（1）The Establishment of the Special Council for Education

During and after World War I, new educational movements sprang up in a number of countries resulting in an unprecedented worldwide call for educational reform. Although Japan was only marginally involved in the world conflict, its relations with other countries during the war were deeply influenced by the movements and trends of the times. Moreover, the rapid economic growth that Japan experienced during the war created new demands in the educational system.

In view of these new circumstances, on September 21, 1917, the Special Council for Education (Rinji Kyoiku Kaigi) was established as authorized in the Special Council for Education Organization Order. The Council was to conduct investigations and deliberations on important educational matters under the supervision of the Prime Minister. With respect to these educational matters the Council was to submit recommendations in response to inquiries of the Prime Minister. In addition the Council might offer independent recommendations to the Prime Minister. The Council stands out for the precision with which it prepared these recommendations. Based on the Council's recommendations, the Ministry of Education drafted plans for improvements in the educational system and most of these were implemented with unusual speed.

These changes essentially involved modifications of the internal organization of the various schools already established by the beginning of the twentieth century rather than the creation of new structures. However, considering the rapid growth in educational opportunities facilitated by these changes, it can be said that the Council ushered in a new era for Japanese education.

By the turn of the century, the Japanese educational system had acquired a coherent, unified structure. However, many problems remained and thus over the first two decades of the new century educational reform was a constant topic for public debate. In response to these discussions, on June 13, 1913, the government set up the Education Research Committee (Kyoiku Chosakai) under the supervision of the Minister of Education as authorized in the Education Research Committee Organization Order promulgated on that day, at which time the Higher Conference on Education (Koto Kyoiku Kaigi) was dissolved. The Education Research Committee held meetings and pursued numerous investigations. Yet the discussion rarely led to significant reforms.

At the time of the appointment of Okada Ryohei (1864 -1934) as Minister of Education in October, 1916, the great social changes brought about by World War 1 were the focus of national concern. The establishment of the Special Council for Education replacing the Education Research Committee was to respond to this anxiety in the field of education.

As the Special Council for Education remained in session for a year and a half, in contrast with the earlier deliberation groups, it was able to pinpoint the main problems of education and promote a significant reform of the educational system.

According to the Special Council for Education Organization Order, the organization of the Council called for a president, a vice-president and no more than forty members. In cases where matters of a special nature had to be dealt with, the appointment of provisional members was allowed. The nature of the tasks for which the Council had been assembled was clearly defined by Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake (1852 -1919) in his opening speech of October, 1917. Terauchi asked the Council to provide solutions to those problems which had been pending since the turn of the century and to guide education in such a way as to respond to the special situation which had arisen during World War I.

The Council convened from October, 1917, to March, 1919, and prepared reform policies for 1) elementary education, 2) higher level general education for boys, 3) university education and specialized education, 4) normal school education, 5) the school inspector system, 6) girls' education, 7) vocational education, 8) popular education (tsuzoku kyoiku), and 9) the academic degree system. Attached to the recommendations for each of these areas was a statement of justification. Having completed its mission, the Special Council for Education was dissolved on May 23, 1919, and thereafter the details of the implementation of its recommendations were handled by the Special Committee for Education (Rinji Kyoiku Iinkai) established under the supervision of the Minister of Education, as authorized in the Special Committee for Education Organization Order promulgated on that day. The main task of this Committee was to carry out necessary investigations for the implementation of a six-year plan for the establishment of government higher educational institutions and the expansion of their facilities.