Tokyo University presidency row draws ministry review demand
AM730 · 2 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
A controversy has broken out over the University of Tokyo’s choice of its next president after Professor Hiroko Fujigaki (藤垣裕子), who placed second in an internal campus vote, was ultimately selected on September 28. In that vote, Fujigaki received 553 ballots, while Executive Vice President Takao Someya (染谷隆夫) led with 1,107, more than double her total. Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on October 20 took the unusual step of asking the university to re-examine the selection process and better explain the reasons for the decision. The university has said the vote was one important factor, but that committee members weighed other criteria differently.
Key Points
- The University of Tokyo selected 64-year-old Graduate School of Arts and Sciences professor Hiroko Fujigaki as its next president on September 28
- In the internal university vote, Fujigaki won 553 votes, while Executive Vice President Takao Someya topped the field with 1,107 votes.
- Education minister Seki Yoshihiro (關芳弘) said after a cabinet meeting on October 20 that the selection process and reasons remained insufficiently explained.
- The ministry’s higher education bureau chief, Tetsuo Goda (合田哲雄), visited the university and delivered a document to President Teruo Fujii and two auditors
- Some faculty and staff submitted a petition on October 13 seeking an explanation, but authorities criticized the university’s response as too superficial.
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the dispute is a reminder that governance and appointment procedures at leading Asian universities can become public accountability issues when internal voting results diverge sharply from final decisions. The case also shows how education authorities may intervene when a university’s explanation is seen as falling short, even at one of Japan’s most prestigious institutions.