Japan and the social sciences: behind the headlines

KennNakataSteffensentakesanindepthlookatthechallengesfacingJapanspublicuniversities

September302015

Recentnewscoverage(https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/socialsciencesand
humanitiesfacultiesclosejapanafterministerialdecree)paintsanalarmingpictureofthehigher

educationsceneinJapan.
Accordingtoreports,manysocialsciencesandhumanitiesfacultiesaresettocloseatthebehestof
Japansgovernmentfollowingaletterfromtheministerofeducation.Ithasvariouslybeenreferredtoas
anorder,adecree,adirectiveandarequest.

Therealityisthatnotoneoftheuniversitiesinquestioniscurrentlycontemplatingsuchclosures.
Thearticlelinkedtoaboverefersonlytosocialscienceandhumanitiesfaculties,butthemaintargetof
reformisthe10nationalteachertraininguniversities,forreasonstodowithdemographicchange,
academicstandardsandperceivedsocietalneeds.Socialscienceandhumanitiesfacultiesarealso
decreasingtheirstudentintake,andsomewillseelowerlevelsofstaffing.
Thecoveragealsomisrepresentstherelationshipbetweenthegovernmentanduniversities.Japanese
ministersofeducationdonothaveuncheckedpowertoshutdownentirefacultiesbydecreefromone
academicyeartothenext.Asinmostothercountries,therealityofeducationandresearchpolicyismore
plural,fragmentedanddialogical.
WhentakingthesizeandstructureoftheuniversitysectorinJapanintoaccount,thesituationlooksfarless
ominous.Therearenearly800universitiesinthecountry,andthenationaluniversitiesreferredtointhe
reportsmakeupasmalleliteproportionofthis.Japaneseuniversitiesfallintoasmallnumberofpublicly
ownedandfundedorganisationsandamuchlargerprivatesector,whichaccountsfor77percentofall
universitiesandsome80percentoftheundergraduatestudentbody.
Publicuniversitiesaredividedintotwocategoriesofroughlyequalsize:86nationaland92municipal,city
andprefecturalinstitutions.Theremaining605universitiesareprivatelyownedandoperated,butreceive
substantialstatefunding.
Thecircularfromtheminister,HakubanShimomura,towhich17universitiessupposedlyrespondedthat
theywillcloseliberalartsandsocialsciencecourses,wassentonlytothenationaluniversities.These17
institutionsrepresent2percentoftheuniversitiesinJapan.
WithregardtotheUniversityofTokyoandKyotoUniversitysannouncementsthattheywillnotcomply
withtherequest,thisshowscommendableleadershipandsolidarityontheirpart,butitcanalsobeseen
asasomewhatemptygesture.
Theyandtheotherprestigiousnationalsevenuniversitiesarenotsubjecttothesamemediumterm
targetreviewsasthe12nationaluniversitiesfoundedorrestructuredfurthertothe2004National
UniversityCorporationLaw.Thelatterareobligedtosubmitplanstotheministryeverysixyears,and
failuretoobtainapprovalcaninprincipleleadtolossofaccreditation.
Theministryisthusmorepowerfulinrelationtothenationaluniversitiesincorporatedorreincorporated
after2004,whicharemorecloselymonitoredthanthemajorityofolderinstitutions.MrShimomuras
lettertothenationaluniversitieswassentasasteptowardsnegotiationofthethirdmidtermplan,which
willcomeintoeffectnextyearforthenewnationaluniversities.TokyoandKyotoandtheother75pre
2004organisationsarelessexposedtogovernmentintervention,althoughtheministrydoeshold
significantbudgetarypower.
Nevertheless,theoverallimpactofthe2004reformshasbeentostrengthenuniversityautonomy,since
theyarenolongerpartofahierarchicalchainofcommandwiththeministryatthetop.
Coveragehasclaimedthatofthe60nationaluniversitiesthatoffercoursesinthesedisciplines,26have
confirmedthattheywilleithercloseorscalebacktheirrelevantfaculties.Thesourceforthisclaimisthe
blogSocialScienceSpace(http://www.socialsciencespace.com/2015/08/japanseducation

ministrysaystoaxesocialscienceandhumanities/)hostedbythepublisherSAGE,whichinturn

citesthenewspaperYomiuriShimbun(http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/info/src/topic/20150902
OYT8T50035.html).
Whatthenewspaperwrotewasthat26universitiesplantorestructuretheirhumanitiesdepartmentsand
that17ofthemwillstoprecruitinginexcessof1300newstudentstothedepartmentsundergoing
restructuring.Theywillnotstoprecruitingaltogether,butwillimposestricterlimitsonadmissionsto
certaindepartments.
TheObunshaEducationalInformationCentersprojectedstudentrecruitmentfiguresfornextyear
(http://eic.obunsha.co.jp/analysis/201508/html/1)confirmthatmostnationaluniversitiesplanto

recruitfewerstudentsinthefieldsinquestionandmoreinscienceandengineering.TheObunshareport
alsolistsdetailsoforganisationalrestructuring.Onthewhole,mergersandclosuresofdepartmentshit
educationhardest,followedbyhumanitiesandsocialsciences.Ontheotherhand,thereareexceptions,
suchasFukuiUniversitysopeningofanewFacultyofInternationalandAreaStudies,andChiba
UniversitysnewFacultyofInternationalCulture.
Ithasbeenwidelyreportedthattheministersuggestedtheabolitionofdepartmentsordegrees,butthe
universitiesandnewsmediainJapanmentiononlyreorganisationandreducedstaffandstudentnumbers.
Somedepartmentswillbemergedorotherwiserestructured,andasmallnumberofuniversitieswill
restricttheirintakeofundergraduatesincertaindisciplines.Thisprocesshasbeenongoingforsometime
aspartofthewiderNationalUniversityReformPlan
(http://www.mext.go.jp/english/topics/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/03/13/1345139_1.pdf),soany

directcausalitybetweencurrentorganisationalrestructuringandtherecentletterisquestionable.
AsTimesHigherEducationreported,theScienceCouncilofJapanandmanyotherorganisationsand
individuals,includingsectionsofthebusinesscommunity,havevoicedstrongobjections.MrShimomura
maywishitwerenotso,butitisbeyondtheministerspowerstounilaterallydecreetheclosureof
universityfaculties.Thedecisionultimatelylieswiththeuniversityinquestion,whichiswhyJapanese
journalistshavebeenaskingthemwhattheirplanswere,ratherthansimplyreportingwhichacademicunits
theministerhasclosed.
Manyuniversitieswerealreadyrestructuringandwhattheeventualoutcomewillbedependsonaprocess
ofdialogueandconsultationbetweentheministry,theuniversitiesandotherinterestedparties.Some
disciplinesanddepartmentsmaybeembattled,butthesituationisnotasbleakasrepresentedbythe
coverage,andtheregulatoryframeworkensuresthatitcouldnotbeso.
WhileIbelievethatthethreatofwholesalefacultyclosuredoesnotexist,thatisnottosaythatthereareno
threatstothesocialsciencesandhumanitiesinJapan,someofwhichemanatefromtheAbeCabinet.
LikemanypoliticiansintheUKandelsewhere,ShinzoAbe,MrShimomuraandotherLiberalDemocratic
Partyparliamentariansandministershaveautilitarianandintheopinionoftheirmanyvocalcriticsill
informedandshortsightedviewofhighereducationandresearch.Theywishtosteerstudentsawayfrom
socialsciences,humanities,educationandarttotheSTEMdisciplinesandotherareasperceivedas
deliveringtangiblebenefitsandwhereJapanisbelievedtohavecomparativeadvantages.

However,researchfundingallocationsbytheJapanSocietyforPromotionofScience
(https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/egrants/award_trends.html)overthepastdecadedonotshowany

radicalshiftindistributionbetweenthedifferentfieldsofknowledge.Thismaychangeinfuture,butthe
socialsciencesandhumanitieshavereceivedagrowingshareofoverallresearchfundingsince2004.
TheincumbentAbeCabinetisbothremarkablypowerfulandpoliticallyambitiousbypostwarJapanese
standards.Intheuniversitysector,theambitionistointernationaliseeducationandresearchtothesame
levelasGermanyandtoincreasethenumberofuniversitiesintheglobaltop100to10by2023.
AlthoughfundinginitiativessuchasGlobal30(http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/ekokusaika/)andits
successorTopGlobalUniversities
(http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/26/09/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/10/07/1352218_02.pdf)

maytendtofavourSTEMsubjects,theydonotradicallyunderprivilegethesocialsciencesandhumanities.
Butnomatterhowpowerfulthecurrentgovernmentis,itsstatedobjectivesforJapansuniversitiesare
unrealistic.Thegeneralfundingenvironmentandpolicyprioritiesdonotposeasgraveathreattosocial
scientificandhumanitieseducationandresearchassuggestedbyTHE,butotheraspectsofthesecondAbe
premiershipmay.
KennNakataSteffensenisIrishResearchCouncilMarieSklodowskaCuriefellowatthe
UniversityofTokyo.

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READER'S COMMENTS (2)

What kind of stupidifying (/comment/4129#comment-4129)

Permalink (/comment/4129#comment-4129)

Submitted by Spectres_Derrida (/users/spectresderrida) on September 30,

2015 - 8:27pm
What kind of stupidifying quantitative logic is this? The fact that only 2% universities are doing
something about it says nothing about how powerful those 2% can be - numerical minority
doesn't always reflect reality right? After all how much percentage do the US ivy league
universities make up, less than 1%? Yet the influence they weild - positive or negative reverberates across continents doesn't it? It doesn't matter how many universities are complying
or covered - the fact that needs attention is what kind of message the government is trying to
send to universities: what kind of society does the govt believe Japan to be, and what direction
would it like the Japanese society to take? What kind of citizens will be produced and who is seen
as ideal? When you think about these more important questions, the situation is indeed as
ominous as it's made out to be.
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From a wider perspective, (/comment/4174#comment-4174)

Permalink (/comment/4174#comment-4174)

Submitted by zephyrian (/users/zephyrian) on October 2, 2015 - 3:25pm

From a wider perspective, considering the declining young population in Japan, Japanese higher
education might face the age of downsizing. In fact, there were more than 2 million prospective
undergraduate students (18-year-old bracket population) in 1992, but now the number has
decreased to under 1.2 million in 2015. Furthermore, it is predicted to continue to decrease
unless something happens to improve the birthrate in Japan. On the premise that many private
universities are going to suffer from this shrinking market, those strong national universities
might also be required to, or they are willing to (to keep the selectivity), downsize. Will they close
some departments? Will some whole universities face closure? Will they decrease the student
intake and the number of faculty members slightly across the disciplines and universities? The
discussion is coming.
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