Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Jim Allen*, Yuki Inenaga**, Rolf van der Velden* and Keiichi Yoshimoto*** * University of Maastricht ** University of Tsukuba *** Kyushu University 1. 1 Objectives and Background 1. 1. 1 The Focus of This Book It is well known that Japan and the Netherlands have enjoyed friendly relations for more than 400 years. Despite this fact, neither country has had much influence on the other in terms of society, culture, or institutional arrangements in the educational system and the labour market. These aspects remain essentially unique to each country. As a result, Japan and the Netherlands, the two countries at the focus of this book, form an intriguing contrast of culture, education system and labour market organisation. For decades Japan has attracted the attention of countless scholars attempting to come to grips, first of all with the enormous success of the post-war Japanese economy, and subsequently with its faltering progress since the early 1990s. In contrast to most western capitalist countries, the Japanese economy is characterised by a strong degree of centralised planning and cooperation between economic and political elites, in which favoured corporations and industries have been deliberately fostered. The higher education system has been largely academic in its focus, and strong links between higher education institutions and companies have helped ensure a smooth and rapid transition by graduates from higher education to employment.