Interest in study abroad picking up again in Japan

Even as the country continues its efforts towards its ambitious Global 30 programme – an effort to bring 300,000 international students to Japan by 2020 – there are increasing signs of strengthening demand for study abroad among younger Japanese students and among female students in particular.
A recent survey of Japanese university students indicates a modest uptick in interest in study abroad. The survey, conducted by Recruit Marketing Partners in March and April of this year, gathered responses from more than 3,200 Japanese students.
Nearly 40% of respondents indicated they were unwilling to study abroad, while 33% said they were interested in studying outside of Japan. This represents a modest shift from a previous survey in 2011: the percentage of respondents unwilling to study abroad dropped by nearly 2% from 2011 whereas the percentage interested in study abroad bumped up slightly by 6% in the 2013 survey. More...