Studying in Japan: why the record 408,000 international students does not mean what it looks like

The record is real. What people conclude from it usually is not

As of 1 May 2025 Japan hosted 408,069 international students, up 21.2% year on year. The government's 400,000 target was reached eight years early, and that figure is where most "Japan is opening up" articles begin.

The breakdown says something else. Graduate schools: 60,013, up 3.0%. Bachelor level: 92,442, up 5.4%. Language institutions: 140,174, up by 32,933 in one year. Professional training colleges: 106,829, up by 30,427.

Put plainly, more than 60% of international students in Japan are not at universities but at Japanese language institutions and vocational schools — the highest share since fiscal 2011, when comparable data begins. They are what the record is made of.

This is not a reason to drop Japan. It is a reason to understand why it happens, because the cause determines your own route.

There is one fork, and it is about language

English-taught programmes exist at Japanese universities but remain a minority, concentrated in particular projects at leading institutions. The mainstream undergraduate route is taught in Japanese, and the way in is the EJU (Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students), administered by JASSO.

The EJU is held twice a year, in June and November. In 2026 that is 21 June and 8 November.

Which leads to something worth accepting early: in Japan the question "which language will I study in" is settled by access, not preference. Without Japanese the choice of programmes narrows sharply.

What the EJU actually is

The EJU is neither a language certificate nor a single school-leaving exam. It is a set of subjects from which a university takes the ones it needs.

And here sits the detail that causes most of the confusion. The academic subjects genuinely can be sat in English — you state the examination language when you apply. But "Japanese as a Foreign Language" is administered in Japanese only; for that part there is no language choice.

So "the EJU can be taken in English" is half true: the subjects can, the language cannot. If a university requires the Japanese section, an English sitting does not substitute for it.

• Japanese as a Foreign Language — reading, listening, listening-and-reading (400 points) plus writing (50 points). Japanese only.
• Science — physics, chemistry, biology (200 points). Japanese or English.
• Japan and the World (200 points). Japanese or English.
• Mathematics (200 points). Japanese or English.

Where to sit the EJU if you are in Russia or the CIS

Here is the point that changes the whole plan and that almost nobody writes about.

On its 2026 test-venue page JASSO states it outright: "EJU is not offered in Russia (Vladivostok) since 2024." The 2026 overseas list contains no CIS country and no European one.

The 2026 overseas centres are all in Asia: Hong Kong, India (New Delhi), Indonesia (Jakarta and Surabaya), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar), Myanmar (Yangon), the Philippines (Manila), the Republic of Korea (Seoul and Busan), Singapore, Sri Lanka (Colombo), Taiwan (Taipei), Thailand (Bangkok and Chiang Mai), Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City).

So an applicant from Russia or most of the CIS has two real options: fly abroad to sit it — Ulaanbaatar, Seoul or Hong Kong being the nearest — or be in Japan first and sit the EJU there.

A language school is not a workaround — it is the main route

Now the two facts from the opening connect. Language schools grew by 33,000 people in a year not because all of them gave up on university, but because a language school confers student status in Japan — and with it the ability to prepare for the EJU and sit it inside the country, in June and November, without flying halfway around the world.

Calling a language year a "fallback" is therefore inaccurate. For an applicant from a country where the EJU is not held, it is usually the main entrance to a Japanese university.

What follows for budget and timing: plan a sequence, not a year — language school, then the EJU, then applications. Someone expecting to enrol "in a year" is normally counting only the last step.

We do not quote the Japanese-language requirements for student status here: they have been tightening, and that part has to be checked directly with Japan's Immigration Services Agency before applying rather than from articles.

MEXT: one scholarship, two different doors

The MEXT (Monbukagakusho) government scholarship comes in two forms: embassy-recommended and university-recommended. It covers tuition, pays a monthly stipend and includes return airfare.

The difference between the two doors is not the amount but who nominates you and on whose calendar. They are two distinct processes with different deadlines, and the choice belongs before document preparation starts, not after.

What this means for your plan

Japan rewards sequence rather than effort. The language of the programme decides whether you need the EJU; where you live decides where you can sit it; and that in turn decides whether you need a year at a language school and when university actually begins.

The good news is that none of this is random — all of it is knowable in advance and can be planned. The bad news is that it has to be worked out together rather than piece by piece, and that is where a year is most often lost.