Despite social needs and people’s enthusiasm for globalization and internationalization, opportunities are scarce for actual practice of international and intercultural communication in Japan, where most daily needs can be met in the mother tongue. In many attempts to improve Japanese citizens’ international communication competence, English education has been the focus of attention. However, people have also acknowledged that good English skills do not necessarily and satisfactorily lead to intercultural communication competencies. Thus, an attempt to provide better learning and enlightening opportunities has recently been developed by a Tokyo-based non-profit organization; to issue certificates for the qualification of International Communication Management Professionals to those who have successfully finished a learning program that provides the learners with opportunities to study different aspects of international communication and with different kinds of knowledge and skills to solve problems in international and intercultural situations. The concern of this paper is to discuss the university version of this certificate, the process and advantages of students’ learning toward this, and the significance of this qualification itself. The Japanese society needs these professionals, and university students, i.e., would-be business people and international communicators, have much to contribute to Japan’s communicative competence with the qualification in question.
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