This paper will provide a short overview of the emergence of history of science courses in Japanese colleges after World War II. The postwar reform of the Japanese education system was performed under the control of the occupying General Headquarters of the Allied Forces (GHQ). The Civil Information and Education Section (CIE) of GHQ organized the Institute for Educational Leadership (IFEL) to train Japanese educators. The Committee on General Education of the Japan University Accreditation Association invited three American scholars from the CIE to form a new scheme for Japanese higher education and introduce general education curricula into universities. It followed the general education system in the United States of the time, which had three pillars of natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Among the scholars, Sidney James French, a chemist, professor, and history of science lecturer at Colgate University, discussed the significance of history of science education. Russell M. Cooper, who partly coordinated the general education curriculum at University of Minnesota, mentioned the value of historical method in science education. Several members of The History of Science Society in Japan attended the Committee; among them, Bun’ichi Tamamushi promoted the addition of history of science courses for general education and later founded the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Tokyo. Since then, the history of science has been a component of the general education system in Japan.
