Japan’s Education Minister Aims to Foster Global Talents

By Miki Tanikawa. Hakubun Shimomura, Japan’s minister for education and science, has been working to make the country’s universities more competitive globally since his appointment to the post in December.
In an interview, he discussed the government’s “Abenomics” policies, as well as the need to internationalize Japanese higher education, attract foreign faculty, improve English language capabilities and update the admissions process. He also commented on his personal experiences of the Japanese university system in relation to his son, who has learning disabilities. His son attends a British university, from which he expects to graduate this year. More...