These days we often hear that there are two signs that the Japanese people, especially youths, have become inward-looking: The number of Japanese students going overseas for study has declined sharply, and far fewer employees in the public and private sectors are willing to take up posts outside the country.
The second statement may be factual, but I have some doubts about the first assertion, which I think is based on a misunderstanding.
Through the 1998 academic year in the United States (September 1997 to June 1998), there were more students from Japan enrolled at American universities than from any other Asian country. But Japan was surpassed by India in 1999, by China in 2001, by South Korea in 2002 and by Taiwan in 2009.