Abstract: Higher education institutions across the world are undergoing reforms in order to answer to the changing societal needs and global pressures. Making universities globally competitive and improving the standing in global rankings has shifted to the priorities in many countries. Japan is no exception – with a series of competitive funding programs the government tries to enhance the global visibility of Japanese universities and initiate general university reform. My research focuses on reforms at Japanese national universities – internationalization, governance and education – triggered by markets and competition. Why is internationalization becoming a central theme in higher education and how are competitive funding programs changing the university as an organization? There are the main questions I attempt to address during my presentation.