The 21st century is not only the age of the knowledge economy and globalization, but even more so, an age of intense competition. In a world filled with such tremendous changes, higher education is faced with new challenges in its ability to pass on education and guide the development of future generations. In response to these new changes, countries around the world have dedicated themselves to the reform of higher education. In the 1980s, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), Japan implemented a series of important reforms. The subsequent policies enacted by the government demonstrated the profound influence that such reforms have had upon the changing education system from the 1990s until today. Higher education is not simply a tool to cultivate professional and specialized talent, but more a central driving force behind the modernization of a country. In light of this, Japan has introduced a number of reform proposals in the hopes that this will provide new insight into the functions of university education and research. This study explores the changes of higher education in Japan and its corresponding countermeasures, and identifies important lessons for the future of higher education.
