School rules in Japan are consequential in prescribing socially accepted patterns of students' lifestyles both within and outside schools. This article discusses how school rules were interpreted as a social problem in the 1980s and the 1990s. Social constructionist perspectives of social problems call for sensitivity to the plurality of people's…

Contends that juku schools (private, for-profit schools) have become increasingly important in Japanese education during the past decade. Compares the juku schools with the formal Japanese educational system and discusses admission procedure, the curriculum, teachers, and financial costs. (CFR)