Internationalization of Education in Japan

This book provides a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of the internationalization of education in Japan, examining how national efforts to cultivate global human resources reshape education, labor markets, and social inequality.

Drawing on the concept of transnational human capital and a macro–micro–macro framework, the book brings together contributions that analyze policy discourse, institutional practices, mobility infrastructures, and individual life-course trajectories, demonstrating that internationalization is not a linear or purely policy-driven process, but one deeply embedded in Japan’s coordinated institutional context. By examining initiatives to promote internationalization in Japan, it reveals just how their outcomes remain uneven and contingent upon institutional recognition and labor market integration, highlighting that internationalization can both create new opportunities and reinforce existing inequalities. It advances current debates by highlighting the limits of mobility-centered approaches and calling for a shift toward more inclusive, institutionally integrated forms of internationalization that link global experiences to meaningful educational and social outcomes.

Providing nuanced empirical and theoretical insights into the dynamics of globalization in a non-Western context, this book will be a valuable resource to scholars and students of sociology, education, and Japanese studies.

Steve R. Entrich is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies and co-head of the SNSF-project JTEPS (“The Japan Transnational Education and Career Panel Study”) at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Matthias Hennings is Professor at the Center for International Education and Cooperation and Director of the Contemporary Japan Program at Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan.