Among the opponents is Kei Nemoto, an associate professor of Burmese history at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Saga University President Nobumichi Sako opposes the plan for a different reason. Although opposition to the plan is spreading nationwide, there are reasons for such changes, said Hitotsubashi University's Ishi and other promoters of the system. For one thing, calls are intensifying for university reforms because of the declining birthrate. In addition, the nation's rapidly deteriorating fiscal status is requiring reduced budgets for national universities.
Some schools agree that reform plans are inevitable, and are preparing for the shift.
Yamanashi University and Yamanashi Medical University plan to set up a joint graduate school, with a view to merge. Arima's plan was also opposed by the Foreign Ministry, which argued that the dispute over the Northern Territories must be resolved first, Arima said. In fact, even at the University of Tokyo, there are only 11 non-Japanese professors. The other 1,360 professors are Japanese. Out of such concern, Arima, as the nation's education minister, put forth the independent agency plan last year.