ABSTRACT
Theories of the diversity of capitalism accord a central place to the education system and to the system of skill formation within the firm when they discuss the different forms of capitalism. For example, Hall & Soskice (2001) identify education and vocational training as one of the five areas in which firms must resolve problems of co-ordination (together with industrial relations, corporate governance, inter-firm relations and intra-firm co-ordination).1 In the same way, theories of national systems of innovation emphasise the complementarities between, on the one hand, the education system (especially higher education), which is supposed to provide workers trained in firms, and on the other hand, modalities of innovation (Nelson, 1993). Besides, the education system is evidently not limited to the training of a competent workforce for firms. Above all else, it is a determining element of the social compromise that affects the level of inequality (Tachibanaki, 2010a; Kariya, 2010, 2011). It follows from these different dimensions of the education system that it merits a complete analysis, per se. In order to describe the Japanese education system and its evolution, we need to respond to the following questions: how is it organised? How is it articulated with other institutions? What are its objectives? In general terms, the ‘classical’ Japanese education system has been descri-
bed as a system that is ‘egalitarian with a broad base’ (Lam, 2002), in which the importance of vocational training was understood, going beyond academic education (Koike, 1991). An important part of education was taking place in firms, in the sense that they might be regarded as integral parts of the education system, which was significantly different from what is observed in other countries such as France or the UK. In the same way, Boyer (2003) shows that it was possible to differentiate German and Japanese capitalisms just on the basis of their systems of innovation and of skill training. In the first case, the accent was placed on the training in technical skills of ‘professionals’, who could circulate from one firm to another, whereas in Japan, the training of generalists was promoted, and their skills were acquired within a given firm and were specific to it. At the same time, the Japanese system of education had a certain number
of points in common with systems of education in other co-ordinated types of
capitalism. For example, it was highly centralised, as in France. This distinguished it from education systems in liberal Anglo-Saxon capitalisms. Since the early 1990s, however, the Japanese education system has experienced a set of reforms aimed at promoting more competition and the introduction of market mechanisms while turning the state aside, and in redefining even the objectives of school and university systems. In short, these reforms aim to promote convergence toward Anglo-Saxon education systems (while recognising the differences between American and British systems). The assembly of reforms had its origins in the 1970s and 1980s, when the
Japanese education system was the object of repeated criticism, from various points of view, from the need for effective education connected to ‘reality’, to a claimed perception that morals were declining and violence increasing. At issue was the transformation of the post-war system, pyramid shaped but based on equality of chances through competition, to a different system, officially liberalised but de facto more closed and characterised by more marked social reproduction. The object of this chapter is to analyse the changes that have come about in
the Japanese education system since these policies were put into effect. In return, these changes have begun to have consequences for innovation and the labour market. Beyond these indirect effects, it is one of the bases of Japanese society that has been affected by these reforms. Having set out what we may define as the ‘classic’ system of education and the criticisms that in the 1980s signified the start of the reforms to come, this chapter will concentrate on the broad parameters of reform from the 1990s, the effects of which it will seek to identify. Finally, we shall attempt to draw conclusions from this analysis in order to pinpoint the new Japanese capitalism.2
