The article is devoted to the comparative analysis of strategies for the development of higher education in Japan in different historical periods starting with the period of the Meiji era till the description and analyzing of educational strategies of development universities in today’s Japan. The author detects the creation of a unique system of higher education based on European methods, meanwhile with a regard to the national specifics. The key features of the development and implementation of internationalization components in the strict national system of higher education in Japan, such as: increasing academic mobility (both teachers and students), the transformation of the content of academic programs, the development of cooperation in the scientific area with Western universities are also defined. The author provides the research of the educational strategy for the development of national higher education where the main aim is to consolidate the leading positions of Japanese universities in world university rankings such as QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education. Modern programs for the development of internationalization of the Japanese national education such as: «Go Global Japan Project», «Reinventing Japan Project», «Go Global 30» are also analyzed in the article.