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Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Phd Students May Soon Have to Be Japanese to Get Living Expense Grants, as Education Ministry Mulls Rule Change
The education ministry is considering limiting living expense grants for outstanding PhD students to Japanese nationals. At present, about 30% of recipients are Chinese international students. The grant program was originally aimed at Japanese students, and the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry is looking at realigning the program with its original purpose. The ministry presented a plan to revise the program to a meeting of experts on Thursday, and hopes to act on it as early as fiscal 2026. The program, officially called Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation (SPRING), was launched by the ministry in fiscal 2021 and provides up to ¥2.9 million a year per student to cover living costs and research funding for their doctoral studies, with no nationality restrictions. Last fiscal year, 4,125 of the 10,564 recipients were international students, and Chinese nationals made up the largest group at 2,904 students. That led to questions at the Diet. Under the proposed revision, international students will not be eligible for the living expense grants, which can total as much as ¥2.4 million. However, they will still be eligible for research grants, and the ministry will even introduce a new system to adjust funding based on the subject of their research and their performance. Students working full time will also become eligible for grants. The revision comes as the ministry tries to finalize a strategy for developing human resources, which includes support for PhD students, by the end of this summer.
Yomiuri Shimbun
7 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Concerns Remain 1 Year After Attack on Japanese in China; Background, Motive in Deadly Incident Still Not Clear
SHANGHAI — Following the murder a year ago of a Chinese woman and the attempted murder of a Japanese mother and her son by a Chinese man in Suzhou, China, security measures were implemented at Japanese schools across China. But concerns for safety remain. The incident occurred on June 24, 2024. The mother in her 30s and her preschool son, who were waiting for a Japanese school bus, were injured after being attacked by the knife-wielding man, and the Chinese woman was killed by the man as she tried to stop the attack. The boy was seriously injured and hospitalized. On the afternoon of June 18, security personnel were seen on high alert around the bus stop near the place where the incident occurred. A police vehicle also was on patrol in the area. When a school bus arrived at the stop, the security personnel surrounded the door of the bus as children disembarked. A security guard wearing a stab-resistant vest was also present near the school. According to the Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai, security measures have been strengthened with the cooperation of the Suzhou municipal government, including the deployment of security guards on buses. Similar safety measures are being implemented at other Japanese schools in China with funding from the Japanese government. Parents who send their children to Japanese schools are believed to be grateful for the strong security measures. In April, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported to the Japanese Embassy in China the execution of the perpetrator, who was sentenced to death for the attack, but this has not completely dispelled concerns in the Japanese community. This is because the background to the incident remains unclear, although it was reported that Zhou was dissatisfied with society. 'It is still not known whether he targeted Japanese people,' said a Japanese man in his 40s whose son and daughter attend a Japanese school in eastern China. According to the Japanese man, some of his colleagues have refused to be stationed in China due to safety concerns after the incident. The man said that there were few applicants for assignments in China in the first place, but the number of people who are willing to work in the country further decreased after the case. In a separate case in September, a Chinese man was arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly fatally stabbing a Japanese boy on his way to school in Shenzhen, China. According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the number of Japanese nationals living in China has been decreasing. The number of students enrolled in 12 Japanese schools in China decreased by about 10% to 3,391 this fiscal year from 3,761 last fiscal year, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry said.
Yomiuri Shimbun
22-06-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Konica Minolta to Provide Schools with AI-Powered Real-Time Translation Service Using Tablets
Konica Minolta, Inc. will launch 'KOTOBAL,' a multilingual interpreting service using tablets and other devices, for use in schools. As the number of foreigners living in Japan has increased, the number of children with foreign backgrounds enrolled in childcare centers and schools has been rising sharply, and the service is designed to support communication between teachers and other children. Three municipalities have already introduced the service on a pilot basis since April, and the company aims to have 30 municipalities adopt it by the next fiscal year. KOTOBAL is an AI-assisted, real-time automatic translation service, and is available in 23 languages, including English, Chinese and Vietnamese. The service enables students to check in their native language what the teacher is saying in Japanese during class via a tablet or other device. The service is also intended to be used for conversations between foreign and Japanese students during break times. A service in which remote interpreters respond to users' questions will also be available in approximately 20 different languages. A system will be set up to provide counseling on higher education and bullying. Also, parents and guardians of the students will be able to participate in meetings with teachers with no appointment necessary. According to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, the number of foreign students requiring Japanese-language instruction in public schools was 57,718 in 2023, about double compared to nine years earlier. A survey showed that about 30% of them do not understand classes held in the Japanese language, which has become an issue in the field of education.
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan to Conduct Probe into Career Guidance for Foreign Students; High Schools Nationwide to be Surveyed on Support Systems
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry building in Tokyo The government will this fiscal year launch a survey on career support for foreign students in high schools. The number of high school students in need of Japanese language instruction has doubled in the past 10 years. At the same time, the percentage of those who chose to work part time or be unemployed after graduation is high, posing a challenge for career support while in high school. According to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, 5,573 high school students needed Japanese language instruction in fiscal 2023, approximately 2.3 times the number of 2,410 in fiscal 2012, and the number is expected to increase further in the future. At the same time, 38.6% (3.1% of all students) of those who found jobs after graduation were in non-regular employment, and 11.8% (6.5% of all students) were unemployed, having neither pursued higher education nor found employment. The survey results indicate that many foreign students are having difficulty in developing their careers. Some high schools offer visits from alumni students, take part in internship schemes and offer support from specialist staff. However, the government has been unable to ascertain how widespread these efforts have been. Therefore, the survey will seek to determine the systems in place across at high schools across the country for foreign students to support progression into employment and higher education. Systems that have advanced will be introduced on a trial basis at model schools and a report will be produced and shared among educational institutions nationwide with the aim of strengthening support systems.
Yomiuri Shimbun
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Tohoku University to Hire 500 World-class Researchers, Hoping to Capitalize on U.S. Brain Drain Set Off by Trump
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Tohoku University Tohoku University will hire about 500 world-class researchers by fiscal 2029, it was learned on Thursday. Tohoku University is the only university recognized by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry as a University for International Research Excellence, or a university that aims to achieve the world's highest level of research abilities. The university will use ¥30 billion in government subsidies to hire the researchers. Over the next 25 years, the university hopes to increase its ratio of foreign researchers from 12% to 30%. This fiscal year, it plans to use ¥2.2 billion of the ¥15.4 billion in grants it has received as a university of excellence to hire about 100 people. Currently, it is negotiating with 11 overseas researchers whose annual salaries exceed ¥20 million. The Trump administration's cuts to science and technology budgets have presented a chance to snag researchers who are struggling to continue their research in the United States. And while there is a large gap in salaries between Japan and the United States, the university will pay according to performance and will not set salary caps. 'We hope to attract excellent researchers from all over the world to enhance our research capabilities,' said a university source.
