일본 '재단법인형 사립대학'의 기원과 변화

This article examines the formation of the university system in Japan between the 1910’s and 1940’s. The article views the institutionalization of the ‘foundational private university’ as a peculiar form of Japanese higher educational institution. The post-war Japanese private university system, which continues to the present day, is often characterized by the fact that it does not grant legal personality to the university itself, but to the founding and operating organization - the ‘school foundation’. However, previous research in Korean academia has failed to identify the historical origins of this institutional form, which originated in the antebellum period of modern Japan. The ‘foundational private university’ was deliberately adopted by the Japanese government, as a device for mobilizing and regulating private resources in the higher education sector. In this sense, the foundational private university was a product of late developmentalism in modern Japan. It also embodied some important negative aspects, such as commercialism, tunneling and a lack of democratic governance. This article elucidates the institutional dynamics of ‘foundational private university’ in pre-war Japan and its transformation into the post-war private university under the Private School Law of 1949. The Japanese experience can shed light on the historical origins of the East Asian university system in the late 20th century – especially in Korea.