#Japanstudents

Japanese students are increasingly turning their sights to Asian study destinations such as Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines as inflation and a weakened yen make traditional Western options more costly. This shift is visible in recent outbound volumes and agent surveys showing both a rebound in overall numbers and a marked rise in short- to mid-term programmes in Asia, a change that creates new opportunities — and new responsibilities — for Thai universities and the broader education and service sectors in Thailand (Japan Times report).

A quiet education shift is reshaping where Japanese students study abroad. With rising living costs and a weaker yen, many are moving away from Western destinations toward Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan. The aim is high-quality education at a fraction of Western prices.

In 2024, over 70,000 Japanese students studied abroad, bouncing back to about 90% of pre-pandemic levels. Yet the destinations have shifted. Asian nations now hold a larger and faster-growing share of the market than Western leaders since 2020, according to the Japan Association of Overseas Studies.