There are just 35 Indian students studying in the University of Tokyo, but the varsity authorities intend to drastically increase the number soon.
On Monday, the university opened an India office in the City, to engage students, academics, businesses and others on educational opportunities in Japan.
Addressing a press conference, Akihiko Tanaka, the vice president of the University of Tokyo, said: “We are totally unsatisfied with the number of Indians studying in our universities at present. We would like to increase that number rapidly.”
The India office will also act as liaison to 13 Japanese universities and will provide comprehensive information, including enrolment seminars and entrance examinations. At present, there are about 500 Indians enrolled in different universities in Japan.
Promoting Japan as a premier education destination is the chairman emeritus of Infosys, N R Narayana Murthy, who is also a member of the president’s council of the University of Tokyo. Elaborating on the various business and academic collaborations between Japan and India, he lauded Japan for being the second most innovative country in the world, besides appreciating its culture and language.
Under an initiative called the ‘Global 30’ or ‘G30’ project, core universities in Japan are offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and occasionally doctoral programmes in English.
Universities adopting this scheme receive financial assistance and are trying to recruit more international students. These universities provide student support for living and studying, career planning, job-hunting, visas, financial support, housing and other activities. The University of Tokyo office is located at Prestige Meridian on MG Road.