Historical basis for the formation of the idea of equality of opportunity in Japan

The article analyzes the development of the concept of equality of opportunities, which appeared in Japanese educational theory at the beginning of the 20th century. The term took shape in discussions about education in the 1920s, and the thesis that education should not be class-based was established already in the early Meiji period. Creating conditions for education for as many people as possible, admission to schools and universities regardless of the social status of their parents or economic status became very popular among the intelligentsia and the highest echelons of power in Japan back in the 1920s and 1930s. Providing equal educational opportunities to all who wish to study was seen as a state task, the government sought to create conditions so that young people «would not be lost to the nation».