Japan's higher education system faces "an implosion" due to oversupply and a falling birthrate, according to research from a British academic.
Roger Goodman, a Japan expert from Oxford University, said the situation will make it increasingly difficult for the less prestigious and smaller establishments to remain operating.
Many institutions — estimates range from as high as 40 percent to as low as 15 percent — will go bankrupt, merge or be taken over within the decade, according to Goodman.
He wrote, "The Japanese higher education system is facing a contraction, possibly better described as an implosion, of a type not previously ever seen before."