COVID-19 blocks foreign students from entering Japan

Nov 18, 2020 | News On Japan

Nov 18, 2020 (NHK) - As the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on education systems worldwide, a Japanese program to welcome more than 300,000 foreign students is at a crossroads.

Entry restrictions are blocking many international scholars from coming to the country, curtailing a strategy that boosts Japanâ€™s universities and addresses labor shortage problems.

Some hopefuls, like 19-year-old Gyudo Back, find themselves in limbo. Back lives near Seoul and wants to study marketing in Japan. She quit high school in May 2018, and now attends a cram school that supports people who want to learn at a university in Japan.

Back was unable to sit the university entrance exam in September because Japan restricted entry of people from South Korea amid the pandemic. â€œI hoped the university would postpone the exam, but that didnâ€™t happen,â€ she complains. â€œItâ€™s depressing and regrettable that I couldnâ€™t take the test despite all the preparations I had done.â€

Japanâ€™s internationalization strategy on the brink

As part of an internationalization strategy, Japan came up with a plan 12 years ago to increase the number of foreign students to 300,000, up from 120,000 at the time. That target was achieved in May last year when the figure topped 310,000.

The presence of foreign students has become essential for Japanese universities taking a hit as a result of the countryâ€™s declining birthrate. At some institutions, internationals account for half of the student body. But according to Japanâ€™s Immigration Services Agency, the number of foreigners who entered Japan to study stood at 2,298 in August this year. That marks a sharp fall from a tally exceeding 86,000 in September last year.

At the Aoyama School of Japanese in Tokyo, enrollment is expected to fall. Foreign students and residents have been studying Japanese there for more than 40 years â€“ and about 70% of the students aim to go on to university or vocational schools.

School chief Nakanishi Ikutaro is increasingly concerned about how to secure new students: â€œIâ€™ve heard students and parents voicing worries about the coronavirus. I used to go abroad every year to promote Japanese culture and talk about schools in Japan in a bid to encourage people to come here. But now thatâ€™s not possible.â€

Typhoon No. 29 Brings High Waves to Japan's Pacific Coast

Very strong Typhoon No. 29 (Koguma) was moving north near the Ogasawara Islands on the evening of October 11, bringing the risk of high waves and powerful swells along Japan's Pacific coast, particularly around the Izu Islands and coastal areas of the Kanto region, despite expectations of limited direct impacts from the storm. At 9 p.m. on October 11, the typhoon had a central atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals and maximum sustained winds of 45 meters per second near its center, maintaining its classification as a very strong typhoon. It was moving north at approximately 15 kilometers per hour.

Record-Strong El Nino Expected to Bring Warm Winter to Japan

Japan is expected to experience a warmer-than-normal winter as the El Nino phenomenon currently affecting the Pacific Ocean has reached its strongest level on record, with the Japan Meteorological Agency announcing on October 10th that unusually high sea surface temperatures are likely to persist through the coming winter months.

Otsu Festival Parades Elaborate Floats Following UNESCO Recognition

The Otsu Festival, one of Shiga Prefecture's three major traditional festivals, was held in Otsu City on October 11th, featuring a procession of 13 elaborately decorated floats carrying traditional mechanical puppets through the streets, following the festival's addition to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December last year.

Cyberattacks Spread Across Japan

A series of cyberattacks has disrupted business operations and exposed millions of customer records across Japan, with a ransomware attack on a cloud service provider affecting 495 companies and local governments nationwide, while convenience store operator Lawson has disclosed a separate breach involving more than 2.15 million personal information records.

Japan's First 360-Degree Projection Mapping Opens in Osaka

Japan's first 360-degree projection mapping show will open at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts on October 10, transforming the historic building into an immersive world of light, music, and seasonal imagery, with organizers hoping the attraction will also help stimulate the city's nighttime economy.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Two Killed, Eight Injured in Osaka Danjiri Festival Accidents

Two men were killed and eight others injured in separate accidents involving traditional danjiri festival floats in Osaka Prefecture on October 10, including one incident in which a float overturned while making a sharp turn, crushing a participant beneath it.

Most Sightings of Fugitive Yoichi Hatta Reported in Kanto

Police in Oita Prefecture have revealed that the Kanto region accounts for the largest number of reported sightings of Yoichi Hatta, a fugitive wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident in Beppu in 2022, with authorities preparing to distribute new wanted posters nationwide from November as the search enters its fifth year.