ABSTRACT
I begin this chapter by noting that many non-Japanese investigators (in particular, many Americans) view Japanese education through a lens configured by "what can we learn from Japan in order to improve Dur schools," which leads them to ignore the less admirable aspects and features of the system that simply do not fit in with their notion of what education should be. Bracey wams that many ob servers who were impressed with Japanese education (1) "weren't seeing typical J apanese schools; and (2) they didn't understand wh at they were seeing" (emphasis in original) (1997:98). And an important point about Japanese education that is not understood (at least by Americans) is weil put by Cutts: "When Americans look at schooling in Japan, they are not looking at an educational system at all. They are looking primarily at a political system, a primary and crucial stage of government with goals congruent foremost to nationalist purposes" (l997:xiv). Though nationalism, statism, and capitalism are not in themselves the whole ans wer to Japan's brand of education (they certainly play their roles in other education systems), any analysis of the condition 01' Japan's higher education is incomplete without them.
