Japan’s higher education and the public good

The purpose of this study is to analyze different interpretations of public good(s) in the context of higher education, the contributions that higher education makes to the public good, and how these contributions are measured in Japan. The analysis draws on 17 semi-structured interviews with policy makers, presidents of national professional associations, institutional leaders, deans and professors from contrasting disciplines, and other administrators from two national universities in Japan. Firstly, all interviewees believed that Japan’s higher education could be considered to be a public good. However, they did not consider it a pure public good. Secondly, the study not only reveals a wide variety of interviewees’ interpretations of the public good, the public good of higher education, the contributions that higher education makes to the public good, and the measurement of these contributions, but also suggests to what extent interviewees’ understanding deviates from the literature. Finally, while the structure of Japan’s higher education system, including the quantitative dominance of private universities, tuition fee system, and existing oversight of the public good, may suggest that there are fewer contributions to public good in Japan’s higher education than in European continental countries, the study reveals that Japan’s higher education, including private universities, contributes the public goods, and its contributions to the public good or public goods are highly valued.