In this column in August, I expressed a view critical of a notice sent June 8 by the minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology to the presidents of all national universities, telling them to abolish their undergraduate departments and graduate schools devoted to the humanities and social sciences or to shift their curricula to fields where social demand is greater.
I also touched on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's target of making 10 Japanese universities rank among the world's top 100 and stated that a cost-effective and advantageous way to achieve that goal would be to improve research and education in the humanities and social sciences and to increase the number of papers in those disciplines published in English-language journals.
I will follow up on what I said in August by stating that education and research in the humanities and social sciences are indispensable to strengthening the international competitiveness of Japan's industries.