Education minister Makiko Tanaka on Friday offered apologies to the organizers of three envisioned universities for initially opposing their establishment before reversing her stance this week.
But at her first new conference since rejecting a ministry advisory panel's approval for the schools Nov. 2, Tanaka reiterated her skepticism in promoting deregulation that allows more and more new universities to be created, and declared her intention to reform standards for approving them.
Tanaka withdrew her opposition Tuesday after coming under fire from the organizers of the envisioned institutions in Hokkaido, Akita and Aichi prefectures, and the education ministry finally gave the green light Thursday, allowing them to open on schedule next spring.