Thomas P. Rohlen

University of California, Berkeley. Center for Japanese Studies

Looks at five high schools in Japan, analyzes their organization, politics, and instruction techniques, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese educational system

Japan's High Schools

". . . Rohlen's book achieves exciting conjectural stances while providing us with rich and trustworthy substantive data and description. His treatment of schools as 'moral communities,' his call for new, culturally sensitive definitions of moral and creative goals in children's education, his interest in the consensus between parent, school, and society which underlies effective schooling are reason alone why this book should be read by anyone interested in the context and future of any educational system ... A splendid book for non-specialists, as well as for policymakers ... "--Merry T. White, The Review of Education "Rohlen uses education as the entering wedge for a good understanding of Japanese society in general. That the author was sensitive to and appreciative of Japanese ways is evident throughout."--Eloise Lee Leiterman, Christian Science Monitor "Never have I encountered a work on modem Japan which so skillfully captures what is intrinsically unique about the society. Indeed, Rohlen proves that comparative education need not be a litany of lifeless facts."--Linda Joffe, London Times Educational Supplement "On the basis of fourteen months of fieldwork in five Japanese high schools, the author integrates observation of the schools themselves with discussion of their relationships to higher education and society at large. . . . Rowen's conclusions offer insightful contributions to the current debate on secondary education in the United States."--Harvard Educational Review "The best introduction for many a year into the cultural mainsprings of Japanese society, the principles of its organization, and the way its citizens think and feel."--Ronald P. Dore, Journal of Japanese Studies

Christopher Bjork

This collection, written by Japanese and foreign scholars, represents an inclusive cross-section of the most important work in key areas of this field. Topics include: * the impact of Japanese education and training on Japan's economy and culture * the Japanese influence on the "East Asian approach" to education, in comparison with the educational systems of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong * Japan's promotion of "learning organizations" and "Knowledge workers" for the Information Age.

Education and Training in Japan

"Rohten has demonstrated that traditional anthropological method and theory can be adjusted to the analysis of complex organizations. The book provides a holistic perspective of a Japanese bank and its more than 3,000 employees. Methodologically, Rohlen analyzed this bank in much the same fashion as he would have carried out the study of a small community. Eleven months of participant observation within the bank and among its employees after work provided the major source of data. . . Possibly the most important finding of the study is that despite surface similarities with banks throughout the world, the Japanese have evolved an institution which is radically different. This bank, like many modern Japanese businesses, is organized to secure a common livelihood and way of life for its employees . . . more than the best cultural analysis of a Japanese business, for the book also contributes to the fields of Japanese cultural change and modernization process essential reading."--American Anthropologist "The account is adorned with an unusually rich selection of illustration from the speeches of firm officers, company records and documents, and of course extensive observations from employees . . . As a case study of a single Japanese organization, For Harmony and Strength is a superb effort that penetrates deeper than any other book in the English language."--Contemporary Sociology "A first-rate contribution to the literature in applied anthropology and comparative and cross-cultural management for the insights it provides on management of white-collar employees in Japan."--Industrial and Labor Relations Review "A well-written, thoroughly researched study of the internal life of a single Japanese organization . . Unlike most previous writers, Aohlen deals with the separate recruitment, work, and leisure patterns of the bank's women employees. As an anthropologist he has particular sensitivity to the ritual meanings of bank songs, ceremonies, and extensive training activities . . . one of the best analyses to date of how Japanese organization works."--Library Journal "What emerges from Rohlen's convincing and penetrating analysis is a picture of a thoroughly 'Japanese' business organization deeply imbued with Japanese cultural values .. . . in its sensitivity to cultural meanings and in its analytical coherence in the presentation of data, this book is a model of scholarship matched by few ethnographies. It will be consulted by those specializing in Japan, those interested in organizational behavior, and those interested in seeing 'the meanings of fundamental matters, ' for a long time to come.''--Journal of Asian Studies

Japanese White-Collar Organization in Anthropological Perspective

For Harmony and Strength

Ellis S. Krauss

Patricia G. Steinhoff

Social and political conflict in postwar Japan is the subject of this volume, which draws together a series of field-based studies by North American and Japanese sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists. It focuses attention on the sources of conflict and the ways in which conflict is expressed and managed. This book challenges the widely held theories stressing the harmony and vertical structure of social relations in Japan, which imply that conflict is only of minimal importance. Not only does the research presented here force recognition of the existence and complexity of conflict patterns in Japan, its approach to conflict provides a dynamic, empirical, and interdisciplinary focus on social and political processes in the postwar period. The editors' theoretical introduction is followed by a general conceptual piece by one of Japan's foremost sociologists. Ten empirical studies, each offering both new data and new insights on known data about Japanese social and political systems, analyze conflict and conflict resolution in interpersonal relations, industrial relations, education, rural villages, government bureaucracy, parliament, political parties, and interest groups, including how they are manifested in women's and student protest movements and portrayed in the mass media. Western social science conflict theories are applied to enhance our understanding of both the universal and the unique elements in Japanese social and political institutions.

Thomas P. Rohlen

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