Curriculum Change at a Japanese Private International University: The Influence of Global and Local Pressures on the ‘NEW’ Challenge

Demographic change is creating a buyer’s market for university education within Japan while the needs of the Asia-Pacific region in terms of capacity building add a further dimension of uncertainty for a local University also dependent to a considerable extent on this market for a viable student intake. This Chapter looks at the current Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University ‘New Challenge’ curriculum change processes in the light of global and local pressures on education in the twenty-first Century and the responses of an institution that, before now, has operated within the close confines of (1) The traditional Japanese entrance exam system and (2) The job-hunting culture (Shuishoku Katsudo) that preoccupies students during their 4th year of undergraduate education in that tradition. The primary task for the ‘New Challenge’ was to achieve effective change within this traditional system, while making sure that the demands and criteria of a different approach derived from new Japanese and overseas thinking about educational needs could be grafted onto the best aspects of the previous system most effectively. It is hoped that this case study will promote meaningful discussion on both the influence of global pressures on university education and on effective ways of incorporating these within relevant and viable new curricula.