Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-h6p2m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-02T01:00:36.870Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Japanese University Humanities and Social Sciences Programs Under Attack

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Jeff Kingston
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

On June 8 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) sent a ten-page directive to all 86 national universities in Japan, apparently calling on them, inter alia, to abolish or reorganize their humanities and social sciences (HSS) departments. I use the word “apparently” because the wording of the letter is ambiguous. A former Ministry of Education official's Facebook posting in September is quoted on the European Association of Japanese Studies online forum asserting that the directive has been misinterpreted. The post refers to an article in Japanese by Kan Suzuki, Special Advisor to Japan's education minister. Kan acknowledges that MEXT failed to consult various stakeholders and that the new policy was not properly presented, but insists that the ministry is not moving to abolish HSS. Rather, he says, MEXT wants the national universities to concentrate on what they do best and develop survival strategies based on demographic trends.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 13 , Issue 39 , September 2015 , e1
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) (2013) “The Heart of the Matter”.Google Scholar
Arum, Robert and Roksa, Josipa (2011) Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. (University of Chicago Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, Tom (2011) “Japanese University Reform — Hybridity in Governance and Management”, Higher Education Policy, 24, (127–142).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitamura, Kazuyuki and Cummings, William K., (1972) “The ”Big Bang“ Theory and Japanese University Reform” Comparative Education Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, University Reform (June), pp. 303–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nisen, Max. (2013) “The War Against Humanities” Business Insider.Google Scholar
Preston, Alex. (2015) “The war against humanities at Britain's Universities”, The Guardian March 29.Google Scholar
Sawa, Takamitsu, (2015a) “Humanities under Attack” Japan Times.Google Scholar
Sawa, Takamitsu, (2015b) “Big data and the building of ‘true scholastic ability’”, Japan Times.Google Scholar