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Higher Education 41: 443–470, 2001.
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 443
A review of higher education reform in modern Japan
PAUL DOYON
Asahi University, 103 Dai-2 Kato Biru, 910-3 Oaza Tadakoshi, Hozumi-cho, Motosu-gun,
Gifu-ken 501-0221, Japan (E-mail: doyon@alice.asahi-u.ac.jp)
Abstract. A number of different parties in Japan have been discussing higher educational
reform for over thirty years. Many of these ideas finally started to take form in the 1990s as
the Ministry of Education’s University Council began implementing many of the propositions
that had been put forth during the deliberations of the 1970s and 1980s. As Japan enters the
21st century, its 18-year-old population has decreased by over half a million since 1992. It
will decrease another 300,000 by the year 2010. This has added an increased urgency to make
reforms, especially at third-tier universities, which are now starting to have trouble recruiting
students. Japan’s Ministry of Education would also like to bring the quality of its university
educational standards up to par with the rest of the advanced nations. Moreover, industry
is demanding a new breed of employee – and one much different than the Japanese educa-
tional system has been known to produce. Finally, a new generation of Japanese is starting to
reach adulthood, who – raised on consumerism, and material abundance – have a completely
different value system than their parents’ generation. This paper looks at the present higher
education reform movement and its history extending back approximately thirty years. It then
goes on to offer some suggestions as to what more can be done to alleviate many problems
still inherent in the system.
Keywords: entrance examinations, higher education, internationalization, Japan, Leisure
Land, lifelong learning, Ministry of Education, reform, University Council
If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
– Albert Einstein
Introduction
One of the distinguishing features of Japan as a country is its strong demarca-
tions: uchi/soto (inside/outside), omote/ura (surface/beneath the surface), and
honne/tatemae (true, but hidden/expressed feelings).
Many, with a little omote knowledge of Japan, are quick to heap accolades
upon its systems. Yet, for those who dare to look a little deeper beneath the
surface (ura), the criticisms are stronger because it becomes evident that the
sacrifices made are deeper. “Only in the West – from afar, where one sees
the shiny surface of things but not the grim detail beneath – do people want
444 PAUL DOYON
to take credit for the Japanese. In Japan the question is blame. How did our
schools come to such a sorry state? they ask” (Smith 1997, p. 82). Sugimoto
Yoshio states in his book An Introduction to Japanese Society (1997)
In the climate of ambivalence of Western nations toward Japan, analysts
are often tempted to join either a “Japan-admiring camp” or a “Japan-
bashing camp” and to portray Japanese society in simplistic black-and-
white terms. Yet as Japan is a multifaceted, complex society, one would
perhaps have to start with a kind of “trade-off” model which focuses on
the ways in which desirable and undesirable elements are interlinked.
To the extent that Japanese society is an integrated system, its observers
would be required to examine the processes in which its various parts
depend on many others, and upon which the overall functioning of
Japanese society depends. (pp. 24–25)
Nor, in examining Japan’s higher education system, can we disregard its
connection to the social system. The problems inherent in higher education
are tied on a vertical level to its lower counterparts – especially its junior and
senior high school system –, which are, in turn, tied on a horizontal level to
society at large.
Bullying (Ijime), school refusal (futôkô), suicide (jisatsu), and declining
scholastic levels (gakuryoku teika) have been plaguing the Japanese educa-
tional system for the past twenty-five years.1More recently, at the higher
educational level, a declining 18-year-old population has galvanized univer-
sities into taking the necessary actions into making reforms. The Ministry
of Education had initiated the implementation of reforms in the late 1980s
and early 1990s after lengthy deliberations during the early and mid 1980s.
Its stated goal is to bring the Japanese universities levels up to par with
its Western neighbors. At the same time, industry has started calling for a
new more highly trained and skilled workforce with graduates possessing the
characteristics of autonomy,2persuasiveness, creativity, and a spirit of chal-
lenge (Negishi 1993, pp. 106–107) – and much different from the obedient,3
servile workforce that Japan’s educational system has been acknowledged to
produce.
Universities have beencriticized for being a“leisure land” for students and
teachers alike. And while the problems of bullying and suicides characteristic
in junior and senior high schools seem to be all but absent at the university
level, a drop in scholastic levels is becoming more and more evident with
industry calling for better educated graduates.
Within the higher education dilemma, we can distinguish four parties to
the system: (1) the universities, (2) the Ministry of Education, (3) industry,
and (4) the students. Each of these parties’ motivations is different. In the
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 445
rest of this paper we examine how each of these parties fit into the whole.
Moreover, we will look at the history of the present reform process. Addition-
ally, we will explore how examination backwash4has permeated the whole
of society. And in conclusion, further suggestions for improvements to the
system will be offered.
The players
The universities
As of 1995, there were 565 universities in Japan: 98 of these were national,
52 local public, and 415 private. Besides this, there were 596 two-year junior
colleges of which 36 were national, 60 local public, and 500 private.
Universities are ranked in pyramidal fashion. National universities,
especially the older ones located in major metropolitan areas, are generally
regarded as the most prestigious with Tokyo and Kyoto Universities sitting
at the apex. Local public universities are also highly regarded. Private
universities range in caliber with a handful of highly esteemed ones sitting
just beneath Tokyo and Kyoto at the apex: the most well-known of these are
Waseda, Keio, Ritsumeikan, Sophia, and Doshisa. However, the majority
of private universities are deemed as being from marginal to poor quality.
Two-year junior colleges – predominantly attended by women (90%) – have
been, for the most part, seen as finishing schools.
Changing demographics. The 18-year-old population has been steadily
decreasing since fiscal 1992, when it reached a peak of 2.05 million. In
this fiscal year (2000), it is expected to fall to 1.51 million, and then to 1.2
million by fiscal year 2010. This will result in a total drop of approximately
850,000 potential students between the years 1992 and 2010. Regardless of
the drop in the 18-year-old population, the percentage of students moving on
to higher education after finishing upper-secondary school has been steadily
increasing. In a society that is demanding an ever-increasing complexity of
skills in its workforce, this number is expected to increase even further. In
1975 the advancement ratio of people entering universities, junior colleges,
and colleges of technology (fourth year) reached 38.4%, and in 1995 the
advancement rate peaked at 45.8%. If professional training colleges (post-
secondary education) are included in this figure the “percentage rises to [a
high of] 64.7%” (MOE 1995). Regardless of these facts, it seems unlikely that
the rising percentage of 18-year-olds desiring higher education will make up
for the decline in the same population of 18-year-old students eligible to enter
university. It is for these reasons that universities and other higher education
446 PAUL DOYON
institutions will have to expand their markets, and are hence being encouraged
to do so by the Japanese Ministry of Education, which, among other things, is
encouraging increasing the number of foreign exchange students studying in
Japan and is promoting a lifelong learning plan which would encourage adult
students to return to universities for refresher courses and graduate programs.
Until recently, there has been little incentive for change. In 1991, before
the decline in student enrollment, Shimizu Izuo, the chancellor of Obirin
University, stated that “ ‘Japanese universities are now in a golden age. With
the large numbers of students seeking admission, universities have nothing
to worry about now,’ and [adds Regur] have [had] little incentive to change”
(Regur 1991, p. A31). This situation has, however, shifted quite drastically
and many third-tier universities are now scrambling to find new ways to
attract more students, which has, in turn, spurred a pressing sense of the need
to make reforms.
Leisure land mentality. While criticized for a number of problems (e.g.
bullying, school refusal, suicides, school violence), the Japanese primary and
secondary educational systems have been known to achieve high levels in
math, science, and literacy. (Though we might ask at what expense?) The
situation at the university level is quite the contrary, where its praise has been
almost nil and its criticism sharp: “Universities are mere finishing grounds
or playgrounds where students and professors alike routinely skip classes”
(Eisenstodt 1994, pp. 59–60). Hayes (1997) states that the accomplishments
of the Japanese people are attributable to the “effectiveness of their educa-
tional system, at least through high school” (p. 297). He goes on to state
that “given the importance of learning in Japan’s economic success, it is
perhaps paradoxical that very little credit for the nation’s postwar attainments
is attributable to the system of higher education” (p. 297). The commonly
held view (Gittlesohn 1989; Stronach 1988; Sugimoto 1997), for the most
part, has been that university life is a well-deserved four-year moratorium
or “leisure land” between “examination hell” and a lifetime of regimented
employment:
One irony of Japan’s education scene lies in the sharp contrast between
stringent schools and slack universities. While primary and secondary
education in Japan produces highly trained pupils, Japan’s universities
remain a resting space or “leisure land” for many youngsters. Exhausted
both mentally and physically by examination hell, they seek relaxation,
enjoyment, and diversion in their university life. (Sugimoto 1997, p. 129)
In spite of this entrenched view of a leisurely higher education, the pressure
to change it has been mounting. Yet, given the force feeding of knowledge,
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 447
rote memorization, and the long hours of study rooted in “examination hell”
that the student aspiring to enter a decent university must endure, it is highly
understandable that many university students have lost any desire to study or
learn.
The Ministry of Education
The first education minister of Japan, Mori Arinori, stated in 1885 that
“Education in Japan is not intended to create people accomplished in the
techniques of the arts and sciences, but rather to manufacture the persons
needed by the State” (Smith 1997, p. 71). Even with the major educational
reforms initiated by the occupation after World War2, this attitude to produce
people required by the state, to a large degree, prevailed. It can be said to be
behind what became known as the “Japanese Economic Miracle.” In 1960,
the Ministry of Education issued a report titled The Image of the Desired
Japanese. In it was stated that “The Japanese must be taught never to forget
that they are Japanese before they are ‘world persons,’ the report began. They
must respect the emperor and devote themselves to work, because ‘society
exists for production’ ” (Smith, p. 93).
This sense of the need to control inherent to the Japanese Ministry of
Education has somewhat weakened in post-modern Japan. The thinking
ingrained in those of the wartime generation has gradually been replaced by
those of the postwar generation.5And the world has just changed too much.
Information can no longer be controlled.
However, the Monbushô now has a new goal. While many universities
have been woken out of their slumber into the reform process as a result of
the decreasing number of students enrolling into their programs, the Ministry
of Education desires to raise the quality of education and research in Japan to
be on par with its Western neighbors. The University Council’s 1998 report
stated very succinctly that “Japanese universities must elevate the level of
education and research and develop side by side with highly ranked univer-
sities of the world in the 21st century” (MOE 1998). Japan is very obviously
concerned about how it appears to the rest of the world.
Industry
Education in Japan has served the needs of industry – and has done so well
– at least until recently. It can be said that the efficient education of Japan’s
workforce was responsible for the so-called “Japanese Economic Miracle.”
As stated previously, due to the changing landscape of corporate Japan in the
global economy, its industry is calling for a new type of graduate: one that
448 PAUL DOYON
is better educated, more autonomous, more creative, more influential, more
international, and one possessing a spirit of challenge (charenji seishin).
As a postindustrial economy, Japan needs innovative software writers,
scientists, entrepreneurs and other people who can think for themselves,
and this Japan is at a big disadvantage to the U.S. There are also signs
Japan’s lifetime employment system is coming to an end. “We need an
education system that encourages individuality,” says Sakurai Osamu,
a director at Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. “Education reform is
absolutely essential.” (Eisenstodt 1994, p. 59)
Yet, the highly bureaucratic educational system has been slow to respond
to (or even to understand) the changing needs of the industrial sector. It had
been (more or less) dutifully producing an obedient workforce that could be
trained easily in the company. However, in a quickly changing industrial
landscape – one which is more and more information-oriented, interna-
tional, global, and competitive – companies are in need of a new breed of
employee. Moreover, in a rapidly changing technological world, companies
can no longer afford to solely train their new employees in-house – they
need employees who are already to a certain degree trained and skilled and
can tackle the problems confronting the modern company. Unfortunately for
industry, a new, but different breed of young person – affected not only by
his educational climate, but also by his social and economic climates – is
not meeting the changing desires of the business world. As Negishi (1993)
asserts:
With the intensification of entrance examination competition, modern
university students have come to possess a peculiar characteristic. They
have since childhood, for a long time, lived in an environment based on
manuals and textbooks geared to an entrance examination course classi-
fied by hensachi (deviation scores).6In other words, they have never
had the time or room to attempt anything but the instructions offered in
manuals and, hence, no room for exercising their creativity. Due to this
situation, when they finish their formal education, these students have no
individual autonomy (shutaisei) in their business or even their daily lives;
and there has been ingrained in them a tendency to always habitually seek
instructions or manuals. Moreover, due to being in an environment of
hostile competition, they are not accustomed to teamwork or cooperative
relations with others. For this reason, they are unable to feel at ease in
business organizations and are lacking in an ability to influence others.
(p. 106)
And as Smith (1997) asserts:
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 449
Savage competition and force-fed information without the cultivation of
critical thought go far to explain the character of Japanese graduates. The
system’s demand – years in exam hell, every other student is an adversary
– produce not exploring intellects but the narrow machine-like people we
assume the Japanese to be by nature. Wholly focused on achieving the
highest possible place in the hierarchy, they are unable to form healthy
ties with equals – horizontal relationships. (p. 79)
Moreover, the Japanese system of lifetime employment has been
weakened considerably with the process of internationalization, the advent
of the information society, and due to a long-term recession following the
bursting of the economic bubble in 1990. Companies have also been showing
a preference to changing over from a seniority to a meritocratic system. With
the gaining momentum of globalization, we are seeing an acceleration of both
these processes.
For the university graduate, this means that with the promise of a lifetime
career gone, it has become less important to graduate from a top university.
Moreover, with the prospect of mid-career hiring and firing, it is becoming
more essential to develop marketable skills.
The students
A new generation of students has been appearing on university campuses for
the past twenty years or so and they are considerably dissimilar to the hard-
working generation of their parents. Sugimoto (1997, p. 68) calls this the
“prosperity generation” and others observers have called them shinjinrui or
“new human species.” Unlike the penury experienced by the post-war gener-
ation of their parents, these young students have been brought up surrounded
by affluence. As Smith (1997) explains:
A decade ago a new generation emerged in Japan: the shinjinrui,the“new
human species.” The term described Japanese who seemed to be a people
apart. The new species knew nothing of postwar reconstruction or the
turmoil of the 1950s and 1960s. They were the first Japanese to know only
affluence. They spent rather than saved, they felt no obligations toward
society, they did not care for corporate loyalty or lifetime employment. To
their elders their lack of vigor and direction was a source of worry. They
seemed to have no point of view, no identity, no political perspective –
nothing to distinguish themselves except the blank stare of indifference
toward Japan’s postwar values. (p. 68)
While Smith goes on to say that the “new species became passé,” looking
at the young people now in the year 2000, one must disagree. We are
450 PAUL DOYON
seeing, not only, more shinjinrui, but a diverse number of variations to the
theme.
Three trends of Japan’s economic success are thought to affect the
behavior of this prosperity generation (Sugimoto 1997): the information
revolution, consumerism, and a post-modern value orientation.
It seems that now more than ever are young Japanese affected by informa-
tion. They all carry high-tech portable telephones, have access to computers
and the Internet, and spend a great deal of time in front of the television with
a multitude of channels tochoose from. Information about anything is at their
fingers at anytime and everywhere.
This post-modern generation – unlike the producers of their parents’
generation – has grown up in a consumer-oriented society. And unlike
their parents again who were motivated “to free themselves from economic
hardship,” (Sugimoto, p. 68) these youngsters have a “difference motive”
in their economic behavior, and one based on declaring their own unique
individuality.
The post-modern value orientation of this new breed is said to be
dominated by “playfulness, gaming, escape, tentativeness, anarchy, and
schizophrenic differentiation, in contradistinction to the rigidity, calcula-
tion, loyalty, fixity, hierarchy, and paranoic integration of modern society”
(Sugimoto, p. 69). Smith states:
Without even meaning to, the new species announced the end of ‘the
modern’ in Japan, the modern as the Japanese have understood it for a
century and a quarter. Viscerally, they seemed to recognize that the past
was somehow over and that they represented a decisive break with it.
Their parents had completed the modernization project. It was the new
species who, detached from history, could finally see the great price
the Japanese paid for material success. This was their paradox: They
consumed with abandon, for that was life’s only reward – but always ...
with a certain contempt for consumption.
Another motivating factor that seems to differentiate this generation is the
need to “reclaim time” (Smith, p. 68). This seems understandable given that
more and more of a children’s time in Japan from a very young age has been
given to controlled and regimented activities which are supposed to serve
their future. As Smith goes on to say: “To reclaim time meant to assert control
over themselves as individuals, to redraw the line between public and private
– to make private life acceptable, not furtive and secret, and to live publicly
as authentic, autonomous individuals” (p. 68).
It could just be that after having one’s life regimented and controlled for
such a long period of time, that the simple act of refusing to participate – of
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 451
refusing to conform – is just one small step in expressing one’s individuality
and autonomy.
For this new “breed,” (at least at the higher end of the spectrum), it has
become less appealing to join an elite company or work as a government
bureaucrat. Rather, it seems that professions that distinguish one’s identity are
becoming more in vogue: e.g., Internet start-ups are becoming more alluring,
especially with the government bolstering of new venture businesses in order
to advance Information Technology (IT) and stimulate the economy.
A recent history of educational reform (1970s–1990s)
There have been three major movements of educational reform in Japan: (a)
the first occurring during the Meiji Restoration in the 1870s, (b) the second
occurring after World War 2 with General MacArthur and the Occupation,
and (c) the third starting in the late 1960s and then given momentum during
Nakasone Yasuhiro’s tenure as prime minister. I will discuss the latter here
and tie its importance to the present university reform movement.
The present reform movement had its original inception approximately
thirty years ago in the late 1960s when the Central Council for Education
“called for eliminating uniformity and promoting diversity in education” (US
DOE 1987, p. 63). The then minister ofeducation, Sakata Michita, at the time
called it the “third major educational reform in Japan’s history” (Mainichi
Daily News, as cited in Beauchamp 1991, p. 42). Among its proposals
were “extending free public education to four- and five-year-olds, providing
teachers with large salary increases, allowing teachers more time to teach by
shifting paperwork to an expanded clerical staff, expanding special educa-
tion programs, and increasing subsidies to private universities” (Beauchamp
1991, p. 42). This was followed by a government-commissioned report by
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in
1970, which while praising the Japan educational system’s role in its indus-
trial development, also criticized its “centralized control, standardization,
conformity, institutional hierarchy, and the emphasis on entrance examina-
tions” (Beauchamp, p. 43). It called for a more flexible and less pressured
approach in developing students’ personalities, “with more free time, more
curricular freedom, more diversity in extra-curricular activities and more
cooperation among pupils” (OECD, cited in Beauchamp 1991). Moreover,
it stressed an emphasis on both cooperation and creativity in the Japanese
educational context.
This was followed in 1975 by a proposal from The Japan Teachers
Union (JTU, Nikkyôso) which suggested that the government’s economic and
educational policies had brought about “environmental destruction, soaring
452 PAUL DOYON
prices, housing problems, [a] traffic mess and energy crisis” (JTU, cited in
Beauchamp).
In 1979, a report from a business group, the Japan Committee for
Economic Development (CED), pressed for “greater creativity, diversity, and
internationalization in education” (US DOE 1987, p. 63).
In 1983, a report was issued by the Japan Federation of Employer’s
Association (JFEA, Nikkeiren) (in response to recent episodes of violence
in the school system), which called for a consolidated effort to guide
students toward the “proper outlook on society and work” and stated that the
“disrespect for rules inherent in school violence” (Nikkeiren 1983, pp. 6–7)
would not be condoned.
The Ad Hoc Council on Educational Reform
In 1984 Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro formed the Ad Hoc Council on
Educational Reform (AHCE, Rinkyôshin) in response to a crisis in the schools
which started with the assault of a teacher by some students at a school in
the city of Machida and the killing of homeless people by some students
in Yokohama (Hood 1999, pp. 3–4). In a period between 1985 and 1987 the
AHCE issued four reports. These covered a number of issues including moral
education, teacher training, examination reform, liberalization, curriculum,
lifelong education, the use of computers and technology in education, and
internationalization.
Three camps: Traditional conservatives, progressives, and neo-conservatives
From these deliberations there emerged what could be delineated as three
main camps: (a) the traditional conservatives, (b) the progressives, and (c)
the neo-conservatives (Shoppa 1991b).
The traditional conservatives were composed of Nakasone and most of
the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and many elite business leaders, such
as those belonging to the Nikkeiren. They saw a tear developing in the moral
fabric of Japanese society, which they blamed on (a) too much Westernization
with its individualism, and (b) the schools’ inability to instill moral values
in their students. Their somewhat simplistic solution was to require all new
teachers to undergo a probationary year of teacher training (originally known
as shiho [probationary] and later changed to shoninsha kenshû [new teacher
training]) before being instated as full-fledged teachers.
The progressives, consisting of Nikkyôso and the rest of the progressive
end of the political spectrum, attributed Japan’s educational problems as
emanating from the “pressures of the nation’s competitive examination
system and on the where-you-went-to-school social system (gakureki shakai)
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 453
that lay behind that competition” (Shoppa 1991b, p. 61). They issued a
proposal in 1985 calling for the abolition (in reality, a pause) of the tracking
system inherent in the rank stratification of high schools. According to their
plan, this would be achieved through the creation of “small-district high
schools.” They also proposed the establishment of “regional comprehensive
universities” which would be “open to the people” (Nihon Kyôshokuin 1985,
pp. 10–13), and would “provide greater opportunities for young people
to receive post-secondary education” (Shoppa 1991b, p. 62). The progres-
sives were against the institution of moral education as proposed by the
conservatives and neither did they have room for an augmented and earlier
ability-tracking system proposed by the neo-conservatives.
The neo-conservatives (coined by Shoppa 1991b) called for diversity,
creativity, and internationalization in education and deemed these qualities
necessary for the Japanese people and industry in a new world order which
would become more technologically advanced and complex. For them, the
issue had nothing to do with violence or an erosion of values, but with a
need to relax the stringent control that the Monbushô had over the educational
establishment – in effect, they called for less rigidity and less standardization.
As opposed to the progressives’ ideal of egalitarianism, the neo-conservatives
wanted more tracking and course specialization at an earlier age, which would
“cater to the individual abilities and interests of students.” They alsocalled for
a greater diversity in the kinds of schools available to the general public and
a greater parental choice in choosing to which schools they wanted to send
their children. At the university level, they envisioned a “system composed
of diverse universities less clearly stratified on a topography of multiple
pyramids” (Shoppa 1991b, p. 63), rather than the present single-pyramid
university system.
Proposals for university reform
The Ad Hoc Council “harshly criticized institutions of higher education,
stating that ‘university education lacks individuality, and little research being
done in Japan has achieved international recognition. ... Universities are
largely closed rigid systems, insufficiently responsive to the needs of the
society and the international community’ ” (Foreign Press Center 1995 p. 48).
The Ad Hoc Council then in 1987 issued the following objectives for
university reform (Gittlesohn 1989, p. A48):
•The revision of university entrance exams, which would (a) permit more
differentiation between the exams various universities set, and (b) allow
for more testing of subjective knowledge with an inclusion of the use of
essays.
454 PAUL DOYON
•An “internationalization” of education with an increase of foreigners
studying in Japan and of Japanese studying abroad.
•A development of “lifelong learning,” which would (a) increase revenue
for universities, and (b) provide a wider array of career opportunities for
its participants.
•The cultivation of both individuality and creativity within students.
•Term limits on the hiring of new faculty – applying primarily to teaching
assistants and lecturers, and not necessarily to associate professors and
professors.
The University Council
With the dismantling of the Ad Hoc Council, came the formation of a number
of councils, one of which was the University Council. During the education
debates of the 1970s and 1980s, the issue of implementing reforms to Japan’s
ineffectual university system was left on the back burner. The University
Council was therefore formed in order to act as a catalyst in carrying out the
proposals set forth by the Ad Hoc Council with regards to university reforms.
Through Diet action in September 1987, the government won passage of
a law establishing the University Council as a new MOE advisory body, and
on October 29th, the MOE referred most of the AHCE proposals on higher
education to the new body (Shoppa 1991a, p. 245).
Higher educational reforms in the early 1990s
The discussions and deliberations of the 1970s and 1980s laid the ground-
work for the reform measures that have started to take place in the 1990s. It
should also be noted that the 1990s have brought about a greater consensus
among the three camps outlined above (Foreign Press Center 1995, p. 51).
However, the question to be asked now is whether the reform measures are
sufficient to address the deep-seated problems now seen as firmly established
in the system.
The first two years of the 1990s seem to have set the tone for the rest
of the decade. In 1990, universities were permitted to establish which of
five subjects – Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, and English –
their admission candidates could be tested on. Also, in 1990, in an attempt to
allay “examination hell” the Monbushô introduced the “National Center for
University Entrance Examinations Test,” (NCUEE) aka the “Sentâ Shiken”
(Center Exam), which would be an improvement over and replace a previous
uniform first-stage exam established in 1979. Its goal was to evaluate a
student’s achievement in high school with a high standard of questions.
Private universities were also invited to use the examination as a preliminary
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 455
to its own individual entrance procedures. It was completely up to a univer-
sity’s (private, national, or public) discretion whether they wanted to utilize
the exam or not. In 1995, in addition to all public and national universities,
“187 departments in 104 private universities” (Foreign Press Center 1995,
p. 60) were using the exam.
In 1991, the “University Establishment Standards” were extensively
revised, giving universities and colleges “the green light to make major
changes in their curricula, academic standards, and hiring procedures” (Regur
1991, p. A31). This gave universities much more flexibility to reform them-
selves. Before this happened the Monbushô held a tight reign, for example,
on “how many students could attend a particular class, the time of day or
evening that an institution could hold classes, and even the dimensions of
campus buildings and other facilities” (p. A31). Specifically included in the
revised standards were the following:
•A process of self-evaluation (which was also to be made available to the
public) allowing universities to access how well they are achieving their
goals.
•A loosening of strict government control over the organization of
academic units and curricula.
•An easing of the restrictions which limited the hiring process of faculty
members and the responsibilities they are allowed to maintain outside of
their departments.
•A simplification in the calculation methods used to determine the credit
– hours students need to graduate. The revisions eliminated the require-
ment that students need 36 credit hours of “general education” courses
in their first and second years.
•A call for “faculty development” (FD) in order to increase the quality of
course content and teaching methods.
•A call for an expansion of courses in order to enhance foreign language
and information-processing skills.
•A call for seminar-type classes and the use of teaching assistants.
Moving toward the 21st century: The agenda in the late 1990s
Lifelong learning. The Monbushô, in its 1995 White Paper, Remaking
Universities: Continuing Reform of Higher Education, lists the third major
reason Japan needs university reform as a “growing need for lifelong
learning” (MOE 1995). (The other two being a rise in scientific research and
an increase in the percentage of students moving on to higher education.)
Unlike many universities in much of the rest of the world, the Japanese
higher education population consists predominantly of young adults between
456 PAUL DOYON
the ages of 18 and 22. With the demographic decrease in the 18-year-
old population, an expansion of leisure time, and the need for adults to
continuously upgrade their professional skills in a more internationally
competitive and information-oriented society, the Monbushô is calling on
universities to open their doors to a population of “older” adults. Yet, itseems
that a good majority of universities have not realized the full potential of a
lifelong-learning adult market and have only paid lip-service with cosmetic
changes, or have opened courses marginalizing those adult students into
classes which have been separated from the rest of the student population.
Still, the potential is there with the inclusion of adult students (who tend
to be more serious and have higher expectations) to inspire the rest of the
younger population to take their studies more seriously (and perhaps teachers
to be more earnest in their teaching). In spite of this, there certainly is a trend
in the direction of lifelong learning and it is being highly encouraged by the
Monbushô: “In fiscal 1993 a total of 544,101 people participated in 4,590
extension courses at 452 universities, or over 80% of all universities” (MOE
1995).
Internationalization. There is also a strong desire to make Japanese educa-
tion more international. In order to do this the Monbushô has called for (a)
increased foreign students coming to Japan and (b) better English education.
The ministry’s goal since the 1980s has been to have 100,000 foreign
students studying in Japan every year by the year 2,000. In 1996 “the
number dropped to 52,921 after hovering between 53,000 and 54,000 for a
few years” (Findley-Kaneko 1997, p. A46). This number is up considerably
though compared to 1984 when there were only 10,700 foreign students
studying in Japan (US DOE 1987, p. 53). The Monbushô has also been
encouraging Japanese universities to establish ties with universities over-
seas, and to offer Japanese language courses for foreign students studying
in Japan. Difficulty with the language has been identified as a considerable
barrier to attracting foreign students. Certainly, those universities that offer
solid Japanese language programs will most certainly be more successful
in attracting those foreign students deemed necessary for both financial and
reform reasons. Also, a number of national universities have started to offer
programs with courses taught in English. This has given a boost to the
number of short-term exchange students coming from the United States,
who formed the largest number of scholarship recipients in 1995 and 1996.
The implementation of the semester system at many universities has also
made international exchange more flexible by allowing students the option
of starting their studies in the fall semester.7
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 457
The Monbushô is now encouraging the building of “relationships on
the individual level based on understanding of foreign cultures and mutual
respect” (MOE 1995). As one step in accomplishing these ends, it is
encouraging reform in foreign language education: “By fiscal 1994, 305
universities, more than half the universities in Japan, had implemented
reforms in foreign language education” (MOE 1995). Reforms carried out
at certain universities are listed as follows: (a) the use of language labs and
video technology, (b) introduction of smaller classes, (c) ability grouping,
and (d) an increase in the number of hours for foreign languages.
From quantity to quality. After World War 2, the focus of higher education
reform was on increasing its access to a larger portion of the population,
first to attract more science and engineering students in the 1950s and early
1960s and then to accommodate baby-boomers in the late 1960s and early
1970s. However, with the fast-paced expansion of higher education also
came a reduction in its quality. Since the late 1970s, the government has
sought to reverse this negative trend with a focus on improving the quality
of both education and research in higher education establishments. In order
to achieve these goals it has called for (a) a reformation of curricula (b)
an enhancement in the quality of teaching, and (c) an improvement in the
university entrance examination system.
Curricula reform. With regards to curricula changes, the following trends
have been noted and recommended by Monbushô:
•An integration of curricula in which courses are systematically and
organically linked.
•The establishment of new interdisciplinary courses.
•The enhancement of foreign language education.
•The promotion of information processing education.
•The provision of diverse study opportunities for students through a
credit-transfer system between universities involved inter-university
tie-ups.
Enhancing the quality of teaching. Concerning trends and recommendations
in improving the quality of teaching the following have been noted:
•The publication of syllabi offering students details about specific
courses.
•An expansion of small-group education in which the teachers are aware
of individual students and there is more two-way interaction between
teachers and students. This has been especially noticeable in foreign
language education.
458 PAUL DOYON
•A need for faculty development in which teachers work together to
enhance their own teaching abilities.
•An increase in the use of multimedia as a teaching aid.
•A structuring of classes which take into account the connection with
high school education.
•Classes held in foreign languages.
•Class evaluations by students.
Improvements in entrance examinations. In noting that university entrance
examinations were having a “serious negative impact” on education at the
upper secondary school level and below, the University Council in 1993 in
its report, Deliberations Concerning the Improvement of University Entrance
Examinations, advocated (a) the promotion of the use of the National
Center of University Entrance Examinations (NCUEE), (b) diversification in
university entrance selection methods, and (c) an improvement of admissions
based on recommendations (MOE 1995).
Term-limits (Ninkisei). In June of 1997, the Sentaku Ninkisei Hô,alaw
allowing for a “term-limit system” (ninkisei), was passed in the diet and then
enacted in April of 1998 (Fox et al. 1999, p. 13). The stated purpose of the
law is to inspire research before one is elevated to a tenure-track position:
“We feel that the idea that professors can keep their posts from the
moment they are hired until they retire at 60, whether they are productive
or not, needs to be changed,” says Hayashi Towatari, director of the
Science Policy Planning Office in the Ministry of Education, Science,
Sport, and Culture. The aim of revamping the system, he says, “is to
have scholars raise their level of achievement while they are young.”
(Findley-Kaneko 1996, p. A35)
It might be that the fact that Japan has very few Nobel Laureates (8) in the
educational Olympics is an embarrassment to nationalistic policy. (The USA
has 182.)
At any rate, in spite of its intentions, the law apparently holds the potential
for arbitrary abuse – especially towards foreigners, who naturally, as non-
nationals, have limited rights to begin with. There is no stipulation in the law
that even if the not yet tenured contract employees “produce,” that they will
be appointed to a tenured position. Until the enactment of the law, term limits
have been, for the most part, limited to foreign teachers, who – in spite of the
fact that a law allowing their tenure was passed in 1982 (Rubin 1997, p. A45)
– have been delegated term-limit contracts and at many universities have an
extremely remote chance of becoming permanent faculty members.
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 459
The race
The race to enter university starts early for many Japanese youngsters. Some
mothers have even been known to try and start this education in the womb
(Smith, p. 89). These mothers overly concerned about their children’s educa-
tionhavecometobeknownaskyôiku mama or education mothers and they
are there to urge and support their children every step of the way. And the
final goal is the University Entrance Examination. Educators – to describe
the effect that testing has on learning and teaching – use the term backwash
(Hughs 1989). In Japan this backwash extends further and deeper permeating
all aspects of Japanese society.
The ambition of some upwardly mobile middle-class parents is to get
their children, especially their sons, into the right kindergarten, then an
elite school, and finally into the highest bastion of all, and elite university,
preferably the University of Tokyo, which virtually guarantees entry into
the bureaucracy or an elite private company. (Hane 1996, p. 162)
The present education craze started after World War 2 when the occu-
pation’s educational reforms gave everyone the opportunity to compete in
attaining higher education.
The widespread acceptance of higher education as prerequisite to main-
taining Japan’s newly acquired affluence sent increasing numbers of
high school graduates through the narrow gates of the universities.
(Beauchamp 1991, p. 37)
Before this, only about two percent of the population went on to university or
other forms of higher education (Negishi 1993, p. 100). Moreover, a remark-
able jump in people’s incomes gave them the means to send their children on
to higher education. According to Negishi,
If one were able to obtain a higher score than someone else, then that child
would be able to acquire, not only a better education than his parents, but
also a new social rank. By just having the entrance examination compet-
ition, all levels of society’s children had an equal chance at acquiring a
new social status.
Due to this awareness or fantasy, the entrance examination competition
– entangling parents, children, and teachers – intensified. The attachment
of too much importance on intellectual training in Japanese schooling
was then born out of need to raise scores in order to elevate one’s ranking
(1993, p. 101).
And with this arrived a method for determining one’s position on the
educational vertical ladder: Hensachi (Deviation Score).
460 PAUL DOYON
Hensachi
In the midst of this educational fervor, starting in the 1960s, commercial
enterprises developed a statistical screening system to determine the prob-
ability of a student’s ability to enter a particular university. A mock test
determines each student’s deviation score with a mean of 50 for all students
taking the test and a standard deviation of 10. Since each university admin-
isters its own entrance examination, students use these scores to determine
which universities they are most likely to enter and then take those tests.
Since taking the tests also costs money, it can be an expensive proposition
– especially when one adds in travel and hotel expenses. These deviation
scores, not only serve to rank students, but also the universities that they are
trying to enter and can be considered “a kind of condemnation – of schools
and students alike” (Smith 1997, p. 90). “The emphasis on hensachi marks
generates a culture in which scholastic ability is viewed as the only measure
of individual competence, low hensachi performers also tend to have low
self-esteem” (Sugimoto 1997, p. 118).
Juku
The proliferation of juku (cram school) was fueled by an increasing intensi-
fication of entrance examination competition in the 1970s. Universities began
to use extremely difficult and strange questions in their entrance examinations
in order to screen out the deluge of applicants. It became necessary to develop
special techniques in order to pass these examinations and juku proliferated to
supply this new need. By 1980 40% of all primary school students and 50%
of all middle school students were attending juku. If we just look at the Tokyo
and Kyoto metropolitan areas the numbers peak at 60% and 70% respectively
(Negishi, p. 104).
For many schoolchildren their days of studying start early in the morning
and don’t end until late at night. Many, who spend several hours a day after
school in juku, will only go home to study again until 12 or 1 in the morning.
They have no time for anything else and thus severely limit their perspectives
on life.
The “Cooling Down” Phenomenon
The number of parents and their children willing to make the sacrifices in
going the long haul needed to enter prestigious universities is dwindling in
what has been called the “Cooling Down”8Phenomenon:
The existence of a pyramid, the top of which is occupied by a handful
of first-rate, prestigious universities, is a fact of life. But the number of
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 461
places at the top is limited, and the race to gain one ofthem isharsh. Many
children enter the competition with alacrity, and many parents encourage
them every step of the way. But as they proceed through each stage,
battling their way from elementary school to junior high school, and then
to senior high school, the aspirations of many young people and their
parents as well may suddenly cool, for the toll they must pay is heavy.
(Amano 1995, p. 121)
Amano goes on to state that
the examination system, which once greatly encouraged the aspirations of
teachers and parents, has begun to play the role of “cooling down” their
hopes. Ironically, the more emphasis the teachers and the schools place
on examination-centered curriculums and the harder they push children
to study to beat the competition for entrance to better schools, the lower
the children’s aspirations are becoming. (p. 122)
Amano attributes the intense competition inherent in society and the
school, as the source of “the problems endemic in” the school system today
in which there is a “gap between the changed values and attitudes of young
people and the unchanged orientation of the older generation” (p. 122). And
it is this older generation that controls the mostly unmodified educational
system and institutions of today.
The contrary effect: The desolation of education
According to Negishi, the educational craze, that stimulated the economy
and brought so much praise from abroad for Japan’s educational “quality,”
has been for quite some time causing a contrary effect:
As stated earlier, the ability of Japan’s schools to bestow its students
with abundant basic knowledge has brought it high marks from abroad.
However, the result of the intensification of this hostile competition
has been the appearance of a situation where half the students and
children participating in the compulsory education of upper primary
school throughout middle school cannot keep up. This situation became
conspicuous after the beginning of the transference from a high growth
economy to a low growth economy in the 1970s. With the overheating
of entrance examination competition came the appearance of “rough
schools,” or in other words, the “desolation of education.” (1993, p. 104)
He also notes that school violence and bullying (ijime) increased in the late
70s due to this intensification. What has happened is that the teachers have
462 PAUL DOYON
also become embroiled in the craze because the teachers were driving the
students in order for their own schools to be ranked high on the hensachi
scores. And this has, in turn, seemed to have left some students behind –
discarded by their teachers. The term ochikobore became common, meaning
“those who cannot keep up with the class.” According to Negishi, this
resulted in the school becoming like a prison for these students and the direct
cause of school refusal, corporal punishment, bullying, and of course, falling
scholastic ability. Many television programs are devoted to asking young
adults the simplest questions to which they cannot give a correct answer (e.g.
like “What’s the name of this country?” with a picture of Australia outlined
on a world map).
Some lingering problems
Of all of theproblems inherent in the Japanese education system probably the
most unwieldy and most often criticized have been the “entrance examination
system” and “educational credentialism.”
The toll of the entrance examination system
Despite numerous deliberations and efforts to reform the entrance examina-
tion system, little has changed in the negative effects that it levels at society
and education.
Ezra Vogel has suggested that “no single event, with the possible excep-
tion of marriage, determines the course of a young man’s life as much as
entrance examinations, and nothing including marriage, as many years of
planning and hard work.” (Beauchamp 1991, p. 37)
It has been blamed as an underlying cause of bullying, suicide, violence
in schools, and school refusal, and other problems, like the retardation of
creativity:
The nature of the admission exam system itself, with its emphasis upon
objective questions, stresses memorization and rote learning, an approach
that does not stimulate creative intellectual activity. Having spent so much
time, effort and money in getting into college, it is not surprising there
is little enthusiasm for further academic effort while there. Moreover,
student learning energies have been constrained by the standardized exam
system which tends to retard the development of those aspects of intellec-
tual ability concerned with inspiration, innovation and creativity. (Hayes
1997)
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 463
Moreover, it can be seen as a major impediment to change within univer-
sities themselves. In a report issued in April of 1997 on tertiary education in
Japan, the OECD stated that the
strong selectivity of the educational system, culminating in the examina-
tions for access to tertiary institutions, as well as the very specific graduate
recruitment practices in Japan provide little or no incentive for change
within the institutions. The objective for many students and families is
access to the best possible institution: it is often said that it is much
more difficult to get in than, later, to obtain the degree. Recruitment to
employment has also typically been based mainly on the prestige of the
institution, rather than on the specific competence or performance of the
individual student. (OECD 1997, p. 10)
Others state that
entrance to a particular university is considered a measure of intelligence,
determines the level to which one may rise in government or industry,
and serves as a marriage certificate. This is why Japan has been termed
agakureki shakai – an education-credential society. However, once an
accredited pinnacle has been reached, students often rest on their laurels
and coast through school, their accessible future social, business, and
bureaucratic tracks already decided. (Fox et al. 1999, p. 13)
Yet, the OECD (1997) in its report went on to say that while the Monbushô
is taking “ameliorative” measures
the question is whether these are sufficient to address the rather deep-
seated structural issues ... which cannot be resolved by any one sector
(education) or Ministry (Monbushô) alone since long entrenched social
habits and attitudes as well as crucial structures in society and economy
sustain it. (p. 15)
And as Frost (1991) argues,
too many people profit from the present system for it to change
easily. Publishers selling examination guides, the lucrative ‘cram school’
industry, and universities which make money for themselves and their
faculty from giving and correcting examinations simply have too much at
stake to change. (p. 303)
464 PAUL DOYON
Core versus surface reforms
The little that has been done to reform the entrance examination system has
rather predictably had little effect whatsoever. Yet, it seems that if all the other
reforms that are being implemented are to truly be effective, that making
major and drastic reforms in the entrance exams is a core reform as opposed
to other reforms, which can be seen as more surface-oriented or peripheral.
In other words, making serious reforms to the entrance examination system
may be a catalyst to the other reforms. Otherwise, all the other reforms being
implemented could be seen as merely being icing on the cake (or actually the
icing with no cake).
Twoends of the educational spectrum: The elites and the drones
Even back in 1963, Professor Shimizu of Tokyo University wrote that,
“the typical prospective examinee has come to be close-minded, selfish,
and lonely. ... Even his parents tend to be nervous and on edge” (Frost,
p. 292). And, as stated earlier, things have – not only – not changed, but
have worsened. In fact, the Central Education Council issued a report in
1996 describing children “as being too busy, lacking the social skills to
relate to other people, late in gaining independence, facing excessive compet-
ition for entrance examinations, and as experiencing bullying and school
refusal” (Okano and Tsuchiya 1999, p. 227). Thirty-six years after Professor
Shimizu’s above depiction, in November of 1999, a woman allegedly killed
the 2-year-old daughter of another woman because the other woman’s
daughter was accepted to a kindergarten – famous for the initiation of its
students through the system to elite universities – while her own daughter
was not (Entrance Exams 1999, p. 2).
Unfortunately, the above case might be an extreme example of a kind of
psychological disposition that the Japanese educational system is producing
in its people – including those to be its elite leaders of business, politics, and
education. While there are exceptions to any rule, for the most part, at one
end of the spectrum we have the university elites, who are where they are
because perhaps their mothers were able to enter them into the right kinder-
garten and/or because they were able to memorize a vast number of seemingly
useless facts. At the other end of the spectrum we have – what might have
been students full of creative potential – students who have become listless
drones at the bottom of a university pyramid and are condemned to a low-
status life and have such a low self-image of themselves that they have pretty
much given up even trying to succeed academically. This alone can dampen
all but the most talented teachers’ ability and desire to teach.
As the OECD states in its 1997 report on tertiary education:
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 465
The tendency to rely for leadership and positions of responsibility on an
elite selected through an examination-dominated system limits perception
of the pool of potential talent and ability. Experience in other coun-
tries demonstrates that there are many actual or potential non-traditional
students who have much to contribute. (p. 22)
Sugimoto (1997) adds with his statement that “the nation’s school system
produces an army of youngsters who have excellent training in basic factual
knowledge but limited education in critical social thinking [italics mine]”
(p. 112).
Dwindling student numbers at the third-tier university
In 1991, Kitamura stated that it is predicted that Japanese higher education
will face a period of “institutional self-selection” in which a number of higher
educational institutions could be closed or severely cut back (p. 311).
Already we are seeing a number of two-year junior colleges closing their
doors due to the fact the women are opting to attend four-year universities in
order to increase their prospects of securing a good job.
A main problem effecting the third-tier universities at the bottom of the
pyramid is that they are the ones struggling the most to attract students. This
is due toJapan’s hierarchical ranking of universities –naturally students want
to enter the highest-ranked university that they are able to enter. Moreover,
regardless of the reforms they are now implementing, it is hard to shake the
stigma associated with being a third-tier university, especially in a society
which is so conscious of rank. During the expansion of the 18-year-old
population the Monbushô allowed universities to “temporarily” increase the
quotas for the number of students permitted to enter. Now that the numbers
are dwindling, one has to wonder if Monbushô is doing all it can to decrease
those same quotas that were increased and, hence save those same institu-
tions it sanctioned the prospering of. By reducing the (previously increased)
quotas throughout the pyramid of universities, it can allow for the survival of
the ones at the bottom. Otherwise, they may be forced to close their doors.
Yet, as Kitamura goes on to state, “institutions vital and flexible enough
to seek out new sources of students (e.g., adults) can overcome the crisis”
(Kitamura 1991, p. 311). However, it is this author’s opinion that they will
more than likely need some help from “Big Brother,” aka, the Monbushô.
Notwithstanding, with its desire to raise the worldwide standard of Japanese
universities, there might just be some with a honne desire to see them fail.
466 PAUL DOYON
Summary and conclusion
In this paper we examined the most recent higher educational reforms occur-
ring currently in Japan. The pressure to make reforms has been coming from
three sides: the Ministry of Education, industry, and the universities them-
selves. With the recent decrease in the 18-year-old population combined with
a downturn in the economy, universities – especially those at the lower rungs
of the hierarchical ladder – are starting to feel the heat. The Ministry of
Education wants to boost Japan’s international image and after some time
deliberating on what to do specifically about reform, has started to take action.
Industry needs a new breed of employee to compete in the world marketplace.
Finally we have the students themselves. What do they think? What do they
want? What can the schools, the Ministry of Education, and industry do that is
best for them? Furthermore, we might ask, what can they do to educate their
students to do what is best for the world, the natural environment, and other
people? Negishi Hideyuki (1993, p. 107), concluded in a paper he wrote on
education and industry that while education in Japan succeeded brilliantly in
expanding the economy, “the cultivation of humanity within the individual –
the original purpose of education – got left behind.” In other words, while the
Japanese educational system succeeded in spurring the economic growth of
the nation, it also, to a certain degree, dehumanized its people in the process.
There is excessive competition throughout the Japanese educational system,
and this has caused a (for lack of a better word) “moral” vacuum in the psyche
of the Japanese student.
However, on a more mundane level, despite the reforms being presently
implemented little has yet to change with regards to the problems the educa-
tional system seems to be leveling at society. While the entrance examinations
and the gakureki shakai system are only part of a complex problem, they
are major components, and the question is whether enough is being done to
reform these two systems. Or is the Monbushô just maintaining the status
quo? Or can it actually do anything about this quagmire? Drastic measures
are needed to alleviate the problems of bullying, school refusal, suicide,
and declining scholastic levels which permeate the whole of the educational
system and extend to all corners of society.
While there seems to be much more of a concurrence of views
from the different camps (traditional conservatives, progressives, and neo-
conservatives), it seems that the ideas originally proposed by the JTU for
(a) an elimination of high school entrance examinations combined with a
localization of high school education, and (b) the establishment of local
community colleges, are two ideas ripe for implementation. The first idea
would be a small, but major step in eliminating the adverse effects the univer-
sity entrance examinations are leveling at a number of levels in society. The
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 467
second idea would be a major step in helping to fulfill the ministry’s vision
of a lifelong learning society. At present, there are a host of barriers – both
psychological and bureaucratic – in the openness of universities to accepting
adult students for lifelong learning. Until now, community centers and private
specialty schools have been fulfilling lifelong learning needs. However, now
with the closure of two-year women’s junior colleges lies an opportunity for
their transformation into “true” barrier-free community colleges open to all
those who want to learn. These could offer a wide variety of courses which
could be taken for a number of reasons: (a) toward a degree or certificate, (b)
for self-improvement, or (c) to increase one’s own qualifications. They could
also provide opportunities for young people to “find themselves” and also
give those who were not successful in the high school environment a second
chance with the opportunity to transfer to four-year institutions which could
institute a selection process based on grades acquired at the two-year insti-
tutions. At any rate, the establishment of these lifelong learning institutions
could also serve as a much-needed bridge to lifelong learning at four-year
institutions.
Other reforms could include the eventual elimination of individual univer-
sity entrance examinations while retaining the NCUEE test. So, rather than
taking mock examinations to determine what university one could enter and
then spend a lot a lot of money, students would only need to prepare for one
national examination. Universities could then base their entrance selection on
scores from this test combined with an assessment of grades gained in high
school and an assessment of voluntary work and/or extra curricular activity.
Income originally gained from examination fees could also be shifted to
application and processing fees. Moreover, legislation requiring the govern-
ment and top companies to hire a percentage of their new employees from
across a wide range of universities would do much in accelerating the breakup
of the elitist university cartel. In effect, employers would have to take more
into account than just where the applicant went to school.
Despite many of the criticisms leveled at universities, it is the excessive
cramming that occurs before students arrive there that is responsible for much
of the catatonic behavior seen in the modern Japanese university student.
Therefore, in order for many of the current university reforms to be effective –
i.e., to be able to reach the students –, it is necessary to drastically improve the
educational environment enveloping the students before they get to university.
The Monbushô has taken steps in this direction with the issuing of a new high
school curricula to be enacted in 2003:
The number of credits needed for a diploma will be lowered to 74 from
80. The school week will be cut from five and half days to five days by
eliminating the half day of classes on Saturday. Basic requirements in
468 PAUL DOYON
Japanese language, mathematics, science, and English will be lowered.
(Choy 1999)
However, this easing in the curriculum still will not affect the backwash
caused by entrance examinations andis noguarantee that theextratime given
students will not be used for attending juku or in other activities geared to the
passing of these same examinations.
Finally, looking at the larger picture, there needs to be a reconsideration
on the purpose of education. As stated earlier the role of the “cultivation of
humanity” in education seems to have been lost in the scuffle. “Feeling,” as
much as “thinking,” needs to be valued in the educational process (in all
countries). Unfortunately, in the 20th century, it seems to have been swept
under the carpet. Yet, with the problems confronting us in the 21st century,
this is an area for reconsideration – for our human capacity to feel is one facet
that distinguishes us from robots and computers. And it is this one human
facet – if channeled properly in the educational process – that might just save
our planet and us from the destruction of the environment and the destruction
and degradation caused by war.
These suggested reforms might seem radical and yet they are logical; if
Japan is truly serious about reform, then these suggestions would do much
(in this author’s opinion) to free its society from the bondages of elitism,
credentialism, and examination hell, and in effect allow the Monbushô to
achieve its vision of creating a “truly affluent future for humanity and to make
harmonious development of science, humankind, society and the environ-
ment” (MOE 1998). Moreover, it would produce the kind of people that
industry now requires. Lamentably, people who make their living in the very
large juku and examination industry might have to look elsewhere for work. It
might just be a small price to pay. It will certainly be interesting to see where
the reforms will lead now that we are entering the 21st century.
Notes
1. For the past thirty years it has been said that Japan is in the midst of its third major
educational reform process.
2. The word shutaisei is also rendered in English as “independence” or “identity” and is
defined in Japanese as “a personality that acts from its own position and with its own
ideas.”
3. It is interesting to note that the initial Chinese character in the Japanese word for employee
(jûgyôin) is also the character for the verb to obey (shitagau).
4. Backwash can be defined as the “effect examinations have onteaching and learning.”
5. The value orientations of the war generation and post-war generations are said to differ
significantly. While the former were educated under an “education system which placed
an emphasis upon emperor worship, jingoism, and austerity” (Sugimoto 1997, p. 65), the
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN JAPAN 469
latter experienced an educational system which emphasized “democracy, equality, and
freedom” (p. 66).
6. Hensachi is a “statistical formula to measure the test result of each student in a large
sample with a view to predicting the probability of his or her passing the entrance
examination of a particular school or university” (Sugimoto, p. 114).
7. Japan’s academic year starts in April.
8. Another germane term might be the “Running-Out-of-Steam” Phenomenon.
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