ABSTRACT
The first chapter describes how clinical psychologists, through a system of school counselors, became crucial in treating school absentees and their parents. Elements of Japanese psychology's history, showing how clinical psychology emerged at the very end of the 20th century, are presented. A charismatic character – Kawai Hayao – is introduced in a descriptive and critical fashion. A scholar and man of authority, he contributed to the spread of clinical psychology and a large system of school counselors in charge of treating school nonattendance. Here, his book Yungu shinrigaku to bukkyō (Jungian Psychology and Buddhism) is studied, avoiding misrepresentations related to its previous American translation. Important elements of the Japanese educational system are described, and the place of school counseling between clinical psychologists and teachers is questioned. A crucial transition is underlined: the shift from a stigmatizing medicalization of school refusal (tōkō kyohi) to a benevolent worry toward school nonattendance (futōkō).
