The administration of President Donald Trump has been cracking down on the issuance of student visas to U.S. institutes of higher learning.

It has been particularly keen on refusing entry to those supporting the Palestinian cause or who engage in acts of antisemitism. In addition, those with links to the communist party of China have come under greater scrutiny.

Writing in Shukan Post (Aug 8), business consultant Kenichi Ohmae observes that major national universities in Japan, including the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University and other institutions have announced temporary provisions for taking in such students.

According to the Ministry of Education, as of June 5, some 90 universities in Japan have decided to fast-track the students' admission as well as offer them scholarships and other forms of support.

A survey of foreign students found that as of May 1, 2024, Japan had 336,708 students from abroad, a year-over-year increase of 57,434. Broken down by nationality, China led the list with 123,458 students, followed by Nepal (64,816), and Vietnam (40,323). More students have also been coming from other Asian countries, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mongolia and others.

Nevertheless among these numbers not very many could be regarded as "outstanding students."

"There are a number of factors for this," writes Ohmae, "but the greatest barrier to matriculating at Japanese institutions is that they do not provide instruction in English, the global language. And acquiring the Japanese language is extremely difficult for foreigners."

If the University of Tokyo is to accept students from the U.S., Ohmae doubts that top-level students and researchers (other than Japanese nationals) will take up Japan on its offer to study here.

"Most of the students that Trump has forced out of the U.S. are likely to transfer to other English-speaking countries such as the UK, Australia and Canada." he writes. "Other candidates will be universities in the European Union, Singapore, Hong Kong and elsewhere."

Singapore is a small country with a high standard of living, but living costs there represent a high hurdle. Hong Kong on the other hand has become a "control society" dominated by China, with heavier restrictions on academic freedom, discouraging applicants.

In a nutshell, Japan's greatest handicap is its communications ability. "Once when I was involved in negotiating a merger involving an Indian IT company, I was told by many Indian technicians, 'Sorry, but I don't want to work in Japan,' their reason being the poor English environment and high Japanese language barrier," Ohmae relates.

The language problem also works in reverse. In a recent survey of 400 male and female Japanese members of Gen Z (the 19-to-25 year age group) conducted by the Japan Tourism Agency, nearly 60% of respondents stated they had no desire to travel abroad. One of the reasons given for their lack of interest was their inability to speak English.

In Ohmae's view, until we move so far as to "teach in English" -- rather than just "teaching English" -- no cure for Japanese people's complex over English will be forthcoming.

However, money is not the problem. The government has allocated ample funds to fix the situation. With the aim of becoming an "excellent internationalized research university," Tohoku University announced it would devote 30 billion yen over the next five years, with plans to attract 500 high-paid researchers.

But it's not a matter of funding, says Ohmae. As long as the right environment for English is not created, top-notch human resources will not come to Japan.

If Japan doesn't change its policy toward English and treat familiarity of English as a natural component of education -- perhaps through adoption of a system similar to Malaysia's, in which from primary school to university Japanese would be the language of instruction for the humanities, and English the language of instruction for math and science -- even efforts to attract outstanding human resources will fail. (JAPAN TODAY)

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