Japanese students are increasingly heading to Taiwan to study, thanks to expectations of extensive language education, relatively affordable tuition and incentives from one of the world’s largest chipmakers.

One Taiwanese program entitles enrollees to scholarships and allowances for living expenses.

A “study in Taiwan” fair was held in Tokyo and Yokohama on two separate days in June.

Organized by Tokyo-based Taiwan Education Center Japan (TECJ), which was set up by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education, the fair was attended by more than 200 individuals from prefectures ranging from Miyagi to Okinawa.

“I was initially opposed to my daughter’s aspirations to study in Taiwan,” said the mother of a third-year senior high school student from Shizuoka Prefecture. “However, the more I learned about the high education levels, the cheap tuition fees and the high standard of public safety in Taiwan, the more I became inclined to encourage her by saying, ‘That will be so great.’”

TECJ officials said the number of Japanese studying in Taiwan rose from 4,457 in the 2012 school year to more than 10,000 in the 2019 school year.

The count dropped during the novel coronavirus pandemic but rebounded to 8,779 in the 2024 school year.

Japanese account for the fourth-biggest group of international students in Taiwan, following Vietnamese, Indonesians and Malaysians.

Officials of the Taiwan Study Support Center (TSSC), a general incorporated association based in Ibaraki Prefecture, said annual university tuition fees in Taiwan range between 500,000 yen and 750,000 yen ($3,400 and $5,100).

“That’s only about 10 to 20 percent of what you typically have to pay in the United States and about half of the tuition fees for branch campuses of Western universities in Malaysia,” the TSSC leader said.

Taiwan has been focusing on English education for some time now and has an extensive lineup of classes given in English, the leader added.

A female student from Nagano Prefecture who attends National Taiwan University, one of the most prestigious on the island, gave explanations at the NTU booth during the fair.

The junior in the department of economics said she graduated from a public high school in Japan before entering NTU.

The oldest of four siblings, she said she considered the economic burden on her family in choosing to study in Taiwan.

She passed a Chinese proficiency test required by NTU, but all the classes she is taking are, in fact, taught in English.

“Those classes are difficult,” the student said. “They also include classes in mathematics, which you have to learn to study economics. I am studying harder than I ever have in my life.”

TSMC FUNDING SEMICONDUCTOR COURSES

Sounds of astonishment were constantly heard at fair booths allocated to the National Taipei University of Technology (Taipei Tech) and the National Yunlin University of Science & Technology (YunTech).

These universities have a program--exclusively for Japanese--that fully exempts tuition fees and provides a monthly allowance of 50,000 yen to cover living expenses.

Chen Fang-Ju, a YunTech assistant professor who provided explanations at the university’s booth, said beneficiaries of the program are required to take an employment exam, following graduation, to join chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

The beneficiaries are not required to return the allowances they have received even if they fail the TSMC entrance exam, Chen said.

A TSMC representative said the company provides support money for Taipei Tech and YunTech in hopes of raising personnel with expertise required for semiconductor development and production.

The universities use that support money for scholarships.

TSMC is also working with 19 universities, including Taipei Tech and YunTech, to operate a “semiconductor curriculum.”

The program covers basic subjects, such as electric circuits and materials science, and applied subjects, including chipmaking processes, integrated circuit design and semiconductor equipment.

Students who finish all subjects in the curriculum are granted a certificate of completion from TSMC.

They can also receive NT$150,000 (720,000 yen or $4,900) in bonuses if they have cleared certain requirements, including an average score of 80 or more, and have been admitted to work for TSMC’s Taiwan offices.

“The scholarship program is attractive because it allows you to learn in English and Chinese about semiconductors, which are all around us,” said a third-year female senior high school student who was visiting the fair from Sendai and signed up for YunTech’s summer school program.

TSMC is a familiar presence in Kumamoto Prefecture, where the chipmaker set up a plant in 2024.

TSSC officials said that recently, more than 20 individuals from Kumamoto Prefecture a year have gone to Taiwan to study under the TSSC’s support.

“TSMC’s arrival has likely deepened the understanding of students’ parents toward studying in Taiwan,” said Hiroki Oi, chairman of the prefectural board of education.

Kumamoto Prefecture’s residents have a strong preference for national or other public universities in Japan.

However, they now have growing expectations that studying in Taiwan could help students gain a career option of joining world-renowned TSMC or other semiconductor businesses, Oi added.

Kumamoto Prefecture hosted explanatory meetings on studying in Taiwan at nine senior high schools in June.

“TSMC’s advent has created a ‘hot’ situation,” said the father of a first-year student at the prestigious Prefectural Kumamoto High School. “That has led me to take interest in sending my son to a university in Taiwan.”

Four of this past spring’s graduates from Kumamoto Prefectural Seiseiko High School plan to study abroad, and three of them will go to universities in Taiwan, officials said.