Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 March 2011
Japan possessed a sophisticated network of institutions of higher education before World War II. There was repression on the campuses of colleges and universities, but it was less severe than that in the totalitarian countries of the time. The war placed great demands on higher education and forced it to change. New universities, colleges, and research institutes were established; more students were enrolled; and more women entered colleges. The war also spurred a great shift toward science and technology, which was to be instrumental in Japan's economic recovery in the postwar era.
Mobilization for military duty or for work made the students feel that they were responsible for the fate of their country. However, their youthful outburst of patriotism came to an end with Japan's defeat. Feelings of betrayal and disillusionment nurtured the extreme patriotism and militancy of the postwar student movement.