Education in Japan:
Overview, Internationalism & Control
Dr Christopher P. Hood
(Cardiff University, HoodCP@Cardiff.ac.uk)
All photos, diagrams & maps by presenter except where noted otherwise – no copying without permission.
Introduction
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What is the role of education?
Basic information about the Japanese education system
Reforming the education system
‘Internationalization’ of the system
Control of the system
Role of Education
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It’s not just about
learning facts
Learning to be an
member of that society
So of great interest to
governments wanting
to change that society
Basic Information
‘6-3-3-4’ system
► First nine years compulsory
► Over 96% continue to upper secondary (“senior high school”)
► 41% continue to university (up from about 25% in 1990)
► More and more now going on to Masters and Doctorates
► Literacy rates one of the highest in the world
► Classroom sizes still tend to be large, despite falling population
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Reforming the System
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First reform was the Meiji Reforms that created an education system
Second reforms were the Occupation Reforms that aimed to get rid of
the elements that were seen to have helped lead Japan to war
Third reforms started in 1980s with Prime Minister Nakasone. These
reforms are still on-going, although many may not be aware that they
started so long ago
‘Internationalization’ of the System
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What is ‘internationalization’?
Nakasone’s view is key in modern times (discussed in previous lecture)
Hence a seeming mixture of ‘nationalist’ elements with ‘internationalist’
elements (even in textbooks)
For example
 100,000 Foreign Students Plan
 Creation of Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) Programme
 But also increased usage of Hinomaru & Kimigayo
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Imbalance between where foreign students come from compared to
where Japanese students go to
Hinomaru
Kimigayo
Participants on the JET Programme
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
1987
1988
United States
1989
1990
United Kingdom
1991
1992
Australia
1993
1994
New Zealand
1995
Canada
1996
1997
Ireland
1998
1999
Others
Foreign Students in Japan
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
19
78
19
79
19
80
19
81
19
82
19
83
19
84
19
85
19
86
19
87
19
88
19
89
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
0
Private expense
Japanese governm ent expense
Foreign governm ent expense
Central & S. Am erica
Africa Oceana
Middle East
1 Thailand (1,059)
2 Bangladesh (750)
3 Vietnam (468)
4 Philippines (434)
5 Other Asia (1,713)
6 Other N. Am erica (169)
USA (949) & 6
Europe
2
1
3
5
4
Indonesia (1,140)
Foreign
Students
(1998)
China
(22,810)
Malaysia (2,040)
Asia (45,914)
Taiw an
(4,033)
Europe (1,851)
N. Am erica (1,118)
Central & S. Am erica
(844)
Africa (655)
South
Korea
(11,467)
Oceania (499)
Middle East (417)
Australia (10,037)
Africa (150)
S. Am erica (686)
Other N. Am erica (220)
Canada (11,329)
Other Oceania (3,869)
China (14,940)
South Korea (5,740)
Other Asia (8,686)
UK (24,726)
USA (79,044)
France (6,317)
Germ any (4,498)
Other Europe (10,737)
Asia (29,366)
Europe (46,278)
N. Am erica (90,593)
S. Am erica (686)
Africa (150)
Oceania (13,906)
Kikokushijo (1)
One of the most discussed issues of the ‘healthy internationalism’
debate was that of kikokushijo (children returning from living and
studying abroad), for they represented the new vision of an
internationalised Japanese youth.
► This is despite the fact that, as Kobayashi (1990:190–1) points out, ‘it
would be erroneous to assume that all children residing abroad
automatically become internationally minded’.
► However, they are perceived to be ‘internationalised’ and the problems
surrounding them also reflected the balancing act that had to be done in
order to satisfy those who wanted more ‘healthy nationalism’ to be
introduced into the system.
► Roesgaard (1998:213) points out that in 1985 – the second year of
Rinkyoshin (the ad hoc body that Nakasone set up to deal with
education reform) – there were only around 40,000 Japanese children
studying abroad, compared with the 15 million children in Japan.
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Kikokushijo (2)
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Each year about a quarter of the children abroad return to Japan (Horie,
interview, 21 November 1997), and in 1997 there were 12, 569, of
whom 62.0 per cent returned to elementary school, 22.6% to lower
secondary school, and 15.4% to upper secondary school (Shimizu et al.
1999: 294).
It is also worth noting that there has been huge regional variations in the
numbers of kikokushijo, with Kanto accounting for 63.0 per cent and
Kinki 13.4 per cent of the total number, for example (Shimizu et al.
1999: 295).
Roesgaard (1998:213) argues that one of the reasons for the amount of
attention that the kikokushijo issue enjoyed was due to the relative
importance of their parents and the influence that they enjoyed.
Special provisions have been made to help kikokushijo get back in to
the education system – both formally and also in terms of allowing them
to ‘readjust’ to the system.
Control of the system
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Control over the teachers – Nakasone reforms aimed to end the
strength of the Japan Teacher’s Union (JTU)
Control over educational content through the controversial textbook
authorization system
Not that controversial domestically, but internationally due to what is –
or is not – written in some social science text books
Moral education
Fundamental Law of Education
Teachers’ Union Membership (1992)
Textbook Authorization (1)
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Much is made of the authorisation and the possibilities of government
abuse and many argue that the system is unjustifiable (Horio
1988b:173).
Opponents of the system believe that it is censorship and ‘improper
control’, which is prohibited under Articles 21 and 23 of the constitution
and Article 10 of the FLE (see Horio 1988b:176).
Indeed, Herzog (1993:200) concludes: ‘If this is not censorship, I do not
know what censorship is’.
However, it should be noted that the system is not peculiar to Japan,
although it tends to be less subtle.
Howarth (1991:123–4) points out that such practice also occurs in the
United Kingdom, where it is ‘rare to find accounts for classroom
consumption, of Britain’s nineteenth-century opium trade and the misery
it inflicted upon China. Our [British] invention of the concentration camp
during the Boer War, African races dispossessed of their lands and
some near genocidal attacks on indigenous populations in various parts
of the world are equally hard to find in our [British] school books.’
Textbook Authorization (2)
The importance of the system is further emphasised by the fact that the
textbook market is so large in Japan.
► Sato (interview, 17 November 1997) believed that ‘publishing textbooks
is one of the safest and most profitable things to do’.
► In fiscal 1994, 177.96 million copies of nearly 1,500 different titles were
published and distributed in Japan.
► The budget for the free distribution of textbooks to elementary and lower
secondary schools was ¥43.4 billion in the same year, which accounted
for 136.15 million textbooks.
► With textbooks at the compulsory level being provided free, it is
understandable why the government would want to ensure that the
quality of the product is satisfactory.
► Need to remember that there is no problem with most books – just a
small part of certain history books, on the whole.
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Conclusion
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The system is still changing
Education in Japan is not merely about teaching of information,
but also about developing the ‘whole person’ (kokoro)
This lecture has covered some of the more ‘nationalistic’ and
‘conservative’ areas of the reforms.
The next lecture will look at the areas of ‘liberalization’ and the
areas that initiated the debate on education reform (e.g., bullying
and ‘exam hell’)
References
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Herzog, P.J. (1993) Japan’s Pseudo-Democracy, Folkestone: Japan Library.
Horio, T. (1988b) Educational Thought and Ideology in Modern Japan, trans. S. Platzer,
Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Howarth, M. (1991) Britain’s Educational Reform: A Comparison with Japan, London:
Routledge.
Kobayashi, T. (1990) ‘Educational Problems of “Returning Children”’, in J.J. Shields Jr,
Japanese Schooling, University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Roesgaard, M.H. (1998) Moving Mountains: Japanese Education Reform, Aarhus:
Aarhus University Press.
Shimizu K., Akao K., Arai A., Ito M., Sato H. and Yaosaka O. (eds) (1999) Kyoiku
Detarando 1999–2000: A Databook of Educational Statistics, Tokyo: Jiji Tsushinsha.
Many of the ideas, comments and text in the lecture are taken from Hood, C.P. (2001)
Japanese Education Reform: Nakasone’s Legacy, London: Routledge
Recommended Reading
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Cummings, W. K., 1980, Education and Equality in Japan, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press.
Cummings, W. K. et al. (eds.), 1986, Educational Policies in Crisis, New York: Praeger.
Duke, B., 1986, The Japanese School: Lessons for Industrial America, New York:
Praeger.
Goodman, R., 1990, Japan’s ‘International Youth’: The Emergence of a New Class of
School Children, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Haiducek, N. J., 1991, Japanese Education, New York: Praeger.
Hirano, M., 2008, History Education and International Relations: A Case Study of
Diplomatic Disputes on Japanese Textbooks, Folkestone: Global Oriental.
Lynn, R., 1988, Educational Achievement in Japan, Basingstoke: MacMillan.
Marshall, B. K., 1994, Learning To Be Modern: Japanese Political Discussion on
Education, Boulder: Westview Press.
Nakano A., 1989, Moral Education in Modern Japan, Tokyo: International Society for
Education Information.
Rohlen, T. P., 1983, Japan’s High Schools, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Schoppa, L. J., 1991, Education Reform in Japan: A Case of Immobilist Politics,
London: Routledge.
Stephens, M., 1991, Education and the Future of Japan, Folkestone: Japan Library.
White, M.,1987, The Japanese Educational Challenge, New York: The Free Press.
Education in Japan:
Overview, Internationalism & Control
Dr Christopher P. Hood
(Cardiff University, HoodCP@Cardiff.ac.uk)
All photos, diagrams & maps by presenter except where noted otherwise – no copying without permission.