パネルディスカッション「Reconnecting to the World: Fueling Global Education」でのスピーチ 2006年11月12日在ヒューストン日本国総領事 加茂佳彦
I am very honored to be invited here to speak today to this distinguished gathering on matters related to the internationalization of higher education in Japan.It is safe to say that there are three myths concerning a Japanese college education.The first is that the academic standards of Japanese universities are questionable.The second is the belief that the cost of a college education in Japan is prohibitively high, and the third is that Japan has a closed society which is unwelcoming to foreigners.Folks, I have to tell you, that these really are all myths, and you should forget them all.Due to the time constraint however, today I will focus on dispelling the last myth, because I assure you that we Japanese are as hospitable as Texans are. I would also like all of you to know that Japanese universities and colleges are very eager to expand their exchange programs and welcome foreign students.
Internationalization of Japanese universities is progressing steadily albeit slowly.There were more than 120,000 foreign students studying in Japan in 2005.Eighty percent of these students came from Asia, while about 2,000 students came from North America.In 2004, nearly 80,000 Japanese students went abroad to study overseas.Seventy percent of them went to North America or to Europe.In fact, 45,960 came to the U.S.These are not small numbers of course, but it is far from satisfying.I believe the potential exists to greatly increase the number of foreign students studying in Japan and of Japanese students studying overseas.In my view, the main impediment to a full-fledged expansion of exchange of students is that a language barrier exists.
For foreign students who want to study in Japanese universities, the Japanese government has been successfully operating a strong scholarship program for many years.It has been said that these government sponsored scholarships are second only--in terms of funding--to those offered by France.The footnote here, however, is that Japan’s government sponsored scholarships are made available only to those who enroll in Japanese programs.Since all of the courses in these programs will be taught in Japanese, students on the scholarship program are required to study the Japanese language for a year or so prior to beginning their studies in their specific academic areas. Four years of study are typically required to complete a degree.Students choosing this scholarship program must therefore make a commitment to living in Japan for an extended period and to becoming immersed in Japanese culture.The good news is that more and more universities are creating special English programs that are geared to foreign students interested only in short-term studies in Japan.In addition, a growing number of Japanese universities have begun offering graduate level courses these days.In summary, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Japanese institutions are opening up and offering more diverse opportunities in order to entice greater numbers of foreign students.
The number of Japanese students studying abroad is steadily increasing.However, while there has been a marked growth in the numbers of foreign students coming to study in the U.S., those students have not been coming from Japan.Instead, the growth of foreign students in the U.S. has resulted mostly from the increasing number of students coming from other Asian countries such as China, India, or South Korea.Although Japanese students are interested in studying in the U.S. or abroad, they frequently feel discouraged to do so by a lack of confidence in their English proficiency.Short-term exchange programs offered through Japanese universities present an excellent alternative for those Japanese students who do wish to pursue an education abroad.I am optimistic that these exchange programs will further flourish, and that together with programs such as the JET program, which was created to improve the English language skills of Japanese students, the number Japanese students coming to American campuses will greatly increase.
The Japan English Teaching or JET program which was created by the Japanese government has been extremely successful.Over the last 20 years, it has worked to greatly improve the English language skills of Japanese students.The JET program recruits young people--frequently new college graduates—from 44 countries, who are then sent to junior and high schools throughout Japan to act as assistant English teachers.About 3,000 participants from the U.S. go to Japan under the JET program every year, and approximately 50 of them are from Texas.At the same time these recruits are helping Japanese students learn, by living and working in a different culture, they are also learning and gaining experiences that will become life-long assets to them.I therefore highly recommend the JET program, and I believe that if you return to your home campuses and encourage your best students to apply and participate, we will all benefit.
Opening up Japanese universities to the world is a process that has not yet been finished.More options for Japanese students who wish to study in the U.S. need to be created.At present, short-term exchange programs are virtually the only viable and practical option for many Japanese students.However, by improving the English language skills of Japanese students under programs such as the JET program, greater numbers of high-school graduates will be able to go and study at U.S. universities in the future, and full-fledged foreign enrollment of Japanese students will be achieved.