop owners, and members and officials of fishery cooperatives and nonprofit organizations. The program will also likely include exchanges with Japanese university students, the sources said.
The ministry hopes the foreign students who take part in the program will see that progress is being made toward bringing the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control, and that studying in Japan thus involves no safety concerns, the sources explained.
The ministry expects that after the students return home, they will provide others in their countries with accurate information by reporting on what they saw and heard in Japan, the sources said.
(Oct. 13, 2011)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111012006453.htm
The about-two-week trips, which will include visits to areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake, were conceived as a response to the trend of foreign students canceling plans to study in Japan since the March 11 disaster.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to invite 150 students from resource-rich countries--including some in the Middle East--as well as the United States and European countries, where interest in nuclear power issues is high, according to ministry sources.
According to the ministry, of 5,600 foreign students who were scheduled to study in Japan this year, 600 canceled their plans.
The ministry has allocated 100 million yen to the program in a third fiscal 2011 supplementary budget, which is to be submitted to the next extraordinary Diet session. After the budget is passed by the Diet, the program will be implemented.
The program will enable the foreign students to converse with local government officials involved in reconstruction efforts in disaster-hit areas, shop owners, and members and officials of fishery cooperatives and nonprofit organizations. The program will also likely include exchanges with Japanese university students, the sources said.
The ministry hopes the foreign students who take part in the program will see that progress is being made toward bringing the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control, and that studying in Japan thus involves no safety concerns, the sources explained.
The ministry expects that after the students return home, they will provide others in their countries with accurate information by reporting on what they saw and heard in Japan, the sources said.
(Oct. 13, 2011)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111012006453.htm
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Universities sign up Japan's new wave of leaders
THE University of Queensland is poised to capitalise on Japanese companies' sudden expansion into foreign markets by boosting its numbers of students from the country.
Together with the University of NSW, UQ's Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education has signed a memorandum of understanding with leading Japanese personnel company DISCO to train Japan's next generation of corporate leaders.
With a shrinking domestic market surrounded by buoyant emerging economies Japanese firms have belatedly realised their best prospects lie abroad.
But expansion is being hamstrung by the fact few of their employees are globally and culturally savvy or fluent enough in English to do business in the West or other parts of Asia.
David Nelson, deputy director of ICTE-UQ, said the institute was offering short courses that went beyond just English and included cultural awareness, change management and doing business in Asia.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"Japan has a very high graduate unemployment rate at the moment of 30 per cent. Part of that is economy-related, but it's also quite clear they have a skills gap," he said.
"They are basically being forced to globalise because their domestic market is contracting. At this stage they just don't have the people to do it, but there seems to be a new move to send graduates offshore."
Although up to 15 per cent of ICTE-UQ's foreign students come from Japan, numbers of Japanese students in Australia as a whole have been dropping with China, India, South Korea and the Middle East and Latin America making up the shortfall.
Tom Okumura, DISCO's deputy director, global education and training, hopes to convince students and graduate employers that Australia is the best place for Japanese students to study business-related courses in English.
"We are explaining to them that Australia is not just a sightseeing destination any more," he said.
"The first big challenge is to brand Australia and to get an understanding of Australia as an ideal destination to study, far better than the US or the UK. Australia has much stronger connection with Asia."
Mr Okumura said along with quality courses, Australia also offered students the chance to network and familiarise themselves with other students, most of whom were from other countries in Asia.
His biggest task was persuading conservative human resource managers to send students to UQ or the University of NSW -- both of which ranked in the global top 50 universities (on QS World University Rankings) -- rather than British or US universities.
Queensland's Tokyo-based trade commissioner Tak Adachi, who helped broker the MoU, said the state had kept up its strong ties with Japan and was a logical destination for students.
"Both ICTE-UQ and DISCO have recognised the advantages of studying in Queensland and as Japan faces greater pressure to compete in the global economy, relationships like this will be vital."
Former ICTE-UQ student Naoya Egawa did a professional year program at the university after doing his undergraduate degree at Griffith University and wound up with a job working in UQ's finance department.
Mr Egawa, who is from Nagoya, said studying in Australia -- as opposed to the US or Europe -- gave students a more Asian international experience and he would recommend it to fellow Japanese.
"A lot of people in Japan are close-minded, they don't think very globally. It's very important for young people to get out and see the world," he said. "I'd say come over for at least a few months because if you just stay in Japan it's going to be very difficult."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/unis-sign-up-japans-new-wave-of-leaders/story-e6frgcjx-1226158334451
Together with the University of NSW, UQ's Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education has signed a memorandum of understanding with leading Japanese personnel company DISCO to train Japan's next generation of corporate leaders.
With a shrinking domestic market surrounded by buoyant emerging economies Japanese firms have belatedly realised their best prospects lie abroad.
But expansion is being hamstrung by the fact few of their employees are globally and culturally savvy or fluent enough in English to do business in the West or other parts of Asia.
David Nelson, deputy director of ICTE-UQ, said the institute was offering short courses that went beyond just English and included cultural awareness, change management and doing business in Asia.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"Japan has a very high graduate unemployment rate at the moment of 30 per cent. Part of that is economy-related, but it's also quite clear they have a skills gap," he said.
"They are basically being forced to globalise because their domestic market is contracting. At this stage they just don't have the people to do it, but there seems to be a new move to send graduates offshore."
Although up to 15 per cent of ICTE-UQ's foreign students come from Japan, numbers of Japanese students in Australia as a whole have been dropping with China, India, South Korea and the Middle East and Latin America making up the shortfall.
Tom Okumura, DISCO's deputy director, global education and training, hopes to convince students and graduate employers that Australia is the best place for Japanese students to study business-related courses in English.
"We are explaining to them that Australia is not just a sightseeing destination any more," he said.
"The first big challenge is to brand Australia and to get an understanding of Australia as an ideal destination to study, far better than the US or the UK. Australia has much stronger connection with Asia."
Mr Okumura said along with quality courses, Australia also offered students the chance to network and familiarise themselves with other students, most of whom were from other countries in Asia.
His biggest task was persuading conservative human resource managers to send students to UQ or the University of NSW -- both of which ranked in the global top 50 universities (on QS World University Rankings) -- rather than British or US universities.
Queensland's Tokyo-based trade commissioner Tak Adachi, who helped broker the MoU, said the state had kept up its strong ties with Japan and was a logical destination for students.
"Both ICTE-UQ and DISCO have recognised the advantages of studying in Queensland and as Japan faces greater pressure to compete in the global economy, relationships like this will be vital."
Former ICTE-UQ student Naoya Egawa did a professional year program at the university after doing his undergraduate degree at Griffith University and wound up with a job working in UQ's finance department.
Mr Egawa, who is from Nagoya, said studying in Australia -- as opposed to the US or Europe -- gave students a more Asian international experience and he would recommend it to fellow Japanese.
"A lot of people in Japan are close-minded, they don't think very globally. It's very important for young people to get out and see the world," he said. "I'd say come over for at least a few months because if you just stay in Japan it's going to be very difficult."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/unis-sign-up-japans-new-wave-of-leaders/story-e6frgcjx-1226158334451
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Japan needs to open its doors wider for foreign workers
With its population aging rapidly, Japan will see an increased need for more nursing and health care professionals in the years ahead.
Japan could find itself in serious trouble if it erects barriers too high for foreign workers wishing to work here.
Japan and Vietnam are now holding talks to establish a system that will allow young Vietnamese to work as nurses and nursing care workers in Japan. The negotiations are based on a bilateral economic partnership agreement.
Japan already has programs to accept such health care workers from Indonesia and the Philippines under bilateral economic partnership agreements with these countries. But these programs have turned out to be riddled with problems.
These problems need to be fixed if Japan is to establish a better program with Vietnam.
Under existing programs, trainees receive about half a year of training before coming to Japan and then work for three years at Japanese hospitals as they prepare for state examinations to qualify as a health care professional. Nearly 600 candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines have taken part in the programs since fiscal 2008.
Of the 254 foreign trainees who took the nursing license exam last year, however, only three were successful. The number of successful applicants for the exam held in March this year was larger at 16, but the pass rate was still as low as 4 percent.
In order to prevent the unsuccessful candidates from returning home en masse, the government decided to allow the first group of Indonesian trainees to stay in Japan for one more year.
But many of the young Indonesians who failed to qualify have given up on working in Japan and have returned home.
The government should not allow a similar situation where the young Vietnamese who come to Japan with hopes of working here return home disappointed.
The biggest factor behind the low ratios of successful applicants is clearly the language barrier.
It is apparently an overwhelming challenge for these trainees to learn enough Japanese while working.
In addition, the need to learn many technical terms further increases the difficulty of passing the license examination. As a result, trainees whose work was rated highly by the hospitals did not necessarily pass the exam.
In its current state, the system appears as if it was designed to reject rather than accept foreign nationals wishing to work as health care professionals in Japan.
It is necessary to give the trainees one year or so of Japanese language training so that they can acquire at least sufficient skills for everyday conversation. The state license exam also needs to be improved.
Under the economic partnership agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, two or three years of experience in the profession are required to be eligible for the programs. But it is doubtful whether such lengthy experience is really necessary.
Some Japanese experts say it is easier for younger trainees to get acclimated to the working practices and conditions at Japanese medical institutions.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many Indonesian and Philippine trainees remained at hospitals and facilities in affected areas to help victims. The ways they contributed to disaster relief efforts were reported and much talked about back in their home countries.
We should value young foreigners who have come to have affection for Japan.
Competition for human resources in Asia is getting stronger.
Japan needs to create an open and attractive system to get more qualified and talented foreign workers.
The new administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should reconsider the government's policy of accepting foreign workers so as to open the nation's door wider to human resources from around the world.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109060242.html
Japan could find itself in serious trouble if it erects barriers too high for foreign workers wishing to work here.
Japan and Vietnam are now holding talks to establish a system that will allow young Vietnamese to work as nurses and nursing care workers in Japan. The negotiations are based on a bilateral economic partnership agreement.
Japan already has programs to accept such health care workers from Indonesia and the Philippines under bilateral economic partnership agreements with these countries. But these programs have turned out to be riddled with problems.
These problems need to be fixed if Japan is to establish a better program with Vietnam.
Under existing programs, trainees receive about half a year of training before coming to Japan and then work for three years at Japanese hospitals as they prepare for state examinations to qualify as a health care professional. Nearly 600 candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines have taken part in the programs since fiscal 2008.
Of the 254 foreign trainees who took the nursing license exam last year, however, only three were successful. The number of successful applicants for the exam held in March this year was larger at 16, but the pass rate was still as low as 4 percent.
In order to prevent the unsuccessful candidates from returning home en masse, the government decided to allow the first group of Indonesian trainees to stay in Japan for one more year.
But many of the young Indonesians who failed to qualify have given up on working in Japan and have returned home.
The government should not allow a similar situation where the young Vietnamese who come to Japan with hopes of working here return home disappointed.
The biggest factor behind the low ratios of successful applicants is clearly the language barrier.
It is apparently an overwhelming challenge for these trainees to learn enough Japanese while working.
In addition, the need to learn many technical terms further increases the difficulty of passing the license examination. As a result, trainees whose work was rated highly by the hospitals did not necessarily pass the exam.
In its current state, the system appears as if it was designed to reject rather than accept foreign nationals wishing to work as health care professionals in Japan.
It is necessary to give the trainees one year or so of Japanese language training so that they can acquire at least sufficient skills for everyday conversation. The state license exam also needs to be improved.
Under the economic partnership agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, two or three years of experience in the profession are required to be eligible for the programs. But it is doubtful whether such lengthy experience is really necessary.
Some Japanese experts say it is easier for younger trainees to get acclimated to the working practices and conditions at Japanese medical institutions.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many Indonesian and Philippine trainees remained at hospitals and facilities in affected areas to help victims. The ways they contributed to disaster relief efforts were reported and much talked about back in their home countries.
We should value young foreigners who have come to have affection for Japan.
Competition for human resources in Asia is getting stronger.
Japan needs to create an open and attractive system to get more qualified and talented foreign workers.
The new administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should reconsider the government's policy of accepting foreign workers so as to open the nation's door wider to human resources from around the world.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109060242.html
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Todai plans English-only course
The University of Tokyo said Friday it will launch a course whose classes are all in English from fiscal 2012 as part of efforts to promote internationalization.
The entrance exam for the course to be set up in the College of Arts and Science will also be conducted in English as it mainly targets foreign students. Known as Todai, the prestigious university is seeking to "gather competitive students from across the world," it said.
The university will recruit a small number of students from January to March for the course starting from October 2012. Applicants are required to have been educated in languages other than Japanese for 10 years or more before graduating from high school. While applicants will have to submit short essays, written exams will not be held.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110723b1.html
The entrance exam for the course to be set up in the College of Arts and Science will also be conducted in English as it mainly targets foreign students. Known as Todai, the prestigious university is seeking to "gather competitive students from across the world," it said.
The university will recruit a small number of students from January to March for the course starting from October 2012. Applicants are required to have been educated in languages other than Japanese for 10 years or more before graduating from high school. While applicants will have to submit short essays, written exams will not be held.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110723b1.html
Friday, July 22, 2011
Meiji Univ Most Popular Among High School Seniors In Tokyo Area
Meiji University is the most desirable school among college-bound high school seniors in the Kanto region, a Recruit Co. survey released Thursday shows.
Meiji is known for its ability to help graduating students find jobs.
For the 2011 school year, the university received roughly 114,000 general applications, among the most at four-year universities in Japan.
Waseda University, Rikkyo University and Nihon University were also popular in the region, which includes the greater Tokyo area.
In the Kansai region, Kansai University was the most popular. Public universities gained in popularity, with Kobe University, Osaka City University and Osaka University moving up to third, fifth and sixth.
In the Tokai region, Nagoya University was the most popular. Schools within the region took up 18 of the top 20 positions. Waseda at 18th and Ritsumeikan University at 19th were the only schools located outside the area to make the top 20.
Recruit believes that public universities and local schools are becoming popular for cost reasons amid the economic slump and the worsening job market.
The fourth annual survey was conducted in April. This year's results are based on answers from 10,450 high school seniors.
(The Nikkei July 22 morning edition)
http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110721D21JFN04.htm
Meiji is known for its ability to help graduating students find jobs.
For the 2011 school year, the university received roughly 114,000 general applications, among the most at four-year universities in Japan.
Waseda University, Rikkyo University and Nihon University were also popular in the region, which includes the greater Tokyo area.
In the Kansai region, Kansai University was the most popular. Public universities gained in popularity, with Kobe University, Osaka City University and Osaka University moving up to third, fifth and sixth.
In the Tokai region, Nagoya University was the most popular. Schools within the region took up 18 of the top 20 positions. Waseda at 18th and Ritsumeikan University at 19th were the only schools located outside the area to make the top 20.
Recruit believes that public universities and local schools are becoming popular for cost reasons amid the economic slump and the worsening job market.
The fourth annual survey was conducted in April. This year's results are based on answers from 10,450 high school seniors.
(The Nikkei July 22 morning edition)
http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110721D21JFN04.htm
Friday, July 15, 2011
Panel targets English proficiency
An education ministry panel proposed Wednesday that local governments hire 600 foreigners and Japanese with excellent English-language skills nationwide as regular schoolteachers by the end of fiscal 2016 to enhance students' English-language proficiency.
The 12-member panel suggested the state and local boards of education double the number of 18-year-old students who have studied or stayed abroad to around 30,000.
It also proposed that assistant language teachers participate in club and other activities to improve students' English proficiency.
"To nurture Japanese who can truly use English, it is necessary to review once again the obstacles and policies on our nation's English education," the panel said in its proposal.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110714b2.html?
The 12-member panel suggested the state and local boards of education double the number of 18-year-old students who have studied or stayed abroad to around 30,000.
It also proposed that assistant language teachers participate in club and other activities to improve students' English proficiency.
"To nurture Japanese who can truly use English, it is necessary to review once again the obstacles and policies on our nation's English education," the panel said in its proposal.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110714b2.html?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Foreign students back but numbers look likely to fall
They're back. Worries that foreign students would abandon Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and accompanying fiasco at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have proven to be largely unfounded.
According to Ministry of Justice figures, 70,170 foreign students left Japan between March 12 and April 8. No one knows how many more living in the Tohoku and Kanto regions suddenly decided to spend their spring breaks in Kansai or Kyushu.
With 40 percent of the 175,000 foreign students studying in Japan leaving the country within four weeks, the Japanese government and school officials quickly introduced a number of countermeasures to encourage their return.
The Ministry of Justice simplified application procedures for international students who left without obtaining the required re-entry permit. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology offered to pay return-fare costs for government scholarship students living in disaster areas who had evacuated to their home country after the earthquake. It also provided emergency funds to 1,000 foreigners studying at universities in disaster areas.
University administrators throughout Japan did their best to dispel fears about radiation levels by posting information on their Web pages and giving explanatory lectures. Several universities, including Chuo University in Tokyo and Joshibi University of Art and Design in Kanagawa, sent representatives to China and South Korea to give lectures on the situation in Japan.
At International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture, where 300 students from about 50 countries take graduate classes in English, the school used technology to reach out to students. According to an IUJ public relations officer, the school set up an English Web page to provide daily updates on the earthquake, tsunami and radiation levels. Students who remained on campus posted messages on the university homepage explaining how the situation in Niigata was safe. IUJ's president also personally sent email messages to students each morning providing them with the latest information and words of encouragement.
Efforts by government and university officials paid off. A ministry of education survey of 135 schools with 33,867 foreign students found that 96 percent, including 86.5 percent in the Tohoku region, had returned to Japan by May 20, a notable improvement from a month earlier, when only 35 percent of foreign students in Tohoku had returned before the delayed start to the school year.
Anecdotal evidence supports the education ministry's data. At IUJ, only two students failed to return. Student numbers for the start of the new school year in September also remain strong and IUJ expects 190 to 196 new students, an increase over last year's 188 freshmen.
At Tohoku University, where 1,504 international students are enrolled, an exchange student division spokesperson reports that only about 10 students withdrew or took a leave of absence.
"I wasn't afraid the students wouldn't come back", says Bruce Stronach, the dean of Temple University, Japan Campus, in Tokyo. "I was only concerned about when that would occur."
Immediately after the earthquake, the university began benchmarking similar disasters. "Generally it takes about a year or a little over a year for business to return to normal," says Stronach. TUJ predicts that foreign student numbers will return to pre-March 11 levels in 12 to 16 months.
While the overall picture remains positive, worrisome trends in the numbers of two categories of foreign students continue to threaten the Ministry of Education's stated goal of increasing their number to 300,000 by 2020.
While the four-year degree students have returned, numbers of short-term study-abroad students coming to Japan have dropped. According to the Japan Student Services Organization's figures, in 2010 there were 11,824 short-term international students studying in Japan. It remains to be seen how many will come in 2011 but the number of programs canceled this spring isn't encouraging.
Hirosaki Gakuin University in Aomori Prefecture had to cancel a four-week summer program usually held in May and June for students from sister schools in the United States. "The reason that we canceled our program is that the U.S. State Department had issued a warning suggesting American citizens stay away from northern Japan," explains Edo Forsythe, an English lecturer at Hirosaki Gakuin.
By the April deadline only one student had expressed an interest in attending. Two other students who backed out weren't afraid of radiation or aftershocks. "Their hesitation was, they didn't want to come here and enjoy themselves studying while a couple hundred kilometers away there were people whose lives had been devastated," says Forsythe. "They just didn't feel comfortable doing that."
U.S. State Department warnings also forced the cancelation of Temple University Japan's spring-term study-abroad program, affecting 69 students. A TUJ spokesperson says the university expects approximately one-third of the study-abroad students for this year's autumn semester compared to the same time last year.
At International University of Japan, half of the exchange students who submitted applications for the autumn semester starting in September canceled. Instead of the usual 15 to 18 exchange students, the school expects only three.
Further north at Tohoku University, 26 out of 44 study-abroad students expected for the spring semester withdrew and another nine students postponed their arrival. Encouragingly though, numbers for study-abroad students are only down about 8 percent for October's autumn semester.
A dramatic decline in the number of foreign students applying to study at Japanese language schools poses a potentially greater problem. At a May 9 press conference, Michio Hori, a representative of the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council, described the crisis facing Japanese language schools.
Hori explained that 43,000 foreigners study at Japanese language schools but that in April, 10 to 30 percent of continuing students (depending on the school and the region) and 30 to 50 percent of new students were absent.
Apart from the obvious financial headache, these absences also gave schools an administrative migraine. Since the Ministry of Justice requires attendance in at least 90 percent of classes for visa renewals, many schools had to delay the start of the semester to avoid threatening their students' future visa status.
A May 24 survey of 446 Japanese language schools by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education showed the situation was improving but still serious. At the end of May, eight percent of continuing students had quit and 16 percent of incoming students had withdrawn. A further 11 percent said they would arrive after June or hadn't decided whether to come at all.
More alarming for Japanese language schools are the reduced application numbers for October's autumn semester. With visa applications due at the Ministry of Justice in early May, Hori reported that applications were down 70 percent compared to October last year.
In response, the Ministry of Justice extended the deadline to June 20. However, even that may not have been long enough to reassure prospective students. June interviews with spokespeople from four Tokyo-area Japanese language schools revealed that October applications were down between 40 and 70 percent compared to last year.
"Those who have never been to Japan won't come," explains Hori. Most foreign students who have experience living in Japan and know friends in the country understand how safe it is, he says. The problem is convincing new students.
"The most important point for the management of most Japanese language schools is next April's recruitment," says Youngjin Arai, managing director at Akamonkai Japanese Language School. "I think the operation of schools that can't do it well will be in danger."
Most Japanese schools are using similar strategies to dispel rumors and encourage students to come to Japan. Spokespeople at Tokyo Central Japanese Language School and Akamonkai Japanese Language School, also in Tokyo, both describe how they are using Facebook, blogs and school homepages to give accurate information about how Tokyo is functioning normally. Both schools also sent staff to China and South Korea, where 75 percent of Japan's international students come from, to hold explanatory sessions and meet directly with students and parents and help allay their fears.
Nine Tokyo-area schools formed the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council on April 15. The council is lobbying the government and working with the media to convey accurate information about the situation in Japan, and plans to operate until December.
"When the recovery will take place is difficult to say," said a spokesperson for the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education, but right now Japan needs to launch a campaign informing foreigners that the nuclear plant hasn't had an effect on people's daily lives in Tokyo. The need for the campaign is all the more urgent considering how difficult it is to change peoples' minds after they have heard so much bad news, he added.
Recent changes to work visa rules should help student numbers at Japanese language schools recover. Foreigners were, in principle, required to have a bachelor's degree to get a work visa. The Justice Ministry relaxed those requirements at the end of June to allow foreign graduates of Japanese vocational schools to work in Japan after completing their studies.
Because of the decline in students at Japanese language schools, the full impact of the March 11 disaster on Japanese higher education may not be felt for another year or two. Since 70 percent of Japanese language school students continue studying at postsecondary institutions here, a drop in the number coming to study Japanese will mean fewer students are eligible to enter Japanese universities and colleges in the near future.
The decline in Japanese language students is just the latest tremor to hit the government's plan to attract 300,000 foreign students. The plan had already been shaken last year by cuts to scholarships and the budget for the Global 30, a program to fund international recruitment efforts at up to 30 elite universities.
According to Temple University Japan dean Stronach, "Foreign students are essential for Japanese universities these days: educationally, financially and particularly for graduate education and research in Japan."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110712zg.html?
According to Ministry of Justice figures, 70,170 foreign students left Japan between March 12 and April 8. No one knows how many more living in the Tohoku and Kanto regions suddenly decided to spend their spring breaks in Kansai or Kyushu.
With 40 percent of the 175,000 foreign students studying in Japan leaving the country within four weeks, the Japanese government and school officials quickly introduced a number of countermeasures to encourage their return.
The Ministry of Justice simplified application procedures for international students who left without obtaining the required re-entry permit. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology offered to pay return-fare costs for government scholarship students living in disaster areas who had evacuated to their home country after the earthquake. It also provided emergency funds to 1,000 foreigners studying at universities in disaster areas.
University administrators throughout Japan did their best to dispel fears about radiation levels by posting information on their Web pages and giving explanatory lectures. Several universities, including Chuo University in Tokyo and Joshibi University of Art and Design in Kanagawa, sent representatives to China and South Korea to give lectures on the situation in Japan.
At International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture, where 300 students from about 50 countries take graduate classes in English, the school used technology to reach out to students. According to an IUJ public relations officer, the school set up an English Web page to provide daily updates on the earthquake, tsunami and radiation levels. Students who remained on campus posted messages on the university homepage explaining how the situation in Niigata was safe. IUJ's president also personally sent email messages to students each morning providing them with the latest information and words of encouragement.
Efforts by government and university officials paid off. A ministry of education survey of 135 schools with 33,867 foreign students found that 96 percent, including 86.5 percent in the Tohoku region, had returned to Japan by May 20, a notable improvement from a month earlier, when only 35 percent of foreign students in Tohoku had returned before the delayed start to the school year.
Anecdotal evidence supports the education ministry's data. At IUJ, only two students failed to return. Student numbers for the start of the new school year in September also remain strong and IUJ expects 190 to 196 new students, an increase over last year's 188 freshmen.
At Tohoku University, where 1,504 international students are enrolled, an exchange student division spokesperson reports that only about 10 students withdrew or took a leave of absence.
"I wasn't afraid the students wouldn't come back", says Bruce Stronach, the dean of Temple University, Japan Campus, in Tokyo. "I was only concerned about when that would occur."
Immediately after the earthquake, the university began benchmarking similar disasters. "Generally it takes about a year or a little over a year for business to return to normal," says Stronach. TUJ predicts that foreign student numbers will return to pre-March 11 levels in 12 to 16 months.
While the overall picture remains positive, worrisome trends in the numbers of two categories of foreign students continue to threaten the Ministry of Education's stated goal of increasing their number to 300,000 by 2020.
While the four-year degree students have returned, numbers of short-term study-abroad students coming to Japan have dropped. According to the Japan Student Services Organization's figures, in 2010 there were 11,824 short-term international students studying in Japan. It remains to be seen how many will come in 2011 but the number of programs canceled this spring isn't encouraging.
Hirosaki Gakuin University in Aomori Prefecture had to cancel a four-week summer program usually held in May and June for students from sister schools in the United States. "The reason that we canceled our program is that the U.S. State Department had issued a warning suggesting American citizens stay away from northern Japan," explains Edo Forsythe, an English lecturer at Hirosaki Gakuin.
By the April deadline only one student had expressed an interest in attending. Two other students who backed out weren't afraid of radiation or aftershocks. "Their hesitation was, they didn't want to come here and enjoy themselves studying while a couple hundred kilometers away there were people whose lives had been devastated," says Forsythe. "They just didn't feel comfortable doing that."
U.S. State Department warnings also forced the cancelation of Temple University Japan's spring-term study-abroad program, affecting 69 students. A TUJ spokesperson says the university expects approximately one-third of the study-abroad students for this year's autumn semester compared to the same time last year.
At International University of Japan, half of the exchange students who submitted applications for the autumn semester starting in September canceled. Instead of the usual 15 to 18 exchange students, the school expects only three.
Further north at Tohoku University, 26 out of 44 study-abroad students expected for the spring semester withdrew and another nine students postponed their arrival. Encouragingly though, numbers for study-abroad students are only down about 8 percent for October's autumn semester.
A dramatic decline in the number of foreign students applying to study at Japanese language schools poses a potentially greater problem. At a May 9 press conference, Michio Hori, a representative of the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council, described the crisis facing Japanese language schools.
Hori explained that 43,000 foreigners study at Japanese language schools but that in April, 10 to 30 percent of continuing students (depending on the school and the region) and 30 to 50 percent of new students were absent.
Apart from the obvious financial headache, these absences also gave schools an administrative migraine. Since the Ministry of Justice requires attendance in at least 90 percent of classes for visa renewals, many schools had to delay the start of the semester to avoid threatening their students' future visa status.
A May 24 survey of 446 Japanese language schools by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education showed the situation was improving but still serious. At the end of May, eight percent of continuing students had quit and 16 percent of incoming students had withdrawn. A further 11 percent said they would arrive after June or hadn't decided whether to come at all.
More alarming for Japanese language schools are the reduced application numbers for October's autumn semester. With visa applications due at the Ministry of Justice in early May, Hori reported that applications were down 70 percent compared to October last year.
In response, the Ministry of Justice extended the deadline to June 20. However, even that may not have been long enough to reassure prospective students. June interviews with spokespeople from four Tokyo-area Japanese language schools revealed that October applications were down between 40 and 70 percent compared to last year.
"Those who have never been to Japan won't come," explains Hori. Most foreign students who have experience living in Japan and know friends in the country understand how safe it is, he says. The problem is convincing new students.
"The most important point for the management of most Japanese language schools is next April's recruitment," says Youngjin Arai, managing director at Akamonkai Japanese Language School. "I think the operation of schools that can't do it well will be in danger."
Most Japanese schools are using similar strategies to dispel rumors and encourage students to come to Japan. Spokespeople at Tokyo Central Japanese Language School and Akamonkai Japanese Language School, also in Tokyo, both describe how they are using Facebook, blogs and school homepages to give accurate information about how Tokyo is functioning normally. Both schools also sent staff to China and South Korea, where 75 percent of Japan's international students come from, to hold explanatory sessions and meet directly with students and parents and help allay their fears.
Nine Tokyo-area schools formed the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council on April 15. The council is lobbying the government and working with the media to convey accurate information about the situation in Japan, and plans to operate until December.
"When the recovery will take place is difficult to say," said a spokesperson for the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education, but right now Japan needs to launch a campaign informing foreigners that the nuclear plant hasn't had an effect on people's daily lives in Tokyo. The need for the campaign is all the more urgent considering how difficult it is to change peoples' minds after they have heard so much bad news, he added.
Recent changes to work visa rules should help student numbers at Japanese language schools recover. Foreigners were, in principle, required to have a bachelor's degree to get a work visa. The Justice Ministry relaxed those requirements at the end of June to allow foreign graduates of Japanese vocational schools to work in Japan after completing their studies.
Because of the decline in students at Japanese language schools, the full impact of the March 11 disaster on Japanese higher education may not be felt for another year or two. Since 70 percent of Japanese language school students continue studying at postsecondary institutions here, a drop in the number coming to study Japanese will mean fewer students are eligible to enter Japanese universities and colleges in the near future.
The decline in Japanese language students is just the latest tremor to hit the government's plan to attract 300,000 foreign students. The plan had already been shaken last year by cuts to scholarships and the budget for the Global 30, a program to fund international recruitment efforts at up to 30 elite universities.
According to Temple University Japan dean Stronach, "Foreign students are essential for Japanese universities these days: educationally, financially and particularly for graduate education and research in Japan."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110712zg.html?
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Foreign vocational grads get break
The Justice Ministry on Friday eased the educational requirements for foreign residents who wish to re-enter Japan for employment, allowing graduates of Japanese vocational schools to do so without a college degree.
The move is part of a new growth strategy and is aimed at providing career support to such graduates so Japan can attract more foreign students.
It is also aimed at luring back vocational school students who want to work in Japan but decided to leave after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, officials said.
Before the revision, only college-educated foreign residents were allowed to re-enter Japan for employment if they had returned to their home countries because the ministry deemed it necessary for foreigners to have "a certain level of expertise."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110702b2.html?
The move is part of a new growth strategy and is aimed at providing career support to such graduates so Japan can attract more foreign students.
It is also aimed at luring back vocational school students who want to work in Japan but decided to leave after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, officials said.
Before the revision, only college-educated foreign residents were allowed to re-enter Japan for employment if they had returned to their home countries because the ministry deemed it necessary for foreigners to have "a certain level of expertise."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110702b2.html?
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Push to attract Japanese students here
AUSTRALIA'S trade and tourism agencies are making a renewed push to boost the number of Japanese visiting the country to study English or vocational courses and for work experience.
The number of Japanese visitors to Australia has dwindled in recent years and the country has fallen behind India, China and South Korea as a source of foreign students.
Austrade's Tokyo office and Tourism Australia have begun a campaign to capitalise on the failure of Japan's universities and corporations to produce globally savvy staff capable of competing in the international economy.
The Step Up in Australia campaign is designed to get Japanese university students to undertake some study here and young graduates to pursue further study and internships.
The head of Tourism Australia in Japan, Kaz Hori, said the program allowed Australia to present the full range of study abroad options to lure Japanese students.
"Australia is the pre-eminent destination for school excursions from Japan and attracts a large number of short-term language students each year," he said. "What this initiative outlines is the next step in the career development of young Japanese, providing them with a step-up opportunity to compete in a globalised world."
Today's generation of young Japanese is more reluctant to travel and work overseas than their parents' generation, resulting in more insular and less sophisticated employees.
And the university sector in Japan is under fire for failing to produce graduates with the ability to speak English at high enough level to compete with their counterparts from rising Asian powers such as China, South Korea and India.
A recent report from Austrade on developing Japan's human capital found the country faced a critical skills deficiency. As Japanese companies are increasingly looking to bolster their presence overseas, there is a widespread realisation that Japan lacks globally literate people capable of negotiating the challenges of international business.
The Japanese government is aware of these faults and is working on reforms, while a growing number of university campuses are offering courses delivered in English amid efforts to make universities more multicultural.
Japan also wants to increase the number of foreign students in the country from the present level of 100,000 to 300,000.
But, meantime, the federal government believes there is an opportunity for Australia, which is in almost the same time zone as Japan, to help bridge this gap.
Austrade has begun approaching Japanese corporations to explain the merits of sending employees to Australia to further their skills in English, or do short courses in global or Asian business studies.
The best performing Japanese companies are increasingly shifting their focus to the rest of Asia as the domestic market shrinks amid ongoing economic stagnation.
The Japanese branch of KFC is the only example so far of how the scheme may work. The company sends employees to Adelaide to study English, then brings them to Sydney to meet the Australian management of the chain and for work experience.
To launch the campaign, the Australian government offered two scholarships - one for a university student and one for an employee - to do a Step Up program at the University of NSW.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/push-to-attract-japanese-students-here/story-e6frgcjx-1226079461717
The number of Japanese visitors to Australia has dwindled in recent years and the country has fallen behind India, China and South Korea as a source of foreign students.
Austrade's Tokyo office and Tourism Australia have begun a campaign to capitalise on the failure of Japan's universities and corporations to produce globally savvy staff capable of competing in the international economy.
The Step Up in Australia campaign is designed to get Japanese university students to undertake some study here and young graduates to pursue further study and internships.
The head of Tourism Australia in Japan, Kaz Hori, said the program allowed Australia to present the full range of study abroad options to lure Japanese students.
"Australia is the pre-eminent destination for school excursions from Japan and attracts a large number of short-term language students each year," he said. "What this initiative outlines is the next step in the career development of young Japanese, providing them with a step-up opportunity to compete in a globalised world."
Today's generation of young Japanese is more reluctant to travel and work overseas than their parents' generation, resulting in more insular and less sophisticated employees.
And the university sector in Japan is under fire for failing to produce graduates with the ability to speak English at high enough level to compete with their counterparts from rising Asian powers such as China, South Korea and India.
A recent report from Austrade on developing Japan's human capital found the country faced a critical skills deficiency. As Japanese companies are increasingly looking to bolster their presence overseas, there is a widespread realisation that Japan lacks globally literate people capable of negotiating the challenges of international business.
The Japanese government is aware of these faults and is working on reforms, while a growing number of university campuses are offering courses delivered in English amid efforts to make universities more multicultural.
Japan also wants to increase the number of foreign students in the country from the present level of 100,000 to 300,000.
But, meantime, the federal government believes there is an opportunity for Australia, which is in almost the same time zone as Japan, to help bridge this gap.
Austrade has begun approaching Japanese corporations to explain the merits of sending employees to Australia to further their skills in English, or do short courses in global or Asian business studies.
The best performing Japanese companies are increasingly shifting their focus to the rest of Asia as the domestic market shrinks amid ongoing economic stagnation.
The Japanese branch of KFC is the only example so far of how the scheme may work. The company sends employees to Adelaide to study English, then brings them to Sydney to meet the Australian management of the chain and for work experience.
To launch the campaign, the Australian government offered two scholarships - one for a university student and one for an employee - to do a Step Up program at the University of NSW.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/push-to-attract-japanese-students-here/story-e6frgcjx-1226079461717
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Keidanren to launch scholarships for students studying abroad
The Japan Business Federation said Monday it will launch scholarships next year to support students studying abroad, given that young Japanese people are said to have grown reluctant to study or work overseas.
The nation's largest business lobby, known as Keidanren, plans to provide annual scholarships of 1 million yen each to 30 students from 13 universities, including Tohoku University and Doshisha University, who will study at foreign colleges for one year on exchange programs.
The number of universities covered by the scholarships will be gradually increased.
The federation will also support their efforts to find jobs after they return home as students are often concerned that studying abroad would affect their ability to secure employment.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9NQVU500&show_article=1
The nation's largest business lobby, known as Keidanren, plans to provide annual scholarships of 1 million yen each to 30 students from 13 universities, including Tohoku University and Doshisha University, who will study at foreign colleges for one year on exchange programs.
The number of universities covered by the scholarships will be gradually increased.
The federation will also support their efforts to find jobs after they return home as students are often concerned that studying abroad would affect their ability to secure employment.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9NQVU500&show_article=1
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