TOKYO -- The number of Japanese college students studying abroad has plummeted over the past two decades, with the steep cost of higher education in the U.S. being a chief reason.
Japan is no longer home to the most international students studying in the U.S., as there are now fewer Japanese students than those hailing from China, India, South Korea and Vietnam.
As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to accelerate the downward spiral, Japanese officials are moving to reverse the trend. Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda plans to support prospective study-abroad students by referring them to colleges where they can receive COVID-19 vaccines.
"I intend to make progress on vaccinations so that students traveling abroad in the summer will not lose that opportunity," Hagiuda told reporters July 13.
The government's education rebuilding council issued a recommendation in June pledging to support efforts to maintain and resume student exchange programs. The panel said it would be necessary to consider how the pandemic will affect students studying abroad.
Propelling this renewed attention is a sense of urgency to keep the number of Japanese international students from dwindling amid the coronavirus crisis. Otherwise, the country risks fielding an inadequate pool of linguistically proficient global talent possessing cross-cultural experience.
At first glance, it would appear that Japan is witnessing a boom in study-abroad students. The number of Japanese studying overseas stood at 107,000 in fiscal 2019, according to the Japan Student Services Organization -- or about double the total of fiscal 2011.
However, those numbers include people placed in short-term exchange programs. Two-thirds of Japanese studying abroad in fiscal 2019 stayed at their destination countries for less than a month. Such short durations limit opportunities to acquire language skills or engage in intercultural exchange.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development defines international students as those who are enrolled in foreign institutes of higher learning. This designation generally applies to students spending two or more years abroad, according to Japan's education ministry.
By this OECD definition, Japanese students enrolled overseas numbered 58,700 in 2018, marking about a 30% decline from the peak in 2004, when the total surpassed 80,000.
Part of the blame for the slumping numbers lies with Japan itself, according to Shoji Mitarai, professor emeritus at Sapporo University and vice president of the America-Japan Society of Hokkaido.
"Japan became inward-looking and there was no national effort to send English teachers and young people overseas," said Mitarai.
The shift happened over the last 25 years. Between 1994 and 1997, of international students studying in the U.S., more came from Japan than any other country or region, according to the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission. But in 2019 and 2020, Japan fell to eighth place, outpaced by China, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Akira Kobayashi, an associate professor at Tokyo's Meiji University who works for the school's study abroad program, points to economic reasons for that shift -- namely, annual tuition increases at American colleges.
"At state universities, which are relatively less expensive, costs including living expenses have climbed to 6 million yen to 7 million yen ($54,900 to $64,100) a year," said Kobayashi. "It was approximately half of that about a decade ago."
Exacerbating the situation is Japan's ranking last among Group of Seven economies in terms of disposable income. In 2017, Japan only had $29,000 in per-capita household disposable income, according to OECD data, compared to roughly $50,000 in the U.S.
For its part, the Japanese government aims to double the number of study-abroad students as defined by the OECD by fiscal 2022. But expanding scholarships alone will have a limited impact.
"If we want to increase the number of global talents, corporations will need to assume responsibility for the costs," said Kobayashi. "We need to establish a public-private fund that will greatly enhance the study-abroad support system."
Japan's hiring customs pose another challenge. Typically, companies hire new workers in single batches each spring. Japanese college students looking to land a paid position go through a process that involves internships and visiting job fairs.
For Japanese learning abroad, the entry-level job search overlaps with their third and fourth years of undergraduate study. Furthermore, most new hires in Japan start work in April, whereas U.S. schools generally hold graduation ceremonies in May or June.
One proposal to address this dilemma is to have the Japanese college school year begin in the fall. Last year, the government led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe briefly considered a September start date for students from elementary on up, as opposed to April, to make up for time lost to COVID-induced school closures.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party ultimately shelved the plan, citing time needed for a "national consensus." A review of legislative minutes revealed nearly no statements supporting a September start this fall.
In fact, the education rebuilding council said the start of the school year should not be uniformly switched to September from April, instead asserting that any calendar changes allow for variety and flexibility among schools.
While progress in the Japanese business community to institute fall and year-round hiring is gradual, it remains to be seen whether a move in this direction will boost study-abroad numbers in the end.