Abstract: The evolution of alumni organizations in Japanese universities is closely associated with the changes of the higher education system and university operating environment. Drawing on Japanese government documents, academic studies, official websites of representative universities, and publicly available materials from alumni organizations, the transformation of alumni organizations is examined, from early alumni networks in the prewar higher education system, to multi-layered structures under the postwar new university system, and further to contemporary platforms supporting university development. The study shows that alumni organizations in Japanese universities do not constitute a single organizational type, but comprise university-wide bodies, faculty- and graduate school-based associations, regional networks, occupation- and theme-oriented groups, and organizations with diverse legal forms. Since the early twenty-first century, national university incorporation, declining birth rates, and increasing managerial pressures have driven a shift from traditional networking and fellowship functions toward broader roles in alumni engagement, student support, fundraising collaboration, and social linkage. At the same time, challenges such as declining intergenerational participation, leadership succession constraints, strengthened personal data protection, and ambiguous boundaries between universities and alumni organizations have become increasingly prominent. The Japanese case suggests that the functional expansion of alumni work should be grounded in clearly defined responsibilities and corresponding organizational capacity, so as to maintain a stable relationship among university stewardship, alumni autonomy, and support for collaboration.

Key words: Japanese universities, alumni organizations, evolution, structure, functional transformation