As this year marks the fifth anniversary of the education ministry designating Hiroshima University as a “Type A Super Global University,” the university has taken major steps to achieve globalization.

The university initially set the objective of being ranked among the top 100 universities in the world, and set up 13 individual goals to achieve that. So far, it has met 12 goals, such as fulfilling the desired number of international students and the number of classes taught in foreign languages.

Making it into the top 100, however, is a difficult goal to achieve. The Chugoku Shimbun has taken a look into the reforms underway at one of Hiroshima University’s campuses, in the city of Higashihiroshima.

The Super Global University initiative is an education ministry-led project that supports universities that aim to be ranked among the top 100 educational institutions around the world. Along with 12 other universities, such as the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, Hiroshima University was awarded the title.

The institutions each drew up plans to get an idea of where they would be following reforms over the 10 years through March 2024, the year the project will come to the end. The 13 universities individually established numerical targets promoting globalization and reforms in their respective personnel affairs systems.

Hiroshima University aims to double the enrollment of international students, from 1,096 as of May 2014 to 2,000. By fiscal 2019, the number increased to 1,979.