ABSTRACT
Social policies that have served Japan superbly well for a century are rapidly becoming untenable. And equally untenable by now is the policy, as old as "modern Japan", of preventing social dislocation by using economic measures to shield the social order of the "old Japan" while building a radically different "new Japan". The Japanese people have shifted drastically the educational structure of the population. Japan's economic growth and competitive strength are based on the availability of large numbers of manual workers at the entrance age—that is, on the availability of young middle-school graduates. As a result, Japan has become the only genuine "meritocracy" around, in which birth and wealth count for almost nothing and educational attainment for almost everything. Japan may well suddenly face up to her problems of success and to the need to maintain the essence of Japan in new forms and through new policies. Japan has also shown unparalleled capacity, throughout her history, for social innovation.
