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.