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?
