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Nature 419, 875-876 (31 October 2002) | doi:10.1038/419875a

Open Innovation Challenges

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Japanese universities: Independence days

David Cyranoski1

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Japan wants to reform its university system, in part to match the competitive and entrepreneurial spirit of US academia. That won't be easy, says David Cyranoski.

Standing before the upper house of Japan's parliament in May 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stunned officials from the education ministry by saying that he wanted the country's 99 national universities to be cut loose from state control. "We should privatize ones that can be privatized, and hand over ones that can be handed over to local governments," he asserted.