Challenges to Japanese Education

In this volume, eight leading Japanese scholars present their research on profound and sensitive issues facing Japanese society, much of which has not been available to the English-speaking world. Traveling from Japan to engage in a unique forum at University of California, they joined eminent Professors Befu, DeVos, and Rohlen to bring over 50 leading scholars up to date on the global challenges facing Japan and how education has and will play into the reformulation of its identity. Chapters examine such topics as education policy changes, the education of minorities, including the Burakumin, the hegemony of college entrance examinations, social mobility and basic human rights, increased economic competition and global migration, political influences on educational reform, and the future of Japanese education.

June A. Gordon is a Professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Hidenori Fujita is a Professor at International Christian University (ICU). Takehiko Kariya is a Professor at University of Oxford. Gerald LeTendre is a Professor at the Pennsylvania State University.

Additional Contributors: Harumi Befu, George A. DeVos, Haruhiko Kanegae, Taeyoung Kim, Yoshiro Nabeshima, Naomi Noiri, Akira Sakai, and Mamoru Tsukada.

“An acutely perceptive set of essays providing fresh insights into many of the most misunderstood facets of Japanese education today. Much overdue, it sets the stage for new ways of seeing Japanese education in the comparative light of globalization.”

—Thomas P. Rohlen, Professor Emeritus, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

"Finally, a volume that conveys the perspectives of top Japanese scholars and activists on the complexities of schooling in Japan! This engaging volume is an excellent resource for all those interested in the pedagogical discourses, political forces, and economic dynamics driving Japan's recent attempts at education reform."

—Susan D. Holloway, University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education