The Japanese High School: Silence and Resistance (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies) [Hardcover]

Shoko Yoneyama (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0415154391 | ISBN-13: 978-0415154390

For large numbers of school students in Japan school has become a battle field. Recent violent events in schools, together with increasing drop-out rates and bullying are undermining stereotypes about the effectiveness of the Japanese education system. This incisive and original book looks at Japanese high school from a student perspective and contextualises this educational turmoil within the broader picture of Japans troubled economic and political life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'I recommend this book for reading by everyone who hopes to understand what Japan will be capable of achieving through its education system in the 21st century.' - Katalin Ferber, Shizuoka University of Art and Culture

'This is a book I have been waiting for - as a teacher as well as a scholar - for a long time.' - Japanese Studies, Vol 20, No.1, 2000

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (August 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415154391
• ISBN-13: 978-0415154390
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,747,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential and provocative, though not definitive, January 25, 2004

By 

Iwao (Marple, Cheshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Japanese High School: Silence and Resistance (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies) (Hardcover)

In this book, Shoko Yoneyama gives details of some of the chief problems that have faced Japanese education over the last 20 years, and continue to do so - including bullying and school refusal. The thoughtful, in-depth coverage of these issues in Japan has a good claim to be more thorough than anything else in print in English. One of the book's great strengths is the way the author draws on much material in Japanese. (Previous reviewers give the impression the material and the arguments are not available in Japanese, but actually both are well-known, even if not from this author.)

Yoneyama argues that one of the root causes of problems such as bullying and school refusal in Japan is the fact that Japanese schools (or at least secondary level schools) over-socialize children with rules and other forms of regimentation, the result being fatigue, pressure for super-conformity, and a tendency to copy the oppressive power-dominant relationships the school embodies. The arguments are powerfully made and well supported with a range of evidence. Having said this, I think readers should think about the arguments and evidence carefully and not just accept them uncritically. Here are some of my thoughts and questions. First, the thesis is sometimes difficult to falsify. For example, Yoneyama rightly points out that it is difficult to get accurate information on the extent of bullying. She comes close to implying that we can never know that bullying is not taking place. But should we then assume that bullying is going on, even when we can find no evidence? Secondly - a related point - there is occasionally a tendency to discount evidence that shows Japanese schools in a positive light. For example, Yoneyama's survey results indicated that Japanese students felt less academic achievement pressure and thought their school was less competitive than did Australian students, but she does not seem to regard this as particularly positive or as evidence against her thesis. Thirdly, and again related, the vast majority of the qualitative evidence she gives is from students who have had serious problems with the Japanese school system. How do children who have not had such problems see things?

Other writers such as Thomas Rohlen and Gerald LeTendre have given more positive views of Japanese secondary level schools. Yoneyama's book is very important in giving a different analysis and in giving a voice to children who have had major problems. I hope that readers and students will take seriously the arguments and evidence from these various researchers, rather than just taking one view as the authoritative truth. And I really hope that Routledge issue this book in paperback so that I can actually afford to buy it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wake up call to Japanese education, June 26, 2001

By 

Tim Murphey (Nagoya, Aichi Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Japanese High School: Silence and Resistance (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies) (Hardcover)

This book is a MUST read for anyone trying to understand the forces at work in Japanese schools and society (one and the same). I found it not only well documented but also highly readable, gripping even in parts, rare for an academic book. I only hope it will soon be published in Japanese so that the Japanese public can also benefit from Yoneyama's insights and in-depth research.

Contradicting the idea that Japan is the model education system, as seen in the eyes of many westerners trying to boost their own systems, Yoneyama shows how the excessive control from the top down by administrators of teachers and teachers of students is ultimately killing the system. At the same time students, in a desperate attempt to salvage some control, are literally killing themselves and each other.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ijime in japanese schools, December 7, 2001

By 

stephanie maltz (eugene, oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Japanese High School: Silence and Resistance (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies) (Hardcover)

This book provides documentation of the most sensational examples of ijime [bullying]in Japanese schools. It also gives examples of teacher-assisted ijime and the tragic consequences. Too often, these stories are buried and meant to be forgotten. It is the shameful underside of the Japanese school system. In a country where appearances are everything, the instances of bullying in schools are denied or delicately expurged form the national consciousness. No wonder it has never been translated into Japanese.