An Introduction to Japanese Society

This chapter surveys Japanese education by first inspecting its demography and stratification in detail and scrutinizing how class variables play out throughout the educational process. The second section investigates how the state attempts to control the substance of education at primary and secondary levels, while the third section focuses on some of the costs of the regimented style of teaching. The fourth section examines continuity and change in university student life, and the fifth section looks at how Japanese education is facing the rising tide of globalization, with particular attention paid to English-language teaching. The final section describes four competing educational orientations.