Japan bets on $90bn fund as universities lose ground to West

Lackluster global rankings push government to help institutions regain edge

Keio University, one of Japan's top universities, has less than 2% of the endowment of Harvard University. © Reuters

YUKI FUJITA, Nikkei staff writer

July 30, 2021 04:23 JST

TOKYO -- As Japanese universities fall further in global rankings, the government is launching a new 10 trillion yen ($91 billion) endowment fund designed to help them better compete with top institutions around the world.

Just two Japanese universities made the top 200 in the World University Rankings 2021 compiled by British magazine Times Higher Education last year: the University of Tokyo at 36th and Kyoto University at 54th. China's Tsinghua University was the top-ranked Asian institution at 20th.