Unlike its European model, the Japanese Diploma Supplement focuses not on improving fair recognition of qualifications but on making explicit the learning outcomes actually acquired by students through completion of their degree programs. This paper argues that this difference is due to the fact that the Japanese Higher Education Quality Assurance System is not equipped with a Higher Education Qualifications Framework. Because Japanese universities are unable to define their expected learning outcomes based on an agreed framework of higher education learning outcomes, they are obliged to convince stakeholders of the value of the degrees they confer by demonstrating the learning outcomes actually achieved by each of their graduates. This paper argues the urgent need of the higher education community to engage in collaborative discussion on higher education learning outcomes which will lead to the construction of a Japanese Higher Education Qualifications Framework.
