ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the discourse of “global education” has been part of recent Japanese government higher education (HE) policy, and how institutions have reacted to these policy initiatives. What are the goals of recent government initiatives, and how have these goals been (re-)interpreted by university leadership and faculty? The purpose here is to frame the discussion of the remainder of the book within the wider Japanese context of government policy initiatives and the resulting institutional programs that surround the trope of “global education.” This context has arisen from, on the one hand, the perceived pressure of a rapidly shrinking and aging population which is forcing the Japanese state to develop “global education” policies in order to “import diversity” (McConnell, 2000) and respond to the effects of globalization generally, providing the knowledge-based economy with a highly skilled labor market. On the other hand, many Japanese higher education institutions (HEIs) see the demographic challenge more as an intensifying competition for domestic students in the shrinking market which can be partially met by using the appeal of “global education,” particularly in undergraduate curricula, as a marketing strategy.
