Entrepreneurship in Japanese Higher Education
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Since the mid-nineteenth century Japan has undergone tremendous transformation, and much of this has been the result of purposeful reforms planned and implemented by the Japanese government in relation to a broad array of political, economic and social issues. After WWII, Japan used her technological development, performed under political pressure during the war, to develop and industrialize fast enough to compete economically with the western states. To a certain extent this gave the Japanese a sense of confidence in their ability to solve the majority of problems through technocratic policy, and trough their established research and development systems. It proved Japan’s ability to reach the highest levels of international competitiveness in industries such as automobiles and consumer electronics. It is expected that Japan will continue to excel in its application of technology towards meeting economic and environmental challenges (Maswood et al. 2002, p214). After the economic bubble explosion in the early 1990s, Japan could no longer rely on the research already done and had to face her position in the new economic global order. In a rapidly globalizing economy, Japan is criticized to lack the creative dynamism of the so-called American ‘new economy’. In the educational reform of 2001, this lack of creativity was one of the major focus points. There is a popular perception that Japan is becoming a meritocracy, which implies that individuals must take greater personal responsibility for the development of valuable skill sets (Maswood et al. 2002, p116). As the global monitor for entrepre ...