Abstract
In the 1970s, the civic group Nara ni Yakan Chūgaku o Tsukuru Kai (The Society to Create a Night Junior High School in Nara) engaged in a movement to have such a school opened in the city. This article looks at the points raised by the Society—guaranteeing the right to education to persons older than school age and the responsibilities of the municipality; guaranteeing the right to education to persons older than school age and the distinction between school education and social education; and reconsidering the boundaries of education intended for persons older than school age—and details the logic underlying each argument. By applying political philosopher Jacques Rancière's concept of 'politique' it is apparent that the actions of civic movements that included residents other than persons older than school age, as well as the actions of Socialist Party of Japan assembly members who called for the creation of schools (night junior high schools) for persons older than school age, created 'politique' conditions that shook the established order of education administration, and encouraged a reconsideration of how the boundaries that led to the creation of a night junior high school were laid out.
