.CVN(Japan ) The Graduate School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology — Todai’s two flagship technical schools — now deliver most lectures in English instead of Japanese.
The rollout actually began a year ago. In April 2025, some classes switched to English. This year, “most classes that can be taught in English” now are.
For Japanese students, this is a major adjustment. Many spent over a decade preparing for Todai entrance exams in Japanese, only to arrive and find their advanced engineering lectures conducted in their second language.
For professors, the shift is even harder. Many built their entire careers teaching and researching in Japanese, and are now expected to lecture on complex technical material in English — sometimes for the first time in their lives.
Nearly 40 percent of graduate engineering students at Todai are already international students. The school argues that English instruction makes the program more accessible to top global talent and helps Japanese students prepare for international research careers, where English is the standard language.
There’s also a ranking incentive. World university rankings heavily weight international student ratios and cross-border research, and major Asian universities are racing to expand English-medium programs to compete.
Supporters say this gives Japanese engineers the global skills they need to lead international teams and publish in top journals.
Critics worry that the quality of education will drop in the short term, with both professors and students struggling in a non-native language for highly technical material.
For now, undergraduate engineering at Todai will remain in Japanese.
But at the graduate level, Japan’s most prestigious engineering school just made English the default — and the country is watching to see how it goes.
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