This comprehensive study of the Japanese education system follows the Japanese child from the kindergarten, through the progressively more arduous and competitive environments of the elementary, middle and high schools, to the relative relaxation, even hedonism, of university life. Drawing on numerous surveys and on the author's personal experience, it provides a wealth of information on teaching methodologies, discipline, class sizes, the school day, assessment and the national curriculum. It also examines the role of the central Ministry of Education and the local boards in administering education throughout the country, and outlines and assesses the government's recent programs of educational reform. The behavior, attitudes and expectations of pupils and parents are discussed in detail, and placed within their political, social and historical context, revealing the complex cultural assumptions determining learning and socialization in Japan. This study thus contributes to the efforts of educators and sociologists to understand and evaluate different approaches to education in diverse cultures, increasingly important in the global information age. It shows how the American and Japanese education systems are based on fundamentally different concepts of society: democratic individualism and hierarchic collectivism respectively. While discussing the positive and negative effects of each extreme, it suggests that American educators might learn from a system in which truancy, insolence, violence and drug abuse are comparatively rare. However, the study shows how the traditional ideals of Japanese education - unquestioning acceptance, self-sacrifice, and respect for superiors - face serious challenges in a time of globalization, and moral, social and cultural change.

This book explores British reflections of Japanese education between 1858 and 1914, by referring to accounts by British observers, derived from documentary sources such as newspapers, journal articles, published books, and official reports. Hiraoka argues that British attitudes and comments on Japanese education reflect concerns about their own education system. International economics and politics of the time, as well as the voices of the Japanese, are also taken into account. British interpretations of the advantages of Japanese education are explained with two seemingly contradictory views: traditions inherited in Japan, and modern institutions newly introduced using the Western model. The book illustrates how this dual view of Japan affected the rise and fall of British interest in Japanese education over half a century. It also explores a broad range of phenomena – educational reforms, legislation and practice, science networks, exhibitions, international trade, and military affairs – to observe how Japanese education was viewed by the British. It consults a wide range of primary sources, most of which are published or digitally archived. Shedding new light on the transnational history of the educational relationship between Japan and Britain, this book will be an attractive base for future researchers in the fields of history of education, cultural history, and comparative education.

Presents a profile of the Japanese educational system and compares and contrasts it with the American system. The objective is not to advocate the replication of the Japanese educational system and practices, but to promote a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both systems. Charts and figures.

This volume analyses the success or otherwise of reform efforts in Japanese education since the Second World War. Contributors address a wide variety of themes from differing perspectives, their articles ranging from a historical study of reform efforts during the military occupation of Japan, through an analysis of educational developments under Prime Minister Nakasone, to the practical effects of changes in the teaching of mathematics. It will be of interest to all students of education in Japan.

A study of postwar education in Japan which is intended to shed light on the development of Japanese educational policy. Major educational documents are included, some taken from records of the American occupation forces and others being original translations from Japanese sources.

Presents a large representative sample of the literature on Japanese education with an emphasis on its psychosocial aspects. Many discussions compare the Japanese educational system with that of the United States and other countries. The citations cover most of the 1990s including a few earlier and later references. Includes extensive discussions about Japanese educational reform movements and their consequences. Also cites published and unpublished dissertations and theses. Updates the last comprehensive English language bibliography on Japanese education published by Ulrich Teichler in 1974. The citations were taken from many online databases. Suitable for students, teachers, scholars and the general public.

Focusing on the post war reconstruction of the education systems in Japan and Germany under U.S. military occupation after World War II, this book offers a comparative historical investigation of education reform policies in these two war ravaged and ideologically compromised countries. While in Japan large-scale reforms were undertaken swiftly after the end of the war, the U.S. zone in Germany maintained most of the traditional aspects of the German education system. Why did Japan so readily accept ideas and values developed in the allied countries while Germany resisted? Masako Shibata explores this question, arguing that the role of the university and the pattern of elite formation, which can be traced back to the period of the formation of Meiji Japan and the Kaiserreich, created the conditions for differing reactions from educational leaders in each country; this had a decisive impact on the proposed reforms. By examining these reactions through a sociological, cultural, and historical frame, an explanation emerges. Japan and Germany under the U.S. Occupation will prove to be a valuable resource both to scholars of history and education reform.

The practice and perceptions of Japanese management are undergoing fundamental change. This book sets out to identify the essential currents of change and explain how and why these impinge on the experience of managers in Japan.