Incorporation of National Universities in Japan Under New Public Management

Abstract

This chapter discusses how the global trend of New Public Management (NPM) affected Higher Education Policies in Japan, focusing on the incorporation of national universities. The chapter analyzes this issue from two perspectives. The first point is how the global trend of NPM has led Japan to restructure national universities. This chapter will address how external stakeholders as well as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) were involved in the policymaking process of the incorporation in 2003. The second focus is how much an individual university remains independent from government control after incorporation. Specialists in accounting, personnel, and management are provided to national universities after incorporation, but that does not mean that national universities are independent of MEXT. MEXT still plays a big role in their future planning. All national universities became independent in terms of their organization structure after incorporation, but in reality, most national universities’ operations are still dependent on MEXT.