Education reforms during the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) have traditionally been perceived as having been strongly shaped by U.S. American influence. The occupation bureaucracy, as the dominant element of a triangle of power together with the Ministry of Education and the Japanese Education Reform Committee, has been seen as the main author of the most important reforms. The influence of the U.S. side, however, hardly reached beyond the point of passing laws. Implementation, in contrast, was effected by the schools themselves. This is particularly true for higher education, where universities had a relatively strong standing and influenced the outcome of reform to no small degree. The weight of the universities and their members was especially visible in the failed attempt to institute a reform of university administration. Opposition by manifold actors on the Japanese side prevented this reform, which had been initiated by members of the Civil Information and Education Section of the Occupation. An analysis of the negotiation processes at work in the discussion about administration reform shows how influence on the outcome of reforms was balanced between the U.S. occupation authorities and the various Japanese actors. (Contains 59 footnotes.)