Analyzes the decision making process used by Japanese middle school students and their parents for choosing a high school. Reveals that these decisions are highly affected by placement counseling. This process defines the students' choices, inculcates values, and offers sets of rationales for students to account for their decisions. (MJP)

This article reviews the existing anthropological and sociological evidence on school choice and educational stratification in Japan. Traditional linear models developed in the West have given little insight into how stratification processes actually occur. There must be analysis of the institutional linkages and organizational cultures of schools…