More and more of Japan¡¯s universities are moving toward teaching their classes in English ¡ª not just for those on exchange programs, but for domestic students.
The University of Tokyo¡¯s graduate school of engineering triggered a wave of online debate earlier this year when it announced that it would be teaching all classes in English ¡°as a general rule¡± from 2026.
Many netizens argued that the move was unfair ¡ª most Japanese students have studied mostly, if not exclusively, in Japanese their entire lives, leaving them ill-equipped to learn university-level English fast enough, and a lot of faculty members may not be set up to suddenly teach advanced material in English.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.