The Historical Development and Current Status of the Higher Agricultural Education System in Japan

Abstract

The historical development of Japanese Universities can be divided into the following 5 periods: Period 1 (1868-1918); Period 2 (1918-1945); Period 3 (1945-1991); Period 4 (1991-2004); and Period 5 (2004- Present). The developmental processes of the higher agricultural education system in each period are described in the present manuscript. Furthermore, analysis of the undergraduate curriculum between 1983-2007 has been conducted using Ag-Base, a database created at the Agricultural and Forestry Research Center, University of Tsukuba. The Ag-Base covers all 581,991 lecture courses offered at 53 agricultural universities in Japan between 1983-2007. Results of the analysis using Ag-Base showed clear changes in the curriculum structure at agricultural universities in Japan during the past 15 years.