**2. The learning-centered higher education policy in Japan**

The learning-centered policy shift of the MEXT can be traced to the Central Council for Education (CCE) Report (2005), titled "The Future of Japanese Higher Education." This report confirmed that the twenty-first century as the age of the knowledge-based society, wherein higher education becomes indispensable for both individual and the nation [3].

<sup>1</sup> The MEXT conducts the survey so called "Survey for Educational Reform Situation in Japanese Universities" every year. The survey was conducted for 776 four-year universities and colleges between December of 2015 and February of 2016. The response rate was 99%. http://www.mext.go.jp/a\_menu/koutou/daigaku/04052801/\_\_icsFiles/afieldfile/2017/12/13/1398426\_1.pdf Accessed on June 27, 2018

The CCE report, published in 2008, was revolutionary in the sense that it confirmed this policy shift. Titled "Toward the Construction of Undergraduate Education," the report urged Japanese universities to set common learning outcomes for students of each institution as one method for quality assurance under globalization. In the same report, graduate attributes were utilized as a point of reference to recommend a common standard for learning outcomes. Also, universities are expected to integrate the life experiences of their students together with knowledge obtained from their classes in their undergraduate education [4].

The CCE Report of 2008 is recognized as the starting point for a higher education policy shift from emphasizing diversification and flexibility to one of quality assurance—the latter of which includes outcome assessments and a comprehensive reform plan. Such "quality assurance" has rushed higher education into establishing curricular programs, as well as pedagogical reforms, that have forced universities to adapt to the demands of universalization and the emergence of something resembling a global educational standard. In effect, the report demonstrates the need to clarify three policies in higher education for the sake of quality: namely, those relating to diplomas, curricula, and admissions [5].

The Central Education Council's 2012 [6] report "Toward the Qualitative Transformation of Undergraduate Education for the Future" recognized that reforms in university education to robustly equip students with the ability to face unpredictable times and remain viable form the foundation for solidifying students' lives and the future of Japan. Toward this end, the report stated that advancing qualitative changes in university undergraduate degree programs is essential. The conclusion of the Central Council for Education, released ahead of the report, recognized that proactive learning, meaning "the ability to proactively continue lifelong learning," is fostered through sufficient learning time. In other words, the starting point of establishing proactive learning by students is to secure sufficient learning time. In order to accomplish this, the report clarifies that universities have the responsibility to improve undergraduate degree programs, a new point in educational policy [2].
