Bulletin Supplement Aug 1969

The Decision Making Process (an outline) By Prof. Chihiro Hosoya, Dean of Law Hitotsubashi University, Japan. I, Recent University Disturbances in Japan A. Recent situation: Universities in Japan have recently had serious student problems. On the campuses of the majority of the government-sponsored universities there have been blockades of buildings, barricade strikes, the occupation of class rooms and other disturbances. As a consequence, these universities have been forced to stop normal teaching activities. A similar phenomena can be found in many private universities. B. Forms and causes: These disturbances have taken various forms in different universities. And the problems which led the students to bring about the disturbances are also varied. I n spite of these differences, certain similarities i n the recent university disturbances throughout Japan: strong feeling of the university students against authority, against the Establishment and against contro l from above. Also there is another common element : the intensified struggle for the leadership among the two major student groups 一 Yoyogi (Japanese Communist Party) group and anti-Yoyogi group (New Le f t )—and finally they share willingness to employ violence. C. The University Bill: Out of a concern with the university unrest, the Japanese government made a decision to strengthen its contro l over the university through new legislation, and, in disregard of strong opposition efforts, railroaded it through the Diet. With the passing of the Bill at the Diet, it is said that the university disturbances ar e entering into a new stage. D. The case at my university: With the barricade strike carried out as a form of the student movement in support of international anti-war day on the 21st of October last year, the wave of the university disturbances passed over our campus. The radical student group which led the strike raised the question as to whether the faculty accepted the strike or not. Then, in December our Faculty Senate for the first time had a mass bargaining session wit h the leaders of the autonomous student group on the subject of the election of the faculty staff responsible for student problems. Since then the Faculty Senate has had a number of mass bargaining sessions and meetings with both the Yoyogi group and the anti-Yoyogi group. I n spite of our efforts to maintain channels of communication with these two opposing student groups, the anti- Yoyogi group finally occupied the main building on the 17th of May on the pretext that we had refused to continue talks with them. Subsequently, a plenary student meeting adopted a resolution on May 20th supporting the strike against the University Bill which was to be placed on the agenda at the Diet. I n such a fashion, student unrest has developed and increased in intensity at my university. II. Problems Related to the Decision-Making Process in the University A. Organs: One of the most important questions raised by the students 一 as well as by some of the faculty— during the period in which the disturbances have intensified at our campus has related to the decision- making process. During our negotiations with the students and i n their published pamphlets, they have brought up several problems concerning the decision- making process. For example, they have asked: Who is empowere to make the final decisions on important matters at our university? Is the Faculty Senate (Hyogikai), which consists of three representatives from each faculty (including the dean), the supreme organ for making decisions? What is the relationship between the Facult y Senate and each faculty or how is the decision-making power divided between them? These were the students' questions, and they called on us to clarify. There are some regulations which set forth the function and role of such organs as the president, Faculty Senate and faculty. I n reality, however, the working of these organs has been governed by custom and implicit agreements; and has not always followed the wording of the regulations. I n any case, it has been taken for granted that those who participate in making decisions on important matters, except fo r the budget, are limited to faculty members. This is called the self-governing formula of the faculty; and this formula has invited sharp criticism from the student body. B. Communications: The students have demanded the right to be informed immediately of decisions made by the faculty. We had agreed to give information to them whenever we reached any decision relevant to the students. But the students have demanded to know — 1 1 —