Breaking the Rules in Japanese Schools: Kōsoku Ihan, Academic Competition, and Moral Education

From the perspective of an American observer, Japanese schools emphasize rules related to general comportment and deemphasize rules related to academic honesty. I interpret this by considering the role schooling plays within the broader process of Japanese enculturation. Compared to U.S. schools, Japanese schools are allocated greater responsibility in the discipline and moral educa tion of children, with authority extending to domains of behavior and methods of correction reserved to parents in the United States. But Japanese schools are allocated less responsibility than U.S. schools in sorting students through academic competition, despite, or because of, Japan's scholastic entrance exami‐nations. Viewed in the context of their enculturative role, Japanese schools are seen to be neither as uniformly harmonious nor as generally corrupt as some outsiders have concluded.