Nonprofit Education in Japan: NPO–led Career Guidance at Metropolitan Senior High Schools Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades des Doktors der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) an der Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften der Universität Hamburg im Promotionsfach Japanologie vorgelegt von Vincent Benvoglio Lesch Hamburg, 2019 Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt Universität Hamburg Asien–Afrika–Institut Abteilung für Sprache und Kultur Japans Prof. Dr. Glenda S. Roberts Waseda University, Tokyo Graduate School of Asia–Pacific Studies Datum der Verteidigung: 16. Dezember 2019 Acknowledgements This research project was developed and refined with the help of many supporters in Germany as well as Japan. It required multiple short and long stays in the field. Luckily I had many institutions and people supporting me along the way. This research project received institutional funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo). Without this financial and academic support this research project would not have been possible. I would like to extend my gratitude to the Waseda University Graduate School of Asia–Pacific Studies (GSAPS), the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ Tokyo) and the Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture (ICC) which all granted me affiliation as scholarship holder or research fellow during my time in Japan. The institutional support was invaluable and one of the major factors for me finishing my PhD project. In particular I would like to thank my doctoral advisor Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt for her encouragement and support during my academic journey. I could always count on her for honest and direct feedback, her numerous letters of recommendation to secure funding for my research trips, and her help in every other situation. Prof. Dr. Glenda Roberts, my second advisor, contributed to this project with her support during my affiliation at Waseda University, her “PhD–zemi”, and throughout my entire fieldwork in Japan. Her input always gave me a new angle on my research and helped me to develop my project further. In addition to my two supervisors, I also received help and encouragement from a number of academics in the field: Prof. Gracia Liu–Farrer (Waseda Univ., GSAPS) always listened to and commented on my research during her “PhD–zemi” at Waseda and gave practical feedback on how to further develop my project. During my time at the DIJ Tokyo Prof. Franz Waldenberger and Dr. Steffen Heinrich as well as all other research fellows and scholarship holder gave me advice and introduced me to new ideas. Without the nine months at the DIJ this project would not have been possible. Especially the long conversations about the educational system in German and Japanese I had with Prof. Yamauchi Mari, while she was a visiting professor at the DIJ Tokyo, helped to put my data into perspective and gave me new ideas for my research. I would like to thank Prof. David H. Slater (Sophia Univ., ICC), in whose “fieldwork workshop” I took part on a regular basis and in which I was able to present my ongoing research project und profit from his feedback as well as from feedback of the other participants. He also put me in contact with Prof. Sakai Akira (Sophia Univ., Department of Education) who also gave me a lot of advice for my research project. Prof. Susanne Kreitz–Sandberg (University of Stockholm), with whom I managed to write and publish a paper on truancy in Japan parallel to the final phase of my dissertation, also offered me valuable advice from which my dissertation profited. I would like to thank my interview participants and the members of the “Labor Market Cram School” as well as the “Free Juku Project” for their time and expertise. Without them I would not have been able to collect the data to write this dissertation. Finally I would like to thank my family, friends and fellow students in Japan and Germany who supported me during my academic journey. Some only recently joined me on my way and some I have known for many years. Thank you for your friendship. In Japan, I would especially like to thank Chisa K., teacher at a national senior high school in Tokyo, who not only proofread all Japanese language parts of my dissertation but also supported me with her insights about the Japanese high school system during my fieldwork. In Germany, I would like to thank Anna S. who took it upon herself to go through various chapters of my dissertation. Her comments helped me to take a step back and see my work from another perspective. The people who supported me throughout the last years are to thank for what I was able to write. Without them this would not have been possible. 1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Chapter overview .................................................................... 4 2 Literature review .............................................................................. 6 2.1 Socioeconomic background, educational and occupational attainment .......................................................................................... 7 2.2 The school–to–work transition system .................................. 13 2.3 Civil society and NPOs in Japan ........................................... 15 2.3.1 The NPO Law and subsequent developments ............... 18 2.3.2 Becoming an NPO: Application process, approval, and recent developments .................................................................... 23 3 Theoretical background ................................................................. 27 3.1 Institutional social capital: Influence on school–to–work transition .......................................................................................... 29 3.2 State–society partnerships, policy collaboration, and NPO– ization by the government ................................................................ 35 3.3 Nonformal education: An alternative locus of education ....... 44 3.4 Combined theoretical framework for NPO–led career guidance in Japan ........................................................................................... 46 4 Methodological approach .............................................................. 50 4.1 Informed grounded theory ..................................................... 51 4.1.1 Informed grounded theory in educational research ........ 56 4.2 Research aim and research questions .................................. 58 4.3 Fieldwork at metropolitan senior high schools and colleges of technology ....................................................................................... 61 4.3.1 Semi–structured interviews at metropolitan senior high schools and colleges of technology .............................................. 62 4.4 Fieldwork at the NPO Labor Market Cram School ................ 68 I 4.4.1 Participant observation during NPO–led career guidance events and interviews with NPO members: The Labor Market Cram School ....................................................................................... 69 4.5 Analysis of interview data and data collected by means of participant observation during NPO–led career guidance events .... 71 4.6 Collection and analysis of available research data and official documents ....................................................................................... 73 5 The case study: NPO–led career guidance ................................... 76 5.1 The Labor Market Cram School ............................................ 79 5.2 Development of the NPO ...................................................... 82 5.3 NPO members and their functions ........................................ 83 5.4 The NPO’s workshops and seminars .................................... 87 5.4.1 Career design workshops .............................................. 87 5.4.1.1 Class with a working member of society: Values and work interest (shakaijin jugyô kachikan shokugyôshumi wâkushoppu) ............................................................................ 87 5.4.1.2 Left side of the brain, right side of the brain (sanô unô wâkushoppu) ............................................................................ 89 5.4.1.3 Myself in society: Thinking about roles (shakai no naka no jibun: yakuwari wo kangaeru wâkushoppu) ......................... 94 5.4.1.4 Employment and professions (kinrôken shokugyôken wâkushoppu) ............................................................................ 95 5.4.2 Workshops based on the fundamental competencies for working persons ........................................................................... 97 5.4.2.1 Fundamental competencies for working persons (shakaijin kisoryoku wâkushoppu) ............................................ 97 5.4.2.2 Team consensus (chîmu konsensasu wâkushoppu) 102 5.4.2.3 Interview with working members of society (shakaijin he no intâbyû wâkushoppu) ......................................................... 106 II 5.4.2.4 Presentation workshop (purezentêshon wâkushoppu) ... ................................................................................. 110 5.4.3 The NPO’s working member of society seminar .......... 111 6 Excursus: The minor case study ................................................. 113 6.1 The Free Juku: Its aim, its members, and its students ........ 115 6.1.1 An evening at the Free Juku ........................................ 117 6.1.2 Current developments of the Free Juku ....................... 119 6.2 Preliminary