Kindai University: Paving the Path to Global Education and Innovation

Japan is currently facing a series of challenges. On top of the lack of an international labor force compared to other countries, Japan’s demographic shift is anticipated to cause a decrease of 11 million workers by 2040. To address this situation, the government has decided to revamp its education system with the ambitious target of attracting 400,000 foreign students to Japan. What role will universities play in addressing Japan’s challenges including the need to globalize and the shortage of labor?

As you have mentioned, Japan is experiencing a population decline. With this in mind, at a meeting of the Council for the Creation of Future Education, Prime Minister Kishida announced a plan to attract foreign students. The aim is to accept 400,000 foreign students to study in Japan while sending 500,000 Japanese students to study abroad. The background to this concept is not solely about globalizing education in Japan but also about supplementing the labor force in Japan with foreign graduates. Approximately 6% of the students in Japan come from foreign countries. If you compare this figure with the UK, for example, where foreign students account for around 20% of the students, the proportion of foreign students in Japan is quite small.

One of the main reasons for this is the fact that Japan is an island nation with a unique culture and language. This presents a very high hurdle to potential foreign students. The Japanese government is encouraging the acceptance of more foreign students and trying to take early action by preparing a lot of materials and content so that foreign students can learn the Japanese language in advance. The most effective part of this initiative is setting up a path for foreign students to be hired by Japanese companies.

When it comes to foreign students who have graduated from Japanese universities, only around 30% have been hired by Japanese companies. The majority of these graduates therefore return to their countries for employment. Most of them cannot make the best use of their experiences of learning in a Japanese university. That is the current reality. The Japanese government set a goal of increasing the proportion of foreign graduates hired by Japanese companies from 30% to 60%. I believe that this will be very effective and lead to more foreign students studying in Japan. The same goes for Kindai University as well. At this moment, only 30% of our foreign graduates find employment at Japanese companies. It is very important for us to increase this percentage.

The number of foreign students in Japan increased from 150,000 in 2011 to 300,000 in 2019. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this number fell to just over 200,000. We are now waiting to see if the number returns to its previous level of 300,000. Perhaps it could exceed the previous number and reach the government’s goal of 400,000. However, this recovery may require more time. Japan’s level of education and science is quite high. This is especially the case in Asia, where I believe it is number one. Foreign students have the opportunity to learn the highest level of science in Japan. However, unfortunately, this is not well known overseas about the universities that offer four-year full curricula that are provided in English.

Japan’s reputation as one of the safest countries in the world coupled with the modern facilities of Japanese universities and the growing emphasis on English language programs aligns perfectly with the country’s strong corporate presence and domestic job market and the severe need for more supply. Additionally, the weak JPY makes it even more affordable for foreign students to come to Japan to study. From your perspective and the perspective of Kindai University, what do you believe is the added value in coming to study in Japan?

While this is not based on any survey, I believe that one of the main reasons for foreign students to study in Japan is the high level of science and education that is offered. The career path to work at a Japanese company is also very important. These are the two main reasons why foreign students choose to study in Japan. On top of that, I think that many people are attracted to Japan due to its unique culture. This is a major strength that we possess. Also, as you mentioned, Japan is a safe country and the JPY has depreciated a lot. This makes it more appealing and more affordable to study here. Furthermore, students can secure reasonably priced accommodation. These are also important drivers for foreign students.

Despite being the fourth-largest economy in the world, Japan currently has a very low percentage of foreign students in its education system. As you mentioned, in Japan this figure is 6% whereas in the UK it is around 20% and in Australia it is 30%. What key changes must be made by Japanese universities to be more attractive to foreign students?

Japan is an island nation. This is the biggest reason for the low number of foreign students studying here. We have developed our own unique education system. However, Japan is lagging behind other countries when it comes to globalization. Countries such as Singapore and South Korea are very advanced in terms of globalizing their universities. On the other hand, Japan has been offering education in the Japanese language for a very long time. I think this is why we are lagging behind. When it comes to the Times Higher Education university rankings, the rankings of Tokyo University and Kyoto University seem to be low considering their actual level of technology and science. The reason for these low rankings is their delay in globalization. It is very important to make Japanese universities more globalized. Central to this is offering four-year English curricula.

One of the biggest criticisms that Japanese universities have suffered from is the perception that it is difficult for international students to access and secure employment post-graduation. These concerns are fueled by the perceived lack of university support in navigating Japan’s complex job market and the relatively low number of foreign workers at Japanese companies. However, this trend is slowly but surely changing, as the number of foreign employees in Japan has more than doubled in the last five years. Earlier, you mentioned that around 30% of graduates from your university accept jobs at Japanese companies and that you want to increase this percentage to 60%. What kind of framework do you provide to your students, both Japanese and international, to bridge the gap between school and employment? 

The number of foreign employees hired by Japanese companies has doubled in the past five years. However, this may not only be attributable to the efforts of the universities. This is also down to the labor shortages that many companies have been experiencing. Having said that, Japanese universities should take action to encourage more foreign students to be hired by Japanese companies. Our university is taking such actions. At each grade, we offer our students access to our internship program. We are actively providing guidance for such programs. We also provide individual counseling to our foreign students to help them to find a job here. We provide the same level of support for their career paths as we do for Japanese students.

The philosophy of Kindai University when it comes to its educational approach emphasizes practical education and character development aimed at cultivating students who are not only knowledgeable but also possess strong ethical values and a high sense of social responsibility. This entails instilling in students the ability to engage in life-long learning, fostering a spirit of inquiry and nurturing a deep understanding of sociological issues within a global context. Moreover, the university seeks to infuse students with an international perspective while fostering appreciation for their own cultural heritage. Can you describe to our international audience your programs and how you manage to prepare your students to be ready to shape tomorrow’s world? How does Kindai University ensure that its curriculum and teaching methods effectively instill its founding spirit in its students?

We are trying to cultivate students who are not only knowledgeable but also able to play a strong role in society. This is the philosophy of practical education. To this end, we are now emphasizing entrepreneurship. After graduating from Kindai University, some of our students will be employed. However, others may start their own businesses. In the past, the number of students who started their own businesses was quite low. However, we are proving a lot of our students with the means to become entrepreneurs after graduation. With this in mind, we have set up a curriculum for entrepreneurship. Within the university, we have 15 departments. All of the students in these departments have access to our curriculum for entrepreneurship. It is called the Transdisciplinary Graduate School of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship and it was opened in 2023. Our Kincuba program provides our students with a place where they can exchange information and opinions and build relationships with others. We also offer classes for entrepreneurship for our first-year students

The students that are part of our Kincuba program have different mindsets when it comes to entrepreneurship. Some students only have ideas for new businesses. However, others are actively looking for partners for their own business. We are trying to cater our support to these different mindsets. Everyone who joins this program can enhance their motivation.

Your Kincuba program also caught our attention. We thought it was amazing, first of all, because you have a very ambitious goal to set up 100 university-based venture companies by 2025 through this program. You are also helping your students to set up companies, and it can be very difficult to know where to start when doing this. Giving them a framework to allow them to develop their capacity for new ideas to rebuild and reenergize Japanese society which needs new ideas to get out of its comfort zone is very interesting. Can you elaborate on the specific types of support and resources provided to the participants at the different stages of their entrepreneurship within your Kincuba Basecamp?

Our goal is to support the setting up of 100 venture companies through Kincuba by 2025. However, we have already supported the setting up of 97 companies, so we will be able to achieve this goal. When it comes to the support and resources we supply, a lot of existing companies have signed up for our Basecamp so they can meet with our students and exchange information with them. We also have a liaison center where the seeds for venture companies and existing companies can look for business partners once their business is set up. When the researchers want to apply for patents, we provide support for their application.

When it comes to the specific support provided by Kincuba, our experts provide individual counseling to the participants, and once the company is set up, we provide an investment of JPY 300,000 as capital for the business. We also allow these businesses to register Kincuba as their headquarters location.

We also wanted to discuss the Faculty of International Studies at Kindai University which aims to develop global leaders with high communication skills and a broad knowledge base. Challenges include ensuring the effectiveness of the language education program, facilitating successful study-abroad experiences, and integrating practical skills with the development of theoretical learning. You must adapt to evolving international dynamics and industry needs to provide relevant and impactful education to your students. Can you explain the criteria and selection process for determining study abroad destinations, and programs for your students?

First of all, I would like to elaborate on the principles of English studies at Kindai University. In my day, English language education provided students with the ability to read and write English. However, not many of the students had a good command of English conversational skills. In the English classes at our university, the concept is to make English a part of our students’ lives. We want our English students to be close to our foreign students and involve them in their lives. This is the basic principle of our English curriculum. When students enter their first year at Kindai University, they are required to take a class that is provided by a native English-speaking teacher. This is mandatory. Also, we have a facility called the e-cube which stands for "English, Enjoyment, Education" where our students can learn and brush up their English skills via immersion. They can freely talk to English speakers and learn foreign culture. Some of the students are very good at speaking English while others are just beginners. All of our students receive high-quality English education at our university. The foreign students also meet at the e-cube which helps bridge the distance between them and our Japanese students. This is necessary to be able to work on a global stage going forward and breaking down the divide between Japanese and non-Japanese students is the basic concept behind the e-cube.

We also set up our CNN Café where our students can watch CNN news at any time. Furthermore, we have set up our Language Hub facility where our students can learn eight different languages. Foreign students like to meet there. Through such projects, we encourage our Japanese students to interact and become friends with our international students.

To fulfill the international ambitions of your students, we know that you have concluded academic general agreements that promote student exchanges between universities as well as research exchange agreements with more than 250 colleges in more than 50 different countries. What role do partnerships and memoranda of understanding (MOU) play within your business model, and are you searching for new partnerships and MOU?

At this moment, we have partnership agreements with 282 educational institutions and 184 agreements to exchange students. Having said that, not all of them are active and we have closed MOU with many of these institutions or universities. We need to make the best use of these agreements so that we can invite more foreign students to study at our university. If we do not have any special programs for foreign students, we offer Japanese language studies. We also provide scholarships and support for housing.  The students that are exchanged through these MOU agreements are positioned as short-term foreign students. We secure housing for these students. On the other hand, when it comes to foreign students who are directly placed here, we provide support to help them find housing. However, we do not secure the housing for them.

However, you can find such support at any other university, so I believe that we need to set up a unique program to support foreign students. We especially need to emphasize the career path for these students so that all of the foreign students graduating from Kindai University can find a job in Japan.

Your university is next year celebrating its 100^th anniversary. Imagine that we return to interview you again in five years. What would you like to tell us? What are the dreams and goals you would like to achieve for this university?

Next year marks our 100^th anniversary and I will be the president for this important milestone. Based on our founding philosophy that we have promoted over the past 100 years, our university has made a lot of progress in Japan and made important contributions to Japanese society. If you asked 100 people in Japan if they knew Kindai University, I think that almost all of them would say, “yes”. However, if you do so in other countries, I think only a few people would have heard of us which is low compared to Harvard or Cambridge, for example. In the upcoming years, I would like to do more to let the world know about Kindai University. I am well aware that Kindai University is not as highly regarded as Tokyo University. However, we have had many successes in specialized areas such as aquaculture, for example. We want to continue advancing in these areas of specialty so that more people around the world will know about Kindai University. By that time, we would like to have achieved a level of education and research that deserves recognition. These are my goals for the future.