Abstract
This paper investigates the problem of securing opportunities for study in art education in the context of the neoliberal educational reforms that have taken place since the establishment of the Ad Hoc Council on Education in Japan. First, the position of education reforms is shown as one aspect of the reforms to the social structure that have taken place in conjunction with and against the backdrop of a policy shift from Keynesianism to neoliberalism, and that of a social transformation in terms of the transition from a modern-day growth period to a modern-day mature period. Then, while organizing the demands of the postmodernists as the second force of reform, the substantive forms taken by the neoliberal educational reforms and the transformations that they have engendered from the 1990s to 2000s are clarified. Based on the above, it is then explained how the boundaries (in art education) have become ambiguous because of the emergence of multiple paths in the pressure to reduce art courses and of the forces of unification and integration. Finally, the current situation is considered, including the systemic reforms that have taken place up to the present, the debates currently in progress, and the descriptions of future risk scenarios, and the issues facing art education are discussed.
