In a bid to stop the dramatic decline in Japanese studying in the United States, representatives of U.S. colleges and universities met Wednesday with education minister Ryu Shionoya to demand that Japan improve efforts to promote study abroad.
After peaking at 47,000 in 1997, the number of Japanese studying in the U.S. has dropped nearly 30 percent to 34,000 as of 2007, according to the Institute of International Education, a U.S. group that promotes study abroad. This leaves Japan fourth behind India, China and South Korea, which had 94,500, 81,000, and 69,000 students, respectively, studying in the U.S.
Shionoya said this number has to be raised.