Mikiko Nishimura is a professor of the sociology of education at International Christian University in Tokyo.
Women’s universities are fighting for survival in Japan. Since 2000, 25 private women’s universities have become co-educational, while two have been abolished and two more are in the process of closing. According to Hideko Takeyasu, president of Kyoto Women’s university, the proportion of students enrolled in women’s universities to total private university enrollment dropped from 42.9% in 1960 to 19.6% in 2015.
