Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Table of Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Universities in Modern Japan: A Historical Outline
- Chapter 2 From Showa to Heisei: The Formation of Japan’s Contemporary Higher Education System
- Chapter 3 The Heisei Period: Plus Ça Change?
- Chapter 4 National Universities: Autonomy in Their Governance; Ideology and Practice
- Chapter 5 Public Universities: Prefectural, Local Higher Education
- Chapter 6 Private Universities: Diverse and Adaptable
- Chapter 7 Foreign Universities in Japan: Opportunities Taken and Missed
- Chapter 8 The Financing of Higher Education in Japan
- Chapter 9 Undergraduate Admissions: Shifting Trends
- Chapter 10 The Hensachi: Its Dominant Role in University Rankings
- Chapter 11 Self-Assessment: How Japanese University Students Assess Their Learning Outcomes
- Chapter 12 Policies for Hosting International Students: Issues for the Post-300,000 International Students Plan Era
- Chapter 13 Regional Cooperation in East Asia: Shifting Reality
- Chapter 14 International Students: Inbound Mobility at “Elite” and “Mass” Universities
- Chapter 15 Academic Support and Advising: Historical and Contemporary Issues
- Chapter 16 Women’s Universities in Japan: Life Choices
- Chapter 17 Junior Female Academics: Experiences and Challenges
- Chapter 18 Women of Color Leading in Japanese Higher Education
- Chapter 19 International Faculty: Increasing Mobility
- Chapter 20 Research Universities: Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy
- Chapter 21 Liberal Arts Education: The Japanese Way
- Chapter 22 The English Language in Japan: A Historical Overview 1809–2020
- Chapter 23 Languages Other Than English: Mysterious Eclipse
- Chapter 24 Critical English Curriculum Enactment: A Policy Planning Perspective
- Chapter 25 The Dawn of Reiwa: Waves, Revolutions and an “A.I. Society”
- Appendix 1 Chronology of Japan
- Appendix 2 Japanese National Universities, by Prefecture
- Appendix 3 Japanese Public Universities, by Region
- Glossary
- Index
Chapter 25 - The Dawn of Reiwa: Waves, Revolutions and an “A.I. Society”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2023
- Frontmatter
- Table of Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Universities in Modern Japan: A Historical Outline
- Chapter 2 From Showa to Heisei: The Formation of Japan’s Contemporary Higher Education System
- Chapter 3 The Heisei Period: Plus Ça Change?
- Chapter 4 National Universities: Autonomy in Their Governance; Ideology and Practice
- Chapter 5 Public Universities: Prefectural, Local Higher Education
- Chapter 6 Private Universities: Diverse and Adaptable
- Chapter 7 Foreign Universities in Japan: Opportunities Taken and Missed
- Chapter 8 The Financing of Higher Education in Japan
- Chapter 9 Undergraduate Admissions: Shifting Trends
- Chapter 10 The Hensachi: Its Dominant Role in University Rankings
- Chapter 11 Self-Assessment: How Japanese University Students Assess Their Learning Outcomes
- Chapter 12 Policies for Hosting International Students: Issues for the Post-300,000 International Students Plan Era
- Chapter 13 Regional Cooperation in East Asia: Shifting Reality
- Chapter 14 International Students: Inbound Mobility at “Elite” and “Mass” Universities
- Chapter 15 Academic Support and Advising: Historical and Contemporary Issues
- Chapter 16 Women’s Universities in Japan: Life Choices
- Chapter 17 Junior Female Academics: Experiences and Challenges
- Chapter 18 Women of Color Leading in Japanese Higher Education
- Chapter 19 International Faculty: Increasing Mobility
- Chapter 20 Research Universities: Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy
- Chapter 21 Liberal Arts Education: The Japanese Way
- Chapter 22 The English Language in Japan: A Historical Overview 1809–2020
- Chapter 23 Languages Other Than English: Mysterious Eclipse
- Chapter 24 Critical English Curriculum Enactment: A Policy Planning Perspective
- Chapter 25 The Dawn of Reiwa: Waves, Revolutions and an “A.I. Society”
- Appendix 1 Chronology of Japan
- Appendix 2 Japanese National Universities, by Prefecture
- Appendix 3 Japanese Public Universities, by Region
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
Japan is the only country in the world to adopt an official era naming system. Although “Reiwa” started in the Spring of 2019 with the English interpretation of “beautiful harmony,” it met a world facing unprecedented and accelerating global challenges and change. One driver and source of these groundswells is the progress of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This chapter presents a Japan-focused snapshot of the interplay between technology, education and society at the start of the 2020s.
Reiwa
In June 2019, the Cabinet Office of Japan’s government1 put into print the goal of creating a society that can adapt to, safely use, and capitalize on the capabilities and promise of AI. Their language may be flat, but the goals are vertiginous: “to redesign society in every way including Japan’s human potential, social systems, industrial structures, innovation systems and governance.” The Cabinet Office suggests that a human-centric society that capitalizes on AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) in this way will realize what it calls “Society 5.0.”
We examine this “Society 5.0” naming and review the state of progress in AI. We will see that educationally there is a significant challenge to teaching the subject. We then look at the AI-related research and education reforms that Japan is already rolling out. Finally, we review the third-party evaluations of Japan’s state of readiness.
Society 5.0
Product numbering is useful in the fast-changing world of software and hardware development. We write in the time of the iPhone 12. Current readers may have a memory of releases as low as four, five or 5S. Readers in the future may struggle with such low digits, or maybe the numbers will no longer mean anything at all.
The presence of “versioning” numbers on things that are not hardware or software is just one example of how technology affects not only our material environment but also our thoughts. The roots go back to Tom O’Reilly’s popularizing of the term “Web 2.0” when starting the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 Conference with Dale Dougherty in 2004. He later went on to try a similar treatment in politics with the 2009 Gov2.0 summit. In this usage, “2.0” is shorthand for a different or improved version.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Handbook of Higher Education in Japan , pp. 362 - 378Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2021