Issues of Japanese speech therapy education considering the 1995 Guidelines of International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP).

The historical background of the educational system for Japanese speech and language therapists (pathologists) and the challenge facing us today are reviewed. It took nearly 30 years for speech therapists and physicians to come to a consensus in defining the status of speech therapists (pathologists) and their educational curriculum before the 1997 national law for Japanese speech therapists was passed. Despite the formulation of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) Education Guidelines of 1995, little attention was paid to incorporate it into the 1997 national law. This paper discusses some challenges in the area of speech therapists' status and education system that exist today.