In this English translation of a semi-classic study, readers have the opportunity to explore the manner in which both credentialism and the various levels of the modern education system have developed in Japan. Professor Ikuo Amano, the author of extensive works on Japanese education and examination systems, takes the reader through a detailed analysis of the process by which education and academic qualifications have become the crucial factors in determining social position. Using Japan as a concrete example of an industrial society thoroughly permeated by credentialism, Amano's book makes explicit the relationship between social selection and education, and, in so doing, points the way to why credentialism has come to dominate industrial societies. The book also includes a comparative consideration of the development of education, qualification, and selection mechanisms in both Japan and Europe.

About Editors and Authors

AMANO Ikuo is a Japanese sociologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in educational sociology and is known for his structural analysis of Japanese higher education and historical sociological analysis. He studies the meaning of educational systems and policies for Japanese society. In 2007, he received the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, one of the most prestigious academic awards in Japan, for his book “A Social History of Examinations” (written in Japanese).