This broad historical survey assesses Japan's efforts to overcome dilemmas endemic to all modern school systems in industrialized societies. The book describes efforts to strike a balance between equality and excellence, individual creativity and team cooperation, standardization and innovation, and internationalism and cultural identity in the Japanese school system. The study also provides valuable historical perspectives on such contemporary issues as gender and ethnicity. This volume looks at political discourse on education as a means to understand modern Japanese society. Power struggles and ideological controversies about how to socialize and enculturate youth are at the heart of the processes by which a society is continually recreated. The book is organized around three revolutions in Japanese education. The first refers to the late 19th century Meiji Restoration period, the second to the mid-20th century U.S. Occupation period, and the third to the more recent efforts at yet another set of sweeping reforms. (RJC)