ABSTRACT
The appointment of an Ad Hoc Reform Council, or Rinkyoshin, on August 21, 1984, was a logical culmination to a lengthy period of concern in Japan over a set of widely perceived educational problems and the future prospects for Japanese education. The charge given to the council by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone was clear-"to consider basic strategies for necessary reforms ... so as to secure such education as will be compatible with the social changes and cultural developments of our country." The prime minister went on to remind council members that "if our nation is to build up a society that is full of vitality and creativity as well as relevant to the twenty-first century, it is a matter of great urgency to design necessary reforms ... "\ (see Document 61).
