Taro Toporific wrote::nihonjin:
Japan far behind in global language of business
Japan Times Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011
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Similar to this thread from last year,
Washington Post On Japan Shunning US Universities
this stuff would alot more informative if it was broken down on a per capita basis based on age groups to minimize demographic shifts. The Chinese numbers would be still be growing, but the would still be low compared to Japan's...cocktail napkin math suggests China would roughly have to double the number of students in the US to match Japan's on a per capita basis.
I think that yomiuri piece that Bucky pointed out has a really good point at the end
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110108003158.htm
One major factor behind the decrease is that it has become easier for students to enter Japanese universities due to the nation's chronically low birthrate. Students also consider studying abroad to be disadvantageous in terms of job hunting, which usually begins in earnest during their junior year
