The university and the technical revolution in Japan: A model for developing countries?

Abstract

This article discusses the role of the university in Japan's technological and industrial development. In the first part the historical development of the university in terms of technological and industrial development is treated in four sections, as follows:

• (1) 1868–1886 - higher education and Westernization;

• (2) 1886–1914 - Japan's industrial revolution and the university;

• (3) 1914–1945 - industrial development between the wars and the expansion of the university;

• (4) 1945-the present - the new university system and post-war industrial progress.

In the second part of the article some of the problems observed in the above historical treatment are discussed under the following headings: Westernization of a non-Western society, coordination between education and industry, the government and freedom of the university, and nationalism and internationalism. Throughout the whole period of development, the university in Japan has played a crucial role in introducing Western science and technology into Japan and in training the personnel necessary for technological and industrial progress. While the university has to be given credit for this important contribution it has to be noted that the state itself made an equally important contribution by ensuring that industry was coordinated with the university. Such initiatives on the part of the state did, however, raise questions about the academic freedom of the university. The Japanese university thus played an important part in terms of the development of the national interest; it has, however, been criticised recently for being less ready to develop that spirit of internationalism which the modern world requires.