Actual Condition of Studying in Japan
It is an important decision to decide where to study abroad for students planning to study overseas. In general, many students choose to study in countries where English, the official language of the world, is spoken when they decide on where to study abroad. We will introduce the attractiveness of studying in Japan such as international students acceptance ranking, actual condition of Japan’s international students, and degree of satisfaction of studying in Japan.
Comparing Study Abroad Destination
There are 5.57 million international students studying at higher education institutions worldwide as of 2018. The United States of America has the most international students with approximately 17% of the total number, twice as many students as the following 2nd place, United Kingdom. Many countries ranked are developed country which basically have numerous universities and is developed economically. There is also a trend that many students study in countries where English is the official language. Japan, even with its official language being Japanese, has many international students, ranking 8th globally (ranked 1st in Asia).
UNESCO “Institute for statistics 2018”
Number of International Students in Japan
As of May 1st, 2020, the number of international students in Japan is 279,597. Of this, 215,731 international students are enrolled in higher education institutions. Graduate school has 53,056 (19%), universities have 79,826 (29%), and professional training college has 79,598 (28%), making up for 76% of the international students. Additionally, 60,814 (22%) of the students are enrolled in Japanese language schools which provides Japanese education before the students enroll in higher education institutions.
Independent Administrative Institution Japan Student Services Organization “Result of an annual survey of International Students Survey in Japan, 2020”
National Origin of International Students in Japan
Most of the international students, 94.6%, are from Asian region, followed by Europe (2.8%), North America (0.7%), Africa (0.7%), Latin America (0.6%), and Middle East (0.4%). Regarding region breakdown, most students are from China with 121,845, followed by Vietnam (62,233), Nepal (24,002), South Korea (15,787), Taiwan (7,088), Indonesia (6,199), Sri Lanka (5,238), and Myanmar (4,211).
Japan Student Services Organization “Result of an annual survey of International Students Survey in Japan, 2020”
Satisfaction Level of Study Abroad in Japan
According to survey results of international students who studied in Japan, 92.7% have responded that they generally liked studying in Japan, indicating the high satisfaction level. The reason why they were satisfied were as the following: 60.1% responded “they were able to acquire Japanese language”, 55.2% said “they were able to obtain global way of thinking and educated knowledge”, 50.4% answered “they were able to receive high quality education”, 36.6% responded “they were able to make Japanese friends”, and 32.7% said “they were able to make global connections”.
JASSO “The Summary of Result on an Annual Survey of International Students in Japan, 2019”
