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Copyright of Socio-Economic History / Shakai-Keizai Shigaku is the property of Socio-Economic History Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the reading practices of the first radicals of the Tokyo Imperial University (1919-1929, Tokyo Teidai Shingin-Kai). By particularly focusing on the idea "From Science to Imagination" that they assimilated through their activities, this paper will explore how these students came to adopt this idea, which is different from the past viewpoints. In doing so. this paper reconsiders the students' social movement between the world wars. Shinjin-Kai was one of the biggest student groups at that time. Many of their practices and social activities influenced the then regime, and their reading practices formed the basis for their actions. For Shinjin-Kai, the reading practices did not merely imply reading but also included the characteristic act of transcending back and forth between the text and the real world. First, the students gained the knowledge by reading the text, and then understood the actual circumstances by communicating with the employees. Following this, they interpreted the then present situation by trying to match the knowledge of the text and the actual situation. Later, they intended to improve the situation by returning to the text again. Through such activities, they aimed to create a reading community not based on any social attribute, but on the similarity of interest. They interpreted the present situation scientifically using the text, and then developed this interpretation by imagining their new community through the text. In this process, they experienced a reversal of the role of a sender and a receiver, and then, realized that they have to respond to the present state that they try to change through their activities. The reading practices of Shinjin-Kai involved being aware of one's internal passiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Socio-Economic History / Shakai-Keizai Shigaku is the property of Socio-Economic History Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As we look into the future of Japan from the viewpoint of education policy, one critical issue is the changing composition of the country's population. The advent of an aging society combined with a low birthrate has had a prolonged and serious impact on Japan's entire education system. This paper, based on a full reflection on the history of the reorganization of school districts carried out throughout Japan in the postwar period, aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between education policy and the population issue. The main body of this paper consists of the following five parts. The first introduces the background of the study. The second depicts changes in the school-age population and projections into the future. The three phases of the reorganization of school districts, namely the municipal reorganization (cho-son gappei) phase, the phase of extreme population decline (kasoka) and the low birthrate phase, are described, and detailed analyses are conducted regarding these three phases. The fourth part, using Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo as an example, analyzes conflicts concerning the reorganization of school districts in central urban areas. The fifth part is an analysis of the "school selection system" and school districts. Based on the analyses, the following conclusions are drawn. The school institution, as one of the most popular and high-quality forms of social capital, has since the Meiji era become a symbol connecting individual residents living in local communities. However, many school districts have been destroyed during the process of reorganization and the only criteria for closing a particular school is the lack of financial efficiency. The education policy and population issue are closely interrelated, and the decision to close schools has caused great damage to local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C. Knowles & P. Sweetman (2004) presented a thesis that "visual research strategies comprise a set of techniques which activate the sociological imagination in the broad sense in which Mills intended it." The purpose of this paper is to verify the validity of this thesis and portray the numerous possibilities related to visual methods through a project that I have been working on with my students since 1994. Through this research project entitled "Narrating with Photographs: A Sociology of Tokyo," we conduct sociological research on Tokyo and Tokyoites. Each year, students produce and publish over 20 pieces, each comprising a photograph with a title and a description of approximately 400 words (in Japanese). Three hundred and eighty six pieces were published in the 15 years from 1994 to 2008. A visual method called "collective photographic observation" was developed through this project. Using the photographs of Tokyo and Tokyoites taken by students, this method comprises the following three successive stages: (1) seeing the photographs as objects stimulates a sense of wonder and brings out small narrative elements"; (2) seeing Tokyo and Tokyoites through the photographs stimulates sociological imagination, which enables students to imagine and read in the "larger hidden social backdrop of the photographs": and (3) narrating by using the photographs (formulating text backed up by fieldwork dependent on the photographs) anchors the meaning and enables the visualization and perceptualization of previously invisible "social processes and structures." The "dynamism of competition and cooperation" weaves collective frameworks and interpretations. A narrative based on photographs is created, and a visual narrative comes into being. Photographs are "access points," which mediate between the sociological process and the daily lives of people. They have the potential of dramatically changing social research and sociology education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's academic achievements differ by social class. Today, many researchers investigate schools that effectively reduce these differences. They have pointed out that in schools that are successful in this endeavor, there are many practices aimed at raising the academic achievements of children from lower classes. In this paper, I attempt to clarify the effects of these practices from the viewpoint of added value. This study aims to compare the actual achievement levels of children of each region with those estimated based on their socio-economic conditions and to clarify the educational conditions in the regions in which the actual levels are higher than expectations. For my method, I analyzed the data of academic achievement tests. I clarified children's achievement levels in 49 cities and wards in the Tokyo metropolitan area and in school districts in Adachi Ward (73 primary school districts, 38 junior high school districts). I examined the relations between the achievement levels and the socio-economic conditions of each region. Using this data, I estimated achievement levels using regression analysis. Regions were then divided into types by comparing the expected levels and actual ones. I named regions whose achievement levels were higher than expected "Effort types." The opposites are named, "Problem types." I then investigated the differences of educational conditions between these two types. It. was found that in Effort types, the numbers of children per school, class and teacher are relatively small. School size, class size and teacher's burden are small in these regions. In Problem types, they are relatively large. These differences are significant in the data from school districts in Adachi Ward. Based on the findings, I concluded as follows: 1. The influence of social background on children's academic achievement can be reduced by the improvement of educational conditions such as reducing class size, which is the task of educational administrations. 2. The improvement of educational conditions is less effective for raising the absolute level of academic achievement. It is effective for the reduction of the social determinants of children's academic abilities. 3. Evaluations of schools from the viewpoint of added value are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entry rate into the elite of university graduates who graduated with honor was higher than that of other graduates in Japan in the pre World War II period. What kinds of effects can explain this phenomenon? Three possibilities can be considered to explain it: first, honor graduates may be more successful in any job, so that there would naturally be a correlation between the university adaptability indicated by high grades and vocational success; second, they might have found it easy to gain sponsorship from established elite groups because of their honor grades, even if there were no necessary correlation between college grades and vocational success through severe competition; third, they may have found it easier to enter vocational sectors which were more accessible to the elite. The aim of this paper is to clarify how these three possibilities worked to create elites in the pre-war period, sampling mainly Summa Cure Laude graduates from Tokyo Imperial University. The main findings are as follows: (1) it is clear that Summa Cum Laude graduates entered jobs which were more accessible to the elite, such as Imperial University professorships or prestigious government positions; (2) they were more successful in whatever job they entered; (3) however, it is obvious that the Summa Cum Laude graduates received some special treatment in becoming Imperial University professors and were sometimes given advantageous positions and experiences as government officers, despite the fact that the competition for high elite positions in private companies was based on merit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]