Page 19 - Japanese Growth and Education: 演講人：Motohisa Kaneko教授

Japan’s Development and Education - Past, Present and Future -c119

growth started showing significant problems towards the end of the 20th

century, as the Japanese economy itself started experiencing problems that have
not been seen before.

Consequences of the J-Mode

One of the negative consequences was the excessive pressure on children

at their early ages. Given that the higher education institutions are highly
differentiated with respect to selectivity and the rewards for entering selective
institutions visible, competition over entrance to more selective institutions

intensified. The more competitive the entrance examination became, the greater
the accuracy of entrance examination in predicting innate ability. Employers
knew exactly which schools require greater ability for admission, and that

provided very simple and reliable information for recruitment. The hierarchy
in the school system was thus closely linked with that in industrial structure.
Through this correspondence, the structure tended to feed on itself.

R. P. Dore, a British sociologist, called it “Diploma Disease.” (Dore, 1976)
The vague impression shared widely by the Japanese is symbolized by a few
key words including the term “Gakureki-Shugi,” a word roughly translates into

academic credentialism. It was argued that higher education has grown beyond
the level that the economy needed. The graduates from higher education took
up the jobs that did not require higher education. They are only replacing high

school graduates, only because the employers prefer them. Once started, the
expansion in demand continues by its own momentum.
There is no doubt that the process is a very oppressive one for individual

children. Some critics saw in this process of self-reinforcement a symptom
of social ailment. It created pressure on high school graduates to succeed in
entrance examination of college graduates. It then created a pressure on school