Japan¡¯²õ often derided efforts to internationalise its universities are quietly bearing fruit, as student mobility programmes help generate a buffer against demographic decline and rankings free fall.

While the standing of many Japanese institutions slipped in Times Higher Education¡¯²õ Asia-Pacific University Rankings, released last month, the country¡¯²õ top-tier universities held their ground against rampant competition from China.

Japan-watchers credit efforts to attract international students, which have exceeded expectations, and a Chinese-style programme of investment in the country¡¯²õ top institutions.

Futao Huang, a professor?at Hiroshima University¡¯²õ Research Institute for Higher Education, said that the Designated National University scheme was giving a select group of institutions greater freedom in their internal governance arrangements.

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¡°More importantly, they have been allocated additional funding to internationalise their campuses ¨C to develop new academic programmes, provide new positions for faculty, fund more of their own students to go abroad, and undertake more globally collaborative activities.¡±

The scheme could accelerate what is already a steady increase in overseas student numbers, which have increased by between 12 and 15 per cent annually for the past few years.

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The Japan Student Services Organisation?says that 299,742 foreigners studied in the country during the?2016 fiscal year. This is just a shade off a target of ?that was set in 2008.

Japan¡¯²õ top eight institutions ¨C the seven ¡°imperial¡± universities and Tokyo Institute of Technology ¨C maintained their collective performance in this year¡¯²õ Asia-Pacific rankings. Four improved their positions by a total of 18 places, while four gave ground by the same number of places.

Significantly, while they rated relatively poorly on their ¡°international outlook¡±, all eight nevertheless improved on their 2017 scores in this metric.

Professor Huang said that the campaign to import students was ¡°significantly driven by improving the international competitiveness of Japanese universities and their presence in global rankings¡±. It was also motivated by a need to compensate for declining domestic enrolments and a wider drop-off in the number of working-aged people.

He said that foreign students in Japan were encouraged to remain after graduation, and ¡°given much longer time to stay in Japan to look for jobs¡±. This is part of a deliberate strategy to help insulate Japanese communities against demographic decline.

Saddled with one of the world¡¯²õ lowest birth rates and highest median ages, many cities ¨C particularly smaller regional ones ¨C are desperate for workers.

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Professor Huang said that the small city of Beppu, on the south-western island of Kyushu, had seen an influx of foreign students after the?Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University?¨C which pioneered English-language teaching ¨C was established in 2000.

¡°Inbound international students account for almost half of the total students,¡± he said. ¡°A vast majority are hired in the city or centres nearby. They have contributed considerably to the economic development of the region.¡±

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Japan expert Kent Anderson said that Akita, near the northern tip of the main island of Honshu, was another city that had integrated international students into its economy. It became a foreign-student magnet after another pioneering institution, Akita International University, was established there in 2004.

Akita International University offers a liberal arts-style education with all undergraduate programmes taught in English, and all degree students expected to spend at least one year abroad.

Professor Anderson, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Western Australia, said that dozens of institutions emulating Asia Pacific University and Akita International University had been established across Japan. ¡°It¡¯²õ not accidental,¡± he said.

¡°This is very thought through, as a way to revitalise places. Every small town that¡¯²õ having a hard time dealing with demographic shift, and everyone leaving it, is looking at these two models.¡± ?

The trend reflects a broader focus on short-term migration, as the proportion of foreigners in the Japanese population nudges 2 per cent ¨C up from 1.5 per cent half a decade ago. ¡°If you get off the aircraft in Japan, it feels different?[to how] it did 10 years ago,¡± Professor Anderson said.

¡°In any city, even quite remote ones, you¡¯ll see foreigners and students working there. Students will have a working visa so they can work in the local coffee shop. We didn¡¯t experience that even 10 years ago.¡±

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As in other countries, the student employment boom has triggered crackdowns. Last month, reports emerged that the government intended to use its national ID system, known as ¡°My Number¡±, to enforce a 28-hour weekly work limit for foreign students. They were followed by reports that the government would prevent colleges from fast-tracking Japanese-language courses to give students more time to work.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com