This study examines the historical, current, and future challenges of higher education research in Japan within a global context. Japanese higher education research has been strongly influenced by the international academic community. At the same time, higher education researchers in Japan have participated in international projects, and Japan has served as a leader for economic and academic research in East Asia. However, the language barrier and the early development of higher education as a clearly identifiable topic of research have contributed to rather unique characteristics of the Japanese higher education research. Currently, this area of research is undergoing rapid expansion through the participation of emerging professionals, such as institutional researchers and faculty/staff developers. In addition, the internationalization of the academic community is having both a progressive and a retrogressive impact on higher education research in Japan.