A Study on the Formation Process of Sports Recommendation Admissions to Universities in Japan*

The objective of this study will be to clarify the historical characteristics of the formation process of admissions based on sports recommendation in Japanese universities. First, in Japan, even before the recommendation admission system was officially approved, athletes had been given preferential treatment in entrance examinations. Next, Since the recommendation admission system was officially approved in 1967, private universities' faculties of physical education, among others, started actively admitting athletes based on a recommendation. These physical education faculties selected students based on physical skills tests to secure competent athletes. And in the 1980's, private universities played a leading role in conducting entrance examinations with a special admission quota for athletes. Waseda University launched the Special Selection System for the Physical Education Major, which introduced a special admission quota for athletes, specified the athletic events and performances, and made the selection process widely known to the public. Last of all, 1987 the Ad Hoc Council on Education recommended that assessment on sports activities be taken into consideration in entrance examinations. The 1989 University Admissions Selection Implementation Guidelines listed “adequate assessment of activities in sports, culture, etc.” as a selection method for university admission for the first time.