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Postgraduate study in Japan - A sleeping giant
Masters and PhD programs abound in Japan, but mainly taught in Japanese. While a few private universities are leading the way in globalisation, new higher education reforms mean that till-now conservative Japanese universities will soon follow.
Ken'ichi Nakagami
For domestic students, Japan presents a bewildering variety of postgraduate study options. The country is home to almost 700 universities and a total of over 2000 graduate degree programs covering every conceivable area of academic pursuit. However, the vast majority of these options remain out of reach to most international students, the path being blocked by that great behemoth – The Japanese Language. Most graduate programs here are operated principally in Japanese, and only permit enrollment by foreigners who have achieved a mastery of this most inscrutable of languages. Of course there are many Japanese language schools and non-degree programs which accept foreigners, but the opportunities for direct admission to a graduate degree program have traditionally been very limited.
But times are changing. An ultra-competitive higher education market, combined with a government-initiated imperative for universities to ‘internationalize’, is driving more and more institutions to open their doors to international students seeking a postgraduate degree in an English-language medium.
Private universities have been leading this trend to internationalization. Unrestricted by the cumbersome red tape which binds their government-owned counterparts and motivated by the need to differentiate their product in an ultra-competitive market, the last ten years have seen many universities expanding international student admission numbers, providing entire curricula in English, employing more faculty from overseas, and slimming their administrative structures. At the front line of these changes recently has been Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, an offspring of the Ritsumeikan Trust, a private educational institution with a 100 year history in Kyoto. APU, founded in April 2000 to become a pioneer in globalization and testing ground for new international education systems, welcomes half of its students and faculty staff from overseas, with 67 countries and regions represented on a campus which is more reminiscent of United Nations headquarters than a university in regional Japan. Japanese students are attracted to APU by its multi-cultural flavor, commitment to international quality, and the great potential for forging alumni networks worldwide. The added attraction for international students is that no Japanese language ability is required for admission. If APU is successful in its experiment to provide full access and support for international students, other Japanese universities are sure to follow.
'. . . a campus which is more reminiscent of United Nations headquarters than a university in regional Japan.’
The standard path for admission to national (governmentowned) universities has been the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarship. Applications for this scholarship, which covers full tuition and living expenses, are accepted through Japanese Embassies and Consulates worldwide. Scholarship students spend their first six to twelve months in Japan learning the Japanese language intensively, before enrolling in a regular graduate program.While the scholarship is lucrative, a large investment is required in terms of time (often three years or more for a masters) and competition is quite fierce – only about 10% of international students in Japan are receiving this scholarship.
However, the next three to five years are guaranteed to bring rapid changes to national universities and their policies towards foreign student intake. These universities are currently being transformed into independent administrative bodies, freed from the Ministry of Education's choke and at the same time required to balance their own books for the first time. To become competitive, such universities will need to provide something more than the standard ministry-approved formula. International student admissions will be given more attention as an important strategic element in the reform process, and universities will become more and more pro-active in their search for talented international students in all fields.
- Links:
Japan Student Services Organisation (JASSO): www.jasso.go.jp
