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Achievements and Future Challenges in Japan’s Sociology of Education: Sociologization, Pedagogization, and Resociologization

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Japanese Education in a Global Age

Part of the book series: Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects ((EDAP,volume 46))

Abstract

When considering the trends in the Japanese sociology of education over the 70 years since the end of World War II, there have been several significant changes in the nature and social position of the sociology of education within the academic history of expansion and development. These changes can be further understood by focusing on (1) the relationship between the sociology of education in Japan and research trends in Western sociology, (2) the relationship between the sociology of education and pedagogy in Japan, and (3) the relationship between the sociology of education and changes in Japanese society itself.

This chapter focuses on these three relationships to provide an overview of the characteristics and the future direction of postwar Japanese sociology of education.

It is evident that it lacks transmission of research results to other countries. So, the future task for Japanese researchers in the sociology of education is to demonstrate the significance of their research on Japanese education to international sociology of education markets.

This chapter, a slightly modified version of the original article entitled “Sociologization, Pedagogization, and Resociologization: Has the Post-war Japanese Sociology of Education Suffered from the Galapagos Syndrome?” (Nakamura 2013) was reproduced with the original publisher’s permission.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Galapagos syndrome” is a frequently used term in Japanese business circles to mockingly refer to technologies advancing in a form that lacks compatibility with other countries (referencing the animals of the Galapagos Islands who evolved uniquely in a closed environment). As Japanese mobile phones have been developed quite differently from their international counterparts, incorporating unique specifications in accordance with the demands of the Japanese market, this phenomenon is often referred to as reflective of the Galapagos syndrome.

  2. 2.

    When classifying postwar Japan’s education into time periods, they are commonly divided among 3 years (1955, 1975, and 1990) to coincide with the increase and stagnation of school advancement rates. However, due to the significant impacts that the second set of baby boomers and the declining birth rate have had on Japan’s educational structure, this chapter adopts a classification based on population dynamics, based on the assumption that the classifications ignoring population dynamics are biased.

  3. 3.

    Although the number of universities totalled 507 in 1990, the number in 2016 grew to 777, a growth of 1.5 times.

  4. 4.

    As indicated in Fig. 15.1, the rate of economic growth has decreased in recent years. In addition, because the number of employees whose final qualification is a high school degree decreased with the surge in the school advancement rate, many researchers have stated that this network has steadily ceased to function.

  5. 5.

    The comments of the following scholars of sociology of education served as references for the concepts developed in this chapter: Kouichi Hashimoto; Kazushi Hirasawa; Wataru Nakazawa; Akira Sakai. I would like to extend my gratitude to each of them.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Takayasu Nakamura

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  1. Takayasu Nakamura
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Correspondence to Takayasu Nakamura .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Strategy Office, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Akiyoshi Yonezawa

  2. Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuto Kitamura

  3. Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

    Beverley Yamamoto

  4. Faculty of International Communication, Gunma Prefectural Women’s University, Tamamura, Gunma, Japan

    Tomoko Tokunaga

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Nakamura, T. (2018). Achievements and Future Challenges in Japan’s Sociology of Education: Sociologization, Pedagogization, and Resociologization. In: Yonezawa, A., Kitamura, Y., Yamamoto, B., Tokunaga, T. (eds) Japanese Education in a Global Age. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 46. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1528-2_15

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