The Ministry of Education will consider revising legislation governing the recognition of foreign universities in Japan as a wedge for opening Japan's education market to foreign institutions.
The reason for this reconsideration is pressure from the World Trade Organization. Eight WTO members, including the United States, have asked Japan to liberalize regulations concerning higher education generally.
This is part of a serious push by some of the major exporters of education and knowledge products, including the U.S., Britain, Australia and others -- joined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- to include higher education and related areas such as testing, educational products and programs on the Internet, and other categories in the WTO regime.