Japan’s higher education sector faces reckoning as student pool shrinks

Japan’s shrinking youth population is forcing a reckoning in higher education, with the finance ministry pushing for the closure or merger of hundreds of private universities as campuses struggle to fill classrooms.University insiders broadly agree that Japan has too many small, private tertiary institutions battling enrolment shortfalls and financial pressures, but they also argue the education ministry’s own policies contributed to the problem.“The number of universities they are talking about shutting or merging is quite a shock and it will be a concern for anyone in education,” said Makoto Watanabe, a professor of communications and media at Hokkaido-bunkyo-university" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="121490" data-entity-type="organization">Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Eniwa, Hokkaido.