Japanese national universities are under pressure to undertake major restructuring of their Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) departments following the government’s notice urging major university education reform delivered in last June. The notice announced by Hakubun Shimomura, the Minister for Education, encouraged national universities to commit to major reforms in AHSS departments with the backdrop of a declining population and the demand for fostering skills required by the industrial and business sectors. The government’s move has caused debates across the sector and the public on the future of AHSS education in Japan, inviting a wide range of responses from resignation to criticism.

According to a recent report from NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting organisation, amongst 48 national universities which have AHSS schools, 83% included plans to reform those departments in their 6-year mid-term strategies. While there were no universities which planned to close those departments, many universities suggested that they would consider restructuring them through either merging with science departments or placing the development of skills required by employers as a central theme of the courses. Even universities which have been against the idea of reforms to arts education have felt the pressure to make changes due to budgetary demands.

This is part of a wider university education reform which the current government led by the Liberal Democratic Party’s Prime Minister Abe is pursuing, such as enhanced global recognition and functional differentiation. The whole trend is expected to bring major changes in the landscape of the higher education sector in Japan.