Post-War Reform Program at the Tokyo Institute of Technology

Daishi OKADA (mailto:daishi@me.titech.ac.jp)

After the World War II, Tokyo Institute of Technology embarked on an ambitious and drastic reform program. This is generally regarded as the first step in restructuring higher education system in post-war Japan. A leading figure of this program was Koroku Wada (1890-1952), the president of the Institute, 1944-1952. In 1947, Wada also became the first president of the Japan University Accreditation Association (J.U.A.A), which was modeled on the University Accreditation Systems in the United States. It played a crucial role in shaping reforms in the post-war University System in Japan. There are not many first-hand accounts of the reform program at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The extant official records are collected in the Tokyo Kogyo Daigaku Hyakunenshi (The Official History Book of the Tokyo Institute of Technology). Drawing on these records, other primary sources, and interviews with surviving actors, this thesis attempts to analyze the post-war reform program at the Tokyo Institute of Technology by placing in its broader social, political and historical contexts. It highlights four aspects of the reforms:

First, although the reforms began after the war, it has its roots in the period before it. Beginning in the early 1930s, a group of university professors met informally to debate curriculum development and administrative and disciplinary problems. This continued even during the war. Some faculty members, among Wada, looked at the curriculums of other universities abroad. The recently reformed Massachusetts Institute of Technology emerged as a primary example for the Institute to emulate or compare its programs with. The new political and social environment after the war made the introduction of a radically reformed university program not only possible but also highly desirable. Taking this opportunity, Wada and other reformist professors at the Institute launched their reform program soon after the war.

Second, the Reform Committee, which consisted of ten members, including President Wada himself and Secretary General Moske Ishii, blueprinted and oversaw the reform program at the Institute. A main priority was to re-structure all departments and disciplines by closing down the formerly narrowly-defined and overspecialized departments. In this ambitious task, the Committee received the enthusiastic support of reform-minded junior professors and the tacit approval of politically indifferent and narrowly-specialized conservative faculty members who felt at a loss after the war.

Third, this reform program at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, its blueprints, concepts and ideas became keys to and inspired reforms in higher education system in Japan in general. Its reform spirit and experience were also crucial to the establishment of the J.U.A.A, as well as to Wada being picked up as its first president.

Fourth, the reform movement was broadly supported by the Civil Information and Education Section of the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces (G.H.Q.), which ruled Japan from 1945 to 1951. The G.H.Q might have favored directly or indirectly an American model for the reformed Tokyo Institute of Technology, and also for the J.U.A.A. In fact, there seems to be some mystery about Wada’s own relations with the G.H.Q. He might have been put forward as a key person for his familiarity with the American university system and reform programs.