In Japan, the administrative system used for initial teacher education courses’ approval was introduced in 1953. The related laws and regulations were revised recently and state that all courses should be reapproved by the Minister of Education before the beginning of the academic year of 2019. The author investigates the issues that surfaced during the reapproval process and criticises the lack of fairness and transparency in the approval system. Among the problems, the author examines the use of the core curriculum of initial teacher training, set as a legal requirement in order to obtain approval from the Minister of Education. The author argues that this can lead to legal problems, and that the curriculum should be regarded as a non-binding instrument instead of a criterion for approval, an instrument universities can draw upon to improve their initial teacher education. The author concludes with suggestions for reforms in the approval system.