ABSTRACT
Social inequality in education – in Japanese often referred to as kyōiku kakusa – has been a topic of academic discourse in Japan since the late 1960s. Since then, studies have shown continuously that there is a correlation between children’s family backgrounds and their educational attainment and achievement. Japanese children whose parents have a high level of education and higher job positions tend to attain a higher level of education and to have better results at school (e.g. Hata 1977; Naoi and Fujita 1978; Ojima 2002; Maita 2008; Hamano 2009; Kariya 2012). While early studies focus on merely proving this correlation, and thus proving the existence of inequalities, recent publications put forward suggestions about how to reduce inequalities. In this sense, a development in the academic discourse can be seen from assessing educational inequality towards discussing ways to tackle it.
