Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
The purpose of this special volume containing five articles dedicated to the
internationalization of higher education in Japan is to provide information, analysis, and
insight on the current goals, rationales, policies, and challenges facing internationalizations
role as way to increase research excellence, profile, and competitiveness within Asia and
the world beyond. Collectively, they paint a picture of a country that is supporting the
higher education sector to be a key actor in helping Japan become the Asian Gateway
to the rest of the world. To understand the nature of internationalization of higher
education in Japan, it is important to review the changes in the international dimension of
higher education during the past decades. Given the pivotal role that foreign students have
played in the history of Japans international academic relations, this topic is at the centre
of a review of what could be called the three primary phases of internationalization
from 1950 to the present day.
Authors Note: Please address correspondence to Jane Knight, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
University of Toronto, Canada; e-mail: jane.knight@utoronto.ca.
117
118 Journal of Studies in International Education
target will most certainly stimulate further policy, strategy, and attitudinal changes
by Japanese universities as well as other policy sectors.
The purpose of this special volume dedicated to Japan is to provide information,
analysis, and insight on the current goals, rationales, policies, and challenges facing
internationalizations role as way to increase its research excellence, profile, and
competitiveness within Asia and the world beyond. Collectively, the five articles paint
a fascinating picture of a country that is supporting the higher education sector to be
a key actor in helping Japan become the Asian Gateway to the rest of the world.
To promote sustainable development within the global knowledge-based society,
the Japanese government is urging the nations higher education institutions to inter-
nationalize. Although a select number of Japanese universities are highly regarded
in world rankings of universities, many Japanese observers argue that the majority
of their higher education institutions are not sufficiently internationalized compared
with those of other industrialized countries. The first article, Japanese University
Leaders Perceptions of Internationalization: The Role of Government in Review
and Support by A. Yonezawa, H. Akiba, and D. Hirouchi focuses on the interna-
tional character and capacity of Japanese universities. The analysis is based on an
82.5% response rate to a survey sent to all higher education institutions in Japan. The
results of the study illustrate that the internationalization motivations, dynamics, and
structures at the institutional level are highly diverse and require well-considered
government policy initiatives to further guide and foster the process. The context and
possible roles of government and higher education are explored with respect to help-
ing universities become more accessible and attractive to highly talented human
resources from Asia and around the world and substantially contributing to the open-
ing up of Japanese society to the global economy.
Faculty are critical to the internationalization process, but are they committed and
qualified to further the international dimension? The second article, The International-
ization of the Academic Profession in Japan: A Quantitative Perspective by F. Huang
mainly focuses on the internationalization of the Japanese academic profession over the
period 1992 to 2007. The results of national surveys inform the analysis of the changes
in internationalization of Japans higher education shown by the academic profession
over the past 15 years. It raises important questions about the future efforts of Japanese
universities to internationalize their teaching and research work.
The issue of world rankings is at the forefront of many universities agenda, and the
link and use of internationalization to achieve this status is becoming more prevalent.
But, Western models of higher education tend to dominate and bias the ranking sys-
tems. The third article, University Rankings, Global Models, and Emerging Hegemony:
Critical Analysis from Japan by M. Ishikawa focuses on how these dominant models
affect non-Western, non-English language universities, such as those in Japan. Based
on the experiences of one Japanese research university that aspires to become a world
class institution, the struggles and the quest for new identities are examined. The
discussion highlights the fact that the current preoccupation with university rankings
Ninomiya et al. / Internationalization in Japan 119
and league tables gives rise to de facto global standards and models, against which
traditions of national language, education, research, and human resources are chal-
lenged. Such new modes of objectifying academic excellence alter domestic academic
hierarchies and internal dynamics within universities. The article uses these insights to
look critically at new dimensions of knowledge construction and an emerging hegem-
ony in todays global higher education context.
Recruiting international students to Japan has traditionally been seen as the prime
internationalization strategy, but study abroad for Japanese students is now being
seen as an effective way to enhance their international experience and cross-cultural
understanding, and thus contribute to the internationalization of Japanese universi-
ties. The fourth article, The Contribution of Study Abroad Programs to Japanese
Internationalization by T. Asaoka and J. Yano examines results of a major study that
analyzed the attitudes of Japanese students about study abroad, the characteristics of
those who go abroad for a short-term study experience, the factors that help or hinder
them to pursue this experience, and finally what improvements can be made by uni-
versity staff to promote and support study abroad.
The fifth article, The Challenges of Increasing Capacity and Diversity in Japanese
Higher Education Through Proactive Recruitment Strategies by A. Kuwamura looks
at the new plan to recruit 300,000 international students and the implications for uni-
versities who are currently experiencing a sharply shrinking pool of high school
graduates. This has placed Japanese institutions of higher education under further
pressure to both sustain their student enrolments in the already competitive global
higher education market over the coming decade while at the same time increase their
capacity and diversify the campus population and program offerings to attract foreign
students. Will the new plan help to boost enrolments and save the universities or will
they cause even more challenges? The article examines some key issues revolving
around such challenges and stresses the importance of internationalizing both the
institution and individual.
The future cannot be planned, nor can the present be understood, without reference to
the past. This is true for understanding the nature of internationalization of higher educa-
tion in Japan. It is important to review the changes in the international dimension of higher
education during the past decades to fully appreciate the significance of the current and
what can be called the third phase of internationalization policies and initiatives. Given
the pivotal role that foreign students have played in the history of Japans international
academic relations, this topic is at the centre of a review of what could be called the three
primary phases of internationalization from 1950 to present day.
The first stage of international academic relations in Japan was characterized by
a lack of any national policy for foreign students, because Japan from 1945 to 1951
was under the occupation of the United States. Instead of inviting foreign students
to Japan, the priority was to send Japanese to the United States through Scholarship
Programs such as Garioa-Eloi (1947-1951) and Fulbright (1946-present). The objec-
tives for those students who went abroad was to learn about democracy, contribute
120 Journal of Studies in International Education
are increasing the number of international partnerships to pursue twinning and joint/
double degree programs. Furthermore, universities are creating more scholarships and
setting up offices in foreign countries all for the goal of attracting high-quality foreign
students. In short, the business of increasing the share of the international student
market is now a priority for Japan to meet its goal of 300,000 more foreign students in
12 years.
Japan has clearly demonstrated its belief that a university will not attain global
competitiveness and appear at the top of world league tables without an active and
excellent foreign student population and similarly without an excellent Japanese
student cohort who can be active in the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that
the internationalization is a lifeline of the university in Japan in terms of increasing
low enrolments and optimizing its research output and competitiveness.
Japan has seen a remarkable shift from developing country capacity building
through ODA in its first stage of internationalization to status building for global
competitiveness in the third stage. The impact of the 300,000 foreign students plan
and the Asian Gateway proposal is not known. It is a critical time for higher educa-
tion in Japan and this is why a special volume of the Journal for the Studies in
International Education has been dedicated to the current policies and priorities for
internationalization.
References
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Akira Ninomiya is Executive and Vice-President for Research at Hiroshima University and Professor of
Comparative and International Education. He was the Director of the Center for the Study of International
Cooperation in Education at Hiroshima University. He has cochaired the Special Committee of Foreign
Students of the Central Council for Education in 2007 and 2008.
Jane Knight focuses her research and professional interests on the international dimension of higher
education at the institutional, system, national, and international levels. Her work in more than 60 coun-
tries brings a comparative, developmental, and international perspective to her teaching, policy work, and
research. She is an adjunct professor at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto,
and a Fulbright New Century Scholar 2007-2008.
Aya Watanabe is an associate professor at the Research Center for Higher Education, Kumamoto
University, Japan. Her main areas of research are the internationalization of higher education, especially,
international exchange among universities and a comparative study of education system and policy
between Finland and Japan.