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COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 22, 2015

Oxford lessons for Todai

An international outlook, a dedication to research and a spirit of enterprise are among the qualities that universities need to become world-leading institutions.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Oct 19, 2015

Let's discuss pressure on university liberal arts education

In June the education ministry sent a directive to national universities calling on them to reorganize their humanities and social sciences departments.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2015

Humanities under attack

Moves in the halls of power to downgrade, if not outright strip, the humanities and social sciences nation's universities are both outrageous and wrongheaded.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2013

Greatest hopes work for less

For the sake of Japan's future, the education ministry and others must work to raise the pay of researchers and professors at national universities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2010

Value of universities during economic crisis

WARWICK, England — Is academic freedom affordable in a time of economic crisis? That was the topic for discussion at the annual signing of the Magna Charta Universitatum at the mother of universities, the University of Bologna, earlier this year.
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Hiroshima G7 Summit Special
May 19, 2023

New initiatives to increase globalization of education

After a pandemic that drastically reduced the numbers of Japanese students going abroad and foreign students arriving, Japan is again on a drive to internationalize higher education. Low economic growth, a labor shortage due to the declining birthrate and lagging competitiveness in science and technology...
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Hiroshima G7 Summit Special
May 19, 2023

Programs help students tackle international issues

“Challenge your mind, Change our future.”  Ritsumeikan University adopted this motto in 2018 as part of its vision toward 2030. In a time when it is difficult to predict the future due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly complex social and political issues, the university is determined to...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2020

Strong liberal arts education is key to success in Society 5.0

A liberal arts education is crucial to the development of the skills required for success in Society 5.0.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2015

Abe's ill-conceived university policy

The government should remember that the primary purpose of unversities is to provide students with a well-rounded education that helps them became more insightful citizens.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Mar 22, 2015

University teachers in Japan work under the shadow of a falling ax

For most teachers, their job is more than an economic exchange of time for money — it is a vocation. Concern for students' educational development is genuine, as is a deep belief in the value and importance of education, and a regard for the institution's reputation and welfare.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2013

High schoolers dream of Ivy League

One March afternoon in Shibuya Ward, a group of high schoolers earnestly listened as students from Harvard University described life on their campus.
COMMENTARY
Aug 17, 2010

Saving Japan's universities

The consensus says Japanese university students are lazy and apathetic. Unfavorable comparisons are made with Chinese studying here. Yet those same students at their annual autumn festivals can show an enthusiasm, professionalism and attention to detail superior to anything at a Western university, or...
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2000

Universities buy exams despite ministry warning

Nearly 20 private universities have signed contracts with the Nagoya-based Kawaijuku Educational Institution to supply them with questions for next year's entrance exams, the cram school has announced.
Japan Times
Special Supplements / G20 Osaka Summit Special
Jun 27, 2019

Developing creative solutions that benefit the international community

Our global society is grappling with a myriad of challenges — from artificial intelligence and its rapid development to the effects of climate change and aging populations — that require bold, innovative solutions. As these issues grow in urgency and complexity, it is up to universities to foster...
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2017

'Amakudari' remains an issue

Bureaucrats landing jobs in the private sector on the basis of the powers of government ministries and agencies sows the seeds of corruption.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2016

Toward a new Islamic golden age

Muslim nations must reverse their sorry state of science if they are to provide better lives for their booming populations and keep up with global development.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 18, 2012

New universities are big business, needed or not

People who use the Tokyu Toyoko Line, which connects Tokyo and Yokohama, may wonder why there are stations called Toritsu-Daigaku and Gakugei-Daigaku when there are no daigaku (universities) near them. There used to be a Gakugei Daigaku (Tokyo Gakugei University) but it moved to Koganei in 1964. There...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2010

Universities looking to go global

Fostering global human resources seems all the rage these days and several Japanese universities are jumping in, opening their doors to foreign students who aren't proficient in Japanese in a bid to snatch top-class talent from around the world.
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2010

Universities feel the squeeze

Since national universities became independent administrative agencies in 2004, their financial conditions have weakened. In accordance with the Koizumi administration's 2006 decision, government grants to pay for national universities' ordinary outlays have declined 1 percent annually.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2000

Recognition of 'virtual' universities urged

Course credits and degrees provided by overseas Internet universities should be recognized in the same manner as academic qualifications obtained abroad, says a recommendation announced Wednesday by an advisory panel to the education minister.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Top Global Universities in Japan
Oct 5, 2020

Expectations toward universities and global talent

The business world has high expectations for globalizing universities to better prepare students to contribute and lead as global talent. We asked David Macdonald, representative officer and president of Discovery Japan, about his expectations and hopes for universities in the global era.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2018

The direction of education in Japan

Japan has the 6-3-3-4 education system — compulsory education of six years in elementary school and three years in junior high school. Students then commonly go on to three years in high school and four years in university.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2018

Legal issues and entrenched ideas about education keep talented students from skipping grades in Japan

Academic acceleration systems, which enable students who excel in school to skip grades and study at a faster rate than others, have become increasingly commonplace globally. In the United States, around 180,000 students under 18 years old skip grades and enter universities early every year. But in Japan,...
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2018

Kyoto University and Todai tie for first in magazine's ranking of Japanese schools

Kyoto University ties the University of Tokyo — moving up two spots from last year — for first place in the ranking of Japanese universities by Times Higher Education magazine.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2017

The crisis in Japan's scientific research output

The government needs to do everything it can to improve funding for scientific researchers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Oct 26, 2014

Japan struggles to keep up as China woos international students

Japan's efforts to increase the number of international students coming to its shores are being dwarfed by similar initiatives in neighboring China.
A student walks on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday.
WORLD / Society
May 24, 2025

Harvard wins temporary block of Trump’s foreign student ban

The attempted ban could make foreign students shy about coming to the U.S. at all, even if the government doesn’t take similar actions against any other universities.
Japan is the world's biggest market for Iqos, a heat-not-burn tobacco product marketed by its maker Philip Morris as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes — a claim not backed by independent scientific research.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 6, 2025

Smoke and mirrors: How big tobacco manipulates science in Japan

In Japan, not only does the tobacco industry have close ties to government, but universities are also vulnerable to its influence. In this equation, public health loses out.

Longform

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