Dilemma Between Internationalization of Higher Education and Japanese Language Education: Outcomes and Issues of the Plan to Accept 300,000 International Students

The Plan to Accept 300,000 International Students achieved its numerical target in 2019 in Japan. Although the Japanese government announced its successful attainment, there has been criticism that it increased bogus international students. This chapter aims to elucidate its outcomes and issues by examining its policy structure, key indicators, and the background causes of such criticism. The Plan was supposed to recruit excellent international students and promote their employment in Japan, pursuing an increase in highly skilled professionals, the objectives listed in the Growth Strategy of the Abe administration (2012–2020). As a result of the analysis, it was found that the efforts for internationalization of universities led to the increase in international students in English-taught degree programs (ETDP), especially at the graduate level. However, many of them found difficulty finding employment in Japan because of lack of the Japanese language proficiency required by Japanese companies. The main contributors in achieving the target of 300,000 international students were Japanese language schools. Since their student recruitment and educational activities have not been monitored enough by the government, it led to the increase of international students who were busy with part-time jobs and failed to proceed to universities, which undermined the Plan’s attainment.