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This paper aims at investigating Japanese government’s subsidy policy for private universities by applying statistical approaches to various types of quantitative data. Firstly, we briefly describe the history of the government subsidy policy to identify the dominant factors behind it and also explain the structure and mechanism of this subsidy. Secondly, by using 2005 data, we try to find influential factors in allocating both general subsidies and special subsidies for private universities. Thirdly, using the data in two periods given as 1975–1979 and 2000–2004, we try to elucidate the structural properties of the subsidy policy by applying correlative rank analyses approaches in order to measure the “dominance power” of the top-ranking subsidy-recipient schools. The results show that the number of faculty members is the most influential for general subsidies, while the number of students is the most dominant variable for special subsidies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese education has been a focus of comparative studies for the past 20 years. Many scholars have attributed the economic success of this industrialized society to a highly literate and well-educated population. Recent studies, however, have tended to be more critical of, in particular, Japanese higher education (HE). Indeed, most universities in Japan are acutely aware of the need for change and a considerable effort at institutional reform is sweeping the nation. Unfortunately most of the constructive criticism of Japanese HE has not yet been published in English. One of the most vocal of the reformists, Professor Ikuo Amano, has published widely on various aspects of HE in Japan. The following paper is a translation of a chapter in his book Challenges to Japanese Universities. This translation is prefaced by both a synopsis of this book as well as a brief introduction to Amano and his work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active learning is the outcome of a series of higher education policy reforms conducted in the late 2000s and early 2010s in Japan. This approach gained momentum after it was prioritised in a comprehensive report produced by the Central Council of Education (an advisory board of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology). It was also emphasised in a project undertaken by this Ministry. Despite its popularity and the emergence of publications focusing on its definition and associated methods, some scholars have expressed concern that active learning is not well understood or appropriately applied by Japanese university instructors. However, to date, no large-scale empirical studies have been conducted to elicit their understanding and practice of active learning. The current study addressed this research gap through a nation-wide survey of university instructors. Its findings indicate that the scholars' concerns are largely justified. Whereas the majority of respondents reported the use of instructional methods for implementing active learning recommended by the Central Council (e.g. project- or problem-based learning and cooperative learning), they tended to equate active learning with the mere use of these methods. In conclusion, we offer suggestions on how active learning should be understood and practiced by instructors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and analyzes the impact of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) on compulsory education policy in Japan to argue that global actors influence primary and secondary education as well as higher education. The article discusses three impacts on Japanese education. These are: 1) Policies directed towards developing children's reading skills; 2) The national achievement test initiated in 2007; and 3) the modified national curriculum (Central Educational Council Japan, 2008) that emphasizes the PISA focus on thinking, judging and expressing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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One of the characteristics in Japan's system of higher education is its large private higher education sector. However, recent financing reforms have targeted mainly national universities since the largest proportion of government support to higher education goes to these institutions. Recent reforms have been changing the structure and nature of national university finance. These changes were also influenced by a large private sector. Private universities also compete with national universities in order to increase financial resources. Therefore, there is a need to reconsider resource allocation and the distribution of functions among whole universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]