From Shōnen to Shakaijin: Governing Neoliberal Subjectivity in Japan’s “Credential Society”

This doctoral thesis explores the educational journeys of Japanese learners enrolled in a Top Global University Project college. Drawing on Foucauldian governmentality and grounded in a phenomenological-ethnographic approach, results highlight the pervasive impact of the neoliberal knowledge economy as subjects transition from childhood to adolescence and, finally, “functional” grown-up status. At each stage, the pressures inherent to Japan’s gakureki shakai (“credential society”) mold subjects into entrepreneurial projects, wherein success is synonymous with one’s credentialed resources and economic ­productivity. Here, learners optimize their skills, qualifications, quantifiable achievements, and personal “brands” to meet market demands, gradually enhancing their entrepreneurial selfhood as they transition through education. In doing so, traits rooted in Japanese society—responsibility, harmony, hierarchical meritocracy—merge with neoliberal imperatives, producing a hybrid “small-n” model distinct to the local context. Accordingly, this thesis contributes to Japanese anthropological literature by highlighting how broad economic concepts indigenize and recontextualize within unique socio-cultural frameworks.