Tokyo varsity beckons Indians to study in Japan

Bangalore : The University of Tokyo has opened its first-of-its-kind office in technology hub Bangalore to facilitate and encourage Indians to study in Japan.

“The office in India has been set up to create awareness on education opportunities in Japan among Indian students and encourage them to apply to study in Japan,” University of Tokyo vice-president Akihiko Tanaka told reporters here.

The university’s India office will also liaison for 13 other Japanese universities and the Japanese government’s ‘G30 study in Japan’ initiative and provide information on enrollment seminars and entrance exams.

“We have many premier education institutions and are focused on attracting Indian students to look at Japan as an education destination because India is one of the most important countries for us in terms of academic partnership,” Tanaka said.

The Global 30 (G30) project has been launched by the Japanese ministry of education, culture, sports, science & technology with a view to increasing the number of international students to 300,000 by 2020 from 140,000 in 2011.

Only 35 Indian students are currently pursuing their post-graduate studies in Japanese universities in contrast to a whopping 80,000 students from China and 15,000 students from South Korea.

“Under the G30 initiative, core universities have been identified to offer programmes in English at the undergraduate and graduate levels. These universities will also receive financial assistance for five years to attract talented overseas students,” University of Tokyo director at India office Hiroshi Yoshino said on the occasion.

The 13 universities identified for the G30 project are – the University of Tokyo, Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Keio University, Sophia University, Meiji University, Waseda University, Doshisha University and Ritsumeikan University.

“Indian graduates from Japanese universities will have better employment prospects in Japanese firms and will be able to impact future generation of Indians and Japanese through academic and business collaborations,” Hiroshi pointed out.

The office in India will function as a one-stop service centre to provide Indian students information and assistance on study in Japan.

“The office will also enhance academic collaboration between India and Japan and business-academia relations by establishing networks with the Indian academia and businesses,” Hiroshi added.