Japan University Rankings 2022: results announced

Browse the full Japan University Rankings 2022 results

Several international universities in Japan have declined in the latest Times Higher Education teaching-focused ranking for the country, mostly following post-pandemic drops in their share of international students.

Among the 16 institutions in the Japan University Rankings 2022 that are advertised as international universities or universities of foreign studies, nine have fallen in rank since last year. Six of these have suffered a significant decline in their proportion of international students, which in many cases was accompanied by a drop in score for the finance per student metric, while two institutions have seen a reduction in their number of courses taught in a language other than Japanese. The latest Japan ranking is based on data from the 2020 academic year.

Akita International University has slipped three places to 17th after its score for the share of international students declined from 99.8 to 62.5 out of 100. Kyoto University of Foreign Studies saw a similarly dramatic decline in that metric score, from 76.3 to 36.4, contributing to the university falling nine places in rank to 82nd.

International Christian University, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies and Nagoya University of Foreign Studies also received lower scores for the share of international students in the 2022 ranking and dropped in rank.

However, in some cases, the data suggest that internationally focused universities were better able to retain foreign students during the first year of the pandemic.

Kansai University of International Studies, for example, has seen a significant increase in its scores for proportion of international students and international staff and holds on to its position in the 201+ band. The Tokyo University of Foreign Studies also improved its score for share of international students and rose one place to 27th overall. In contrast, several medical universities are among those that have seen the greatest declines in the international student metric score.

A separate metric on the number of Japanese students on international exchange programmes reused data collected for the 2021 ranking because travel restrictions significantly curtailed these programmes. Of the 273 ranked universities, 232 (85 per cent) saw their number of exchange students drop by at least 90 per cent in 2020, while 148 (54 per cent) had no exchange students.

The Japan University Rankings 2022 are topped by Tohoku University for the third consecutive year, while The University of Tokyo rises one place to second and Osaka University climbs two places to joint third. Kyoto University slips one place to fifth, its lowest ever rank.

Japan University Rankings 2022: top 10

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com