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In 2014, 24 Type B universities were selected as part of the Top Global University Project to act as institutional role models of internationalization in Japan and as gateways for the development of global human resources, that is, globally competent human resources. The increasing pressure to internationalize, perceived as a major solution to Japan’s aging population, declining birthrate, and economic slump, is set against broader concerns regarding the emphasis placed by policy makers on quantitative goals. This research study aimed to explore the impact of six at-home initiatives developed to promote intercultural interaction at a highly diverse Japanese university and, ultimately, foster the development of global human resources. Online survey results of 355 Japanese students of English as a foreign language were used as data to analyze participation and interaction rates, as well as skill development and pertinence to postgraduation goals. Results show that despite the emphasis placed by the university on intercultural exchange, participation in noncompulsory activities that support language and cross-cultural competence acquisition is still relatively low. In addition, a significant number of students who participated in the initiatives admitted to only interacting with Japanese peers or perceived little impact on their skills. Suggestions are made to improve the discussed initiatives so as to maximize the impact of the multicultural campus on domestic students’ skills.

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The rapid development of international education has occurred alongside a growing demand for higher education institutions to educate globally competent graduates. Yet, mobility remains a distant opportunity for most students, and Japanese undergraduate students often cite financial, safety, and job-hunting concerns as obstacles to studying abroad. Internationalisation-at-home has emerged as a viable alternative to mobility in Japan through government-funded internationalisation programs. This article will discuss the impact of co-curricular and extracurricular programs on the development of intercultural competence among 164 first-year Japanese students at two Top Global universities in Japan. Results from a one-year longitudinal, mixed methods study reveal that while formal programs positively affect intercultural competence development, informal intercultural contact on campus negatively affects students’ intercultural attitudes. Findings also indicate that student perceptions of intercultural competence at the pre-intervention stage affect engagement with intercultural opportunities on campus, suggesting the importance of introducing interventions prior to higher education.

The internationalization of higher education institutions has grown parallel to an increasing need to foster an interculturally competent workforce. In Japan, efforts to internationalize have focused primarily on mobility programmes, often neglecting the impact of internationalization-at-home initiatives. Yet, while numbers of incoming international students continue to increase, the number of Japanese students going abroad in mid- to long-term programs is decreasing. This article describes a PhD project aiming to address gaps in the literature by investigating the impact of at-home strategies on domestic students’ intercultural competence, ultimately contributing to the optimization of programs that promote meaningful interaction between domestic and international students.