Abstract
New middle class, defined by its particular life style, is one of the foci of the problematiques of modern societies. In this article, we examine the reproduction strategy which Japanese new middle class in its burgeoning stage (1910 s and 20 s) exerted in the familial and, educational areas, and analyze the “relationship to the self” (it is a problematique of Michel Foucault) which we can find in the strategy. The relationship to the self of new middle class is found in its practices of “contraception”, “home education”, and “new education”. And it can be considered as reflection to oneself of the power relations which connect firmly with the kind of knowledge (savoir) which can be called “modern science”. Also it involves the dominance of the professional and mass media, and contains “cultivation of the self” and “control of the self” which contributes to the exploitation of capital or of the state. The relationship to the self in this form, which has disseminated to almost the whole Japanese society in the second half of the twentieth century, makes a base for domination. It forms a very stable domination because it is internalized in the life and body of people by nature.
