NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
TOKYO REGIONAL OFFICE
December 5, 2002
The National Science Foundation's Tokyo Regional Office periodically reports on developments in Japan that are related to the Foundation's mission. It also provides occasional reports on developments in other East Asian countries.
Tokyo Office Report Memoranda are intended to provide information for the use of NSF program officers and policy makers; they are not statements of NSF policy.
Report Memorandum #02-11
Japan's Plan for 100,000 Foreign Students
The following report was prepared by Kazuko Shinohara of the National Science Foundation's Tokyo Regional Office. Ms. Shinohara may be reached at kshinoha@nsf.gov
HISTORY:
The plan for having 100,000 foreign students in Japan was based on the "Proposal on the Policy on Foreign Students in the 21st Century" (1983), which was followed by another proposal made in 1984 on the "Development of the Policy on Foreign Students in the 21st Century." A report compiled in 1999 based on the Discussion on the Policy on Foreign Students calls for the maintenance of the 100,000 Foreign Students Plan. Further, at the first meeting among the Education Ministers of the G-8 countries held in 2000, the Plan was reconfirmed. From the viewpoint of Japan's position in the world and the size of its higher education system, the ratio of foreign students at Japanese higher education institutions is very low, 2.2 percent, compared with 17.8 percent in the U.K. and 6.4 percent in the U.S. The Plan for having 100,000 foreign students is a response to this disparity.
As a result of various efforts for bringing the above plan in reality, the number of foreign students has recently increased. As of May 1, 2001, the number reached about 79,000 and by May 5, 2002, it further increased to 95,550. This is a record high, and a 21.2 percent increase from the previous year.
ANALYSES:
The details are shown below with tables:
Table 1. Number of Foreign Students and Increase Ratio
|
Year |
No. of Foreign Students as of May 1, 2002 |
Increase from Previous year |
Increase Ratio |
|
1978 |
5,849 |
94 |
1.6% |
|
1979 |
5,933 |
84 |
1.4% |
|
1980 |
6,572 |
639 |
10.8% |
|
1981 |
7,179 |
607 |
9.2% |
|
1982 |
8,116 |
937 |
13.1% |
|
1983 |
10,428 |
2,312 |
28.5% |
|
1984 |
12,410 |
1,982 |
19.0% |
|
1985 |
15,009 |
2,599 |
20.9% |
|
1986 |
18,631 |
3,622 |
24.1% |
|
1987 |
22,154 |
3,523 |
18.9% |
|
1988 |
25,643 |
3,489 |
15.7% |
|
1989 |
31,251 |
5,608 |
21.9% |
|
1990 |
41,347 |
10,096 |
32.3% |
|
1991 |
45,066 |
3,719 |
9.0% |
|
1992 |
48,561 |
3,495 |
7.8% |
|
1993 |
52,405 |
3,844 |
7.9% |
|
1994 |
53,787 |
1,382 |
2.6% |
|
1995 |
53,847 |
60 |
0.1% |
|
1996 |
52,921 |
-926 |
-1.7% |
|
1997 |
51,047 |
-1,874 |
-3.5% |
|
1998 |
51,298 |
251 |
0.5% |
|
1999 |
55,755 |
4,457 |
8.7% |
|
2000 |
64,011 |
8,256 |
14.8% |
|
2001 |
78,812 |
14,801 |
23.1% |
|
2002 |
95,550 |
16,738 |
21.2% |
Table 2. Number of Foreign Students by Area of Origin
Asian students make up 92.8 percent of the foreign student population, and 4.2 percent are from North America and Europe. Among them, 62 percent of foreign students of short-term stay* are from Asia and 31.3 percent are from North America and Europe.
* - Short-term stay means "less than one year" during which the students do not aim to obtain degrees, but try to study culture and language at Japanese higher educational institutions.
|
Area |
Total Number of Foreign students as of May 1, 2002 |
Percentage |
Short-term stay only |
|
|
No. of Foreign students |
||||
|
Asia |
88,664 |
92.8% |
3,825 |
62.0% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
72,197 |
91.6% |
3,681 |
63.1% |
|
Europe |
2,523 |
2.6% |
937 |
15.2% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
2,389 |
3.0% |
864 |
14.8% |
|
North America |
1,450 |
1.5% |
997 |
16.1% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
1,360 |
1.7% |
903 |
15.5% |
|
Middle and South America |
946 |
1.0% |
112 |
1.8% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
943 |
1.2% |
135 |
2.3% |
|
Africa |
845 |
0.9% |
36 |
0.6% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
872 |
1.1% |
19 |
0.3% |
|
Middle East |
584 |
0.6% |
30 |
0.5% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
525 |
0.7% |
27 |
0.5% |
|
Oceania |
538 |
0.6% |
234 |
3.8% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
526 |
0.7% |
205 |
3.5% |
|
TOTAL: |
95,550 |
100.0% |
6,171 |
100.0% |
|
As of May 1, 2001 |
78,812 |
100.0% |
5,834 |
100.0% |
Table 3. Number of Foreign Students by Gender
The ratio by gender is almost the same.
|
Gender |
No. of Foreign students as of May 1, 2002 |
Percentage |
|
Male |
49,478 |
51.8% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
41,785 |
53.0% |
|
Female |
46,072 |
48.2% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
37,027 |
47.0% |
|
TOTAL: |
95,550 |
100.0% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
78,812 |
100.0% |
Table 4. Number of Foreign Students by Country of Origin
The number of students from China has dramatically increased. When those from Korea and Taiwan are added, the ratio against the total number of foreign students reaches 82.3 percent.
|
Country |
No. of Foreign students as of May 1, 2002 |
Percentage |
|
China |
58,533 |
61.3% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
44,014 |
55.8% |
|
Korea |
15,846 |
16.6% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
14,725 |
18.7% |
|
Taiwan |
4,266 |
4.5% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
4,252 |
5.4% |
|
Malaysia |
1,885 |
2.0% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
1,803 |
2.3% |
|
Thailand |
1,504 |
1.6% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
1,411 |
1.8% |
|
Indonesia |
1,441 |
1.5% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
1,388 |
1.8% |
|
U.S.A. |
1,217 |
1.3% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
1,141 |
1.4% |
|
Vietnam |
1,115 |
1.2% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
938 |
1.2% |
|
Bangladesh |
823 |
0.9% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
805 |
1.0% |
|
Mongol |
544 |
0.6% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
389 |
0.5% |
|
Sri Lanka |
539 |
0.6% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
471 |
0.6% |
|
Philippines |
483 |
0.5% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
490 |
0.6% |
|
Myanmar |
390 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
342 |
0.4% |
|
Brazil |
347 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
342 |
0.4% |
|
Australia |
344 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
336 |
0.4% |
|
U.K. |
344 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
345 |
0.4% |
|
Russia |
331 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
323 |
0.4% |
|
Nepal |
307 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
283 |
0.4% |
|
Germany |
273 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
259 |
0.3% |
|
India |
243 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
235 |
0.3% |
|
Egypt |
233 |
0.2% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
253 |
0.3% |
|
Canada |
233 |
0.2% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
219 |
0.3% |
|
Cambodia |
232 |
0.2% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
187 |
0.2% |
|
France |
222 |
0.2% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
215 |
0.3% |
|
Laos |
210 |
0.2% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
167 |
0.2% |
|
Iran |
200 |
0.2% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
178 |
0.2% |
|
Singapore |
137 |
0.1% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
150 |
0.2% |
|
Pakistan |
134 |
0.1% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
121 |
0.2% |
|
Turkey |
133 |
0.1% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
114 |
0.2% |
|
Roumania |
126 |
0.1% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
121 |
0.2% |
|
Bulgaria |
126 |
0.1% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
116 |
0.2% |
|
Others |
2,789 |
2.9% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
2,679 |
3.4% |
|
TOTAL: |
95,550 |
100.0% |
|
As of 5/1/2001 |
78,812 |
100.0% |
Table 5. Number of Foreign Students of Short-term Stay by Country of Origin
Among the numbers in Table 4, 54 percent of the short-term stay foreign students are from China, Korea and Taiwan.
|
Country |
No. of Foreign students of Short-term stay only as of May 1, 2002 |
Percentage |
|
China |
1,801 |
29.2% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
1,830 |
31.4% |
|
Korea |
1,217 |
19.7% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
1,107 |
19.0% |
|
U.S.A. |
897 |
14.5% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
813 |
13.9% |
|
Taiwan |
313 |
5.1% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
267 |
4.6% |
|
Australia |
201 |
3.3% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
172 |
2.9% |
|
Germany |
192 |
3.1% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
177 |
3.0% |
|
U.K. |
177 |
2.9% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
183 |
3.1% |
|
Thailand |
155 |
2.5% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
161 |
2.8% |
|
France |
126 |
2.0% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
109 |
1.9% |
|
Canada |
100 |
1.6% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
90 |
1.5% |
|
Indonesia |
87 |
1.4% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
89 |
1.5% |
|
Russia |
62 |
1.0% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
59 |
1.0% |
|
Vietnam |
59 |
1.0% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
54 |
0.9% |
|
Sweden |
52 |
0.8% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
47 |
0.8% |
|
Malaysia |
40 |
0.7% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
28 |
0.5% |
|
Brazil |
39 |
0.6% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
53 |
0.9% |
|
Netherlands |
38 |
0.6% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
35 |
0.6% |
|
Philippines |
35 |
0.6% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
45 |
0.8% |
|
Mongol |
31 |
0.5% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
20 |
0.4% |
|
New Zealand |
30 |
0.5% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
32 |
0.6% |
|
Poland |
29 |
0.5% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
30 |
0.5% |
|
Sri Lanka |
25 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
18 |
0.3% |
|
Mexico |
25 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
26 |
0.5% |
|
Finland |
23 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
21 |
0.4% |
|
Terkey |
22 |
0.4% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
13 |
0.2% |
|
Bulgaria |
21 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
14 |
0.2% |
|
Singapore |
20 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
19 |
0.3% |
|
Italy |
20 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
19 |
0.3% |
|
Denmark |
19 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
14 |
0.2% |
|
Spain |
19 |
0.3% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
12 |
0.2% |
|
Others |
296 |
4.8% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
277 |
4.8% |
|
TOTAL: |
6,171 |
100.0% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
5,834 |
100.0% |
Table 6. Number of Foreign Students by Field
|
Field |
No. of Foreign students as of May 1, 2002 |
Percentage |
|
Social science |
31,156 |
32.6% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
24,044 |
30.5% |
|
Human Literature |
23,051 |
24.1% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
20,180 |
25.6% |
|
Engineering |
12,745 |
13.3% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
11,680 |
14.8% |
|
Teacher Training |
3,032 |
3.2% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
2,827 |
3.6% |
|
Medical/Dental |
2,865 |
3.0% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
2,923 |
3.7% |
|
Art |
2,600 |
2.7% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
2,056 |
2.6% |
|
Agriculture |
2,370 |
2.5% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
2,188 |
2.8% |
|
Home Economics |
2,086 |
2.2% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
1,782 |
2.3% |
|
Science |
1,320 |
1.4% |
|
As of 5/1/01 |
1,427 |