Higher Education Studies in Japan

Abstract

The rapid development of higher education in the postwar period has given rise to various problems, and higher education studies in Japan have developed in response to them. What have been the major issues, and how did academic research respond to them, in postwar Japan? This article delineates an outline of higher education studies in general, describes a few major research paradigms set forth by generations of researchers, and examines the present status of higher education in Japan and the challenges it presents for higher education studies. In any area of study in education, academic interests reflect actual issues. This tendency appears more pronounced in the field of higher education than in others. Rapid development of higher education in the postwar period has caused various problems, and higher education studies has developed in the process to respond to them. This paper discusses the major issues related to higher education in postwar Japan, and how academic research responded to them. The first section presents a general outline of higher education studies. Part 2 describes a few major research paradigms set forth by generations of researchers, and finally, Part 3 examines the present situation of higher education in Japan, and the challenges that exist for higher education studies.