In Japan, the international students just keep on coming

07 May 2018

japan tokyo — Japan's capital Tokyo alone boasts 100,000 international students. Source: Shutterstock.

For the fifth year running, the number of international students flocking to Japan has increased.

The data, released by the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), showed an 11.6 percent spike in international student enrollment in 2017 compared to the previous year.

Among the 267, 042 enrolled as of May 2017, male students far outnumbered the females, making up 56.1 percent of the total against the latter group’s 43.9 percent.

It was unsurprising to see the majority of students were attending schools in the Kantō region, where Tokyo is, with 56.1 percent of all international students studying in that area.

Number of International Students to #Japan Increases for Fifth Consecutive Year https://t.co/zyIXMmcQg6

— Japan News (@JapanNewsApp) May 7, 2018

Tokyo alone houses 13 world-ranked universities and around 100,000 international students, accounting for why this number is so high.

Others studied predominately in the Kansai area (17 percent), Kyūshū region (10.7 percent) and Chūbu region (8.2 percent).

Since 2013, the number of international students in Japan has seen significant growth year on year. In 2011, there was a drop in numbers following the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the Fukushima nuclear accident which followed, but since the dip in 2012, students have remained unfazed.

.@JapanGov offers scholarships to help international students learn a new language & pursue their education in Japan #MEXTscholarship https://t.co/tBI0cv2SJU pic.twitter.com/lhnDMWIVg4

— Study International (@Study_INTNL) May 4, 2018

The most significant increase was the number of international students enrolled in Japanese language schools and vocational colleges – now overtaking the number of students in Japanese graduate schools.

In fact, there are now nearly as many international students studying at Japanese language schools and vocational colleges than studying in four-year universities, junior colleges and technical colleges in Japan.

Nippon reported there were a total of 267,042 international students enrolled at graduate and undergraduate universities, junior colleges, technical colleges, Japanese language schools and specialized training colleges in Japan in May last year.