Japan, as is well known, has long been wary of mixing and integration. The brake is cultural—and it is powerful. And when the “Land of the Rising Sun” agrees to crack the door open, compelled by rapid population ageing and labour shortages, it tends to do so first for people from nearby countries. At least they “look more Japanese” than others. In recent months, Japan has been forced to open up further to attract international talent, as demographic decline and the needs of the world’s fourth-largest economy leave it little choice. Still, a very troubling signal has just been sent.
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported that the private Waseda University is considering raising tuition fees for foreign students. The institution already hosted, according to the same source, “5,562 international students in May last year—more than any other university in Japan.” Until now, however, fees had been the same for everyone.
A change of course is now underway. Waseda argues it is buckling under additional costs related to reception services, housing and Japanese-language courses—so, inevitably, foreign students should pay more. And beware the snowball effect: a host of universities have approached the Ministry of Education about possible fee increases.
If Waseda makes the move, “many other schools could follow.” Some institutions, such as Tohoku University, have already formalised a steep rise in tuition: 1.7 times higher for foreign students. It seems the Japanese have been listening closely—right up to France.
France has begun hiking tuition fees for non-EU international students, raising them from under €200 to nearly €4,000 for a Master’s degree at public universities. Japan is still a long way from that level—and one can only hope it remains so.
The Japanese government insists the country is lagging behind in the global race to attract top international talent. NHK notes that foreign students account for just 5.9% of overall enrolment in Japan, compared with more than 32% in Australia and 22% in the United Kingdom.
Clearly, Japan’s momentum depends on an attractive academic environment—so policymakers should be wary of discriminatory pricing. Yet international comparisons are emboldening Japanese universities: “International students at the University of California pay about 3.4 times more than domestic students,” and “at the University of Oxford, international students pay about three times more.”
The conclusion is clear: Japan still has ample room compared with Anglo-Saxon destinations—and now France—and that could give it ideas that are, inevitably, bad news for foreign students.
NHK points out that Japanese universities are spending more to ensure high-quality education and decent living conditions—an unavoidable shift, according to the ministry, if Japan is to “accept even more qualified international students.” But for students setting their sights on Japan, the adventure could increasingly turn into a financial headache, even if the situation remains far from the tuition shock seen in the United States and France.
What's happening in Tunisia?
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for updates.
