5 1.3 The “Yellow Cover” and the “Blue Cover” In 1973, the Study Group on a New Higher Education Institution in the Field of Technological Science was established. After deliberations beginning in May, it submitted its report to the Director-General of the University and Science Bureau of the Ministry of Education in March 1974. Because its cover was yellow, it later came to be known as the “Yellow Cover,” in contrast to the later, blue-covered report. 1.3.1 The Graduate School of Technological Science: the so-called Yellow Cover From the perspective of Colleges of Technology, possible ways to break out of the “dead end” included: (a) opening university transfer pathways, and (b) establishing advanced courses and connecting them to graduate schools. The concept of the “Graduate School of Technological Science” (tentative name) thus emerged as an extension intended to solve both the “advanced course” issue and the “transfer admission” issue at the same time. The report entitled On a New Graduate School in the Field of Technological Science stated in its preface that “the concept described in this report will require further examination after clarifying the legal position of this higher education institution within the educational system.” The legal issue referred to here was the need to amend the School Education Act. Article 1 of the Act defines “school” as “elementary school, junior high school, high school, university, College of Technology, school for the blind, school for the deaf, school for children with disabilities, and kindergarten.” Therefore, this “new graduate school in the field of technological science,” which was intended to provide four years of integrated education for graduates of Colleges of Technology, did not belong to any of the categories of schools defined above. Just as “Colleges of Technology” had been newly added in 1961, this “new graduate school” would also need to be newly defined as a category of school. This became the greatest obstacle to establishing the institution as a “new-concept university.” 1.3.2 The Concept of the University of Technological Science: the so-called Blue Cover The new-concept university combining the third and fourth undergraduate years with the two-year master’s program did not correspond to any school category defined in the School Education Act, and legislative revision was therefore necessary. However, creating this “Graduate School of Technological Science” as a new category within the general national framework of schooling was considered extremely difficult, and amendment of the law was ultimately set aside. In August 1975, during budget planning, the Ministry of Education changed the name from “Graduate School of Technological Science” (tentative name) to “University of Technological Science” (tentative name). The concept, originally intended as an extension of the multi-track system, was thus required to join the main track of the university system. Since the basic policy of admitting graduates of Colleges of Technology by transfer remained unchanged, the number of first-year entrants was kept small, and, as stated in the “Blue Cover,” “as with Colleges of Technology, this university shall open a path of advancement to graduates of industrial high schools, where practical technical education is carried out at the uppersecondary level.” The concept of extending and further branching the Colleges of Technology, which had branched off in 1962, thus became, in FY1975, a return to the main track. By accepting students from high schools as well, it came to embody elements of a “general university”: in essence an extension of Colleges of Technology, but in form, a general university. This transformation can be seen in Chapter 1, “Basic Concept,” of the February 1976 report of the Study Committee on the Curriculum, Facilities, and Other Matters of the University of Technological Science, “ Organization, Curriculum, Facilities, etc. of the University of Technological Science—Summary” (the so-called “Blue Cover”). Part of that text is quoted below. The University of Technological Science shall have both a graduate school (master’s program) and an undergraduate faculty. The undergraduate faculty shall include substantial quota for transfer for thirdyear transfer. First-year entrants shall consist mainly of graduates of industrial high schools, while thirdyear transfers shall consist mainly of graduates of Colleges of Technology. The enrollment capacity of the
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