Japan aims to increase its number of international students, which had declined due to COVID-19 and related border controls, to the pre-pandemic level of 300,000 by 2027, up from the current 240,000.
The education ministry revealed the timeline in a report submitted Wednesday to an internal panel that advises the minister.
According to the Japan Student Services Organization, there were 312,214 foreign students in Japan in May 2019, but the figure had declined to 242,444 by May 2021, the latest period for which data is available.