The hope for Japan to internationalize appeared less likely than ever in a survey carried out in March by the Institute for a Global Society, a Tokyo-based cram school for elementary, junior high and high school students who seek to study abroad.
Of the students surveyed, 50 percent of high school students and 55 percent of university students said they felt, "It's too late for me to become a globally active person even if I start receiving education now for dealing with a globalizing world."
Those results are a discouraging indication of Japanese students' current attitudes toward their future prospects and a lack of confidence in their language ability, not to mention toward the potential of education to open students' minds to the world.