（6）The New University System

Initial discussion of the reform of the university system centered around two proposals. The first suggestion was put forth in August, 1946, by Minister of Education Tanaka Kotaro in an Outline for Educational Administrative Reform, which was centered around school district education bureaus. Essentially, the plan proposed dividing the country into nine school districts, each having its own education bureau, which would administer the educational system from the elementary schools through the universities, as well as social education. The president of the Imperial University in each school district would function as the administrative head of each education bureau. The plan would create a strong administrative structure for each school district. Yet at the same time education would be relatively independent of partisan interests since it would be centered in self-governing universities. However, this plan failed to gain sufficient support, especially following the publication of the Report of the United States Education Mission to Japan and the proposal of the Education Reform Committee; moreover, GHQ indicated its firm preference for an educational administrative system that was more responsible to the local populace.

The second plan, proposed in late 1947 by GHQ to the Ministry of Education, called for the transfer of administrative authority over all national universities, higher schools and specialized schools (senmon gakko) to local governments, with the exception of the national comprehensive universities (former Imperial Universities) which could remain under the Ministry of Education. Opposition to this plan was voiced from all sides, particularly from persons affiliated with the universities. The Education Reform Committee also rejected this proposal on the basis that it endangered the autonomy of the universities, that it failed to take into account the need for a systematic distribution of public universities throughout the nation, and that the local authorities lacked the financial resources to support the university system. In the face of such extensive opposition, GHQ withdrew this suggestion.

One principle that GHQ insisted upon, however, was the "one national university per prefecture" policy in order to avoid the concentration of national universities in large urban areas and thereby constrain the opportunity for an equal education in other parts of the country. Thus, in June, 1948, the Ministry of Education published Eleven Principles for the Establishment of National Universities along the line of the GHQ's principle. Although this planning for the establishment of a new university system continued to be complicated by the great variety of schools that were to become national universities, in the 1949 academic year, seventy schools, including those with a single faculty, opened their doors as national universities. An additional seventeen local public universities and 81 private universities also began teaching. Some of the older specialized schools faced additional delays caused by the need to adjust their previous teachers' organizations, or due to the lack of facilities and equipment. Some of these schools were allowed to open as junior colleges (tanki daigaku), initially regarded as a temporary measure at the start of the 1950 academic year. A revision of the School Education Law, which was promulgated on June 1, 1949, paved the way for the development of junior colleges, which over the years spread from the big cities throughout Japan to fill an important gap within the higher educational system.

Given the diversity of schools that were merged into the new university system, the need arose for a systematic method to administer the universities themselves and to regulate relations between the universities' self-governing bodies and the national supervisory authority, the Ministry of Education. In October, 1948, the Ministry of Education announced a Tentative Outline for a University Law based upon the American system of university administration centered around a Board of Trustees. This concept differed so radically from traditional Japanese university management that it met with sharp criticism from university circles.

In a further attempt to work out a procedure for university administration, the Ministry of Education commissioned in September, 1949, a committee specifically to draft appropriate legislation. The resulting bills, one for national universities and one for local public universities, were presented to the Diet in 1951. The main points of the proposed legislation included the following: 1) the establishment of a council on national universities within the Ministry of Education to submit reports and offer advice to the Minister of Education on legislation concerning universities, and on budgetary policies, the establishment or abolition of university faculties (gakubu), graduate schools and research institutes, and the appointment and dismissal of teachers; 2) the creation of a council (shogikai) within the universities to submit reports and offer advice to that university's president concerning matters of university education, research, and management; and 3) the creation of a University Council (Hyogikai) within the universities of several faculties; and 4) the creation of faculty meetings (kyojukai) in the respective faculties of multi-faculty institutions as well as in the single faculty institutions.

Following protracted debate, these bills were also rejected and the issue of university administration was left unresolved. The problems inherent in management have continued to plague the universities, particularly in the light of the rapid expansion and changing conditions of the university system.