Education In Japan Research Articles

Inclusive Media Mix

A Silent Voice (Koe no katachi, dir. Yamada Naoko, 2016) is an anime film based on the critically acclaimed manga of the same name by Ôima Yoshitoki. A Silent Voice follows the experiences of a deaf character, Nishimiya Shôko, and her classmates, particularly as they deal with school bullying and rebuilding friendships afterwards. A Silent Voice not only won various awards such as Best Animated Feature Film at the Japanese Movie Critics Award, but also collaborated with actors across the public sector such as schools, local governments, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), to enhance inclusive education in Japan. This article shifts the typical focus on media mix as a marketing strategy to consider media mix strategies as potential tools for civic and educational causes. Specifically, it explores A Silent Voice’s media mix in relation to improving inclusivity in Japanese education and society. To that end, this project begins with a brief elucidation of the three versions of the original manga, which serve as starting points of this inclusivity-focused media mix. The project then moves to analysis of how the anime problematizes school bullying as systemic exclusion and explores how sign language is presented as one key to forming an inclusive society. Finally, by introducing cases in which collaboration with the public sector distributes this anime’s characters, induces various audience desires, and mobilizes audiences to participate in social change, I argue that A Silent Voice provides an example of inclusive media mix.

Istoriya obucheniya yaponskomu yazyku v Rossii v XVIII–XXI vv.

This article focuses on exploring the developmental history of Japanese education in Russia since the drifted Japanese Dembei arrived in Russia during the early 18th century. It is found out that Japanese education has evolved constantly in Russia, from accidental, small-scale and low-level to official, large-scale and high-level. Especially in the years after the Cold War, it ranks higher than any other Eastern European countries in the number of Japanese teaching institutions, Japanese teachers and learners.

Case study of sound insulation performance of a first pure timber 3-story elementary school in Japan

In Japan, "the Act on Promotion of Use of Wood in Buildings to Contribute to the Realization of a Decarbonized Society" promotes the use of wood in buildings in general. The school buildings as public buildings are being promoted to be constructed with timber construction since timber school buildings effectively improve the educational environment. This paper presents the measurement results of the sound insulation performance in "the Uozu City Municipal Hoshinomori Elementary School", which is a first all-timber construction 3-story elementary school in Japan. By adopting a dry-type double floor structure for the floor finish structure and an independent ceiling for the ceiling structure, the floor impact sound insulation performances of the classrooms were Lr-60 for both heavy-weight floor impact sound and light-weight floor impact sound when evaluated using JIS A 1419-2. Moreover, the recommended reverberation time values of the Architectural Institute of Japan Environmental Standards were generally satisfied by installing dressed rockwool sound absorbing board on the ceiling.

What Moroccan schools can learn from Japanese moral education?

The aim of this research is exploring and adapting Japanese moral education policies and practices to enhance the Moroccan education system without interfering with its historical, geographical, and sociocultural context. 
 Using a comparative approach and content analysis method, we identified shared and distinct features in both systems, highlighting the strengths of the Japanese side.
 The research concerns an in-depth analysis of four Japanese elementary school moral education lessons. Its shows that teachers employ a constructive learning theory, acting as facilitators, encouraging students to construct their own knowledge. Positive feedback and absence of punishment for incorrect answers were observed.
 Formative assessment is a formal practice where students provide comments at lesson end, allowing precise evaluation of understanding. Japan's moral education offers flexibility for teachers to customize materials as needed. Emotional engagement and depth in moral education classrooms are noteworthy.
 Drawing from one year-long research at Naruto University of Education in Japan, we attribute Japan's moral education success to distinct practices, regular curriculum updates, and textbook revisions. However, the cooperation of homes and communities and the societal promotion of moral education are equally vital for this achievement.

ANALISIS KEMAMPUAN PENGGUNAAN JOUKEN HYOUGEN MAHASISWA PRODI PENDIDIKAN BAHASA JEPANG ANGKATAN 2020 UNIVERSITAS NEGERI PADANG

The study is in the background of Jouken Hyougen, which has the same meaning, so students have difficulty distinguishing the use of a form of reinforcement in a sentence. This study aims to describe the ability to use jouken hyougen (to, ba, tara, and nara) by Japanese language students in the class of 2020 at the Japanese Language Education study program at Padang State University. The kind of research used in this study is a descriptive method whose data is in the form of scores. The population in this study is the 2020s Japanese language students of the 2020 class of Padang State University of 51. The sample in this study uses the full sampling population, in which the entire population is sampled by 2020 Japanese education students of Padang State University, conducted by 35 people. The data in this study is the value of the results of the test capability to use jouken hyougen at a 2020 Japanese language education Padang State University. Based on the results of the study conducted, the overall ability of the 2020 Japanese language education department at Padang State University is 'less' qualified, with an average value of 47.43. Keywords: Ability, Jouken Hyogen, Japanese language

Lifestyle Sports and Public Education in Japan: New Collectivism, Contest(ed) Benefits, and Community Revitalization in Aoshima’s Surfing Bukatsu

Physical activity levels among youth have declined globally during the twentieth century. In Japan, the context of this study, this trend is evidenced through decreasing participation rates in school sports bukatsu [extracurricular club activities], where youth participation in sport and physical activity have become a growing concern. Research suggests that incorporating lifestyle sports into the public education curriculum may better align with current youth trends, thereby helping to address these challenges, but little empirical research exist, particularly outside Western contexts. The purpose of this study is to address this gap by offering contextual insights into how the lifestyle sport of surfing is being incorporated into the public education system in Japan, and how this transforms the meanings of both surfing and bukatsu in new and interesting ways. Drawing on the case of Aoshima Junior High School’s Surfing Bukatsu, ethnographic fieldwork was conducted over a two-week period in July 2021 and included participant observation, focus groups with students and parents, and 22 in-depth interviews with various stakeholders. Three themes emerged that guide the interpretation and discussion: (1) a “new collectivism” fostered amongst members of the surfing bukatsu, (2) a “contest(ed) surf style” that marked a tension between the competitive and the informal benefits associated with lifestyle sports, and (3) the role of surfing bukatsu in school/community revitalization. The study shows how incorporating lifestyle sports in PE curricula has the potential to encourage a co-constitutive practice of student/school/community development.

Fragments of multi-layered settler colonialism: mixed-race children in Japanese schooling, the American Philippines, 1924–1945

ABSTRACT This article examines Japanese schools in Davao Province, the American Philippines, by highlighting the mixed-race children born to Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers. How did mixed-race children experience Japanese schooling in the Philippines, in which Japan’s settler colonial project operated in a colonial territory of the U.S. empire? I call entangled conditions, such as Davao on the island of Mindanao, ‘multi-layered settler colonialism.’ In Davao, the settler colonial projects of the U.S. and Japanese empires developed co-constitutively by underlining the subjugation of tribal Filipinos to Christian Filipinos and displacing the former. By following Black and postcolonial feminist method and patching together archival fragments of different genres and locations, I uncover the perspectives of mixed-race students in the history of multi-layered settler colonialism. I argue that the goals of Japanese education in the Philippines, a product of the public and private collusion, both conflicted with and reinforced American colonial education which was also developed by state and nonstate actors. I also show that the diverse experiences of mixed-race children and their mothers contested the stated goals of American colonial and Japanese education by illuminating the multi-layered nature of settler colonialism.

The Invisible Intermediate Effects of Demographic Change on the Education System in Japan

The Invisible Intermediate Effects of Demographic Change on the Education System in Japan

Challenges in fostering democratic participation in Japanese education

I draw on Dewey’s concept of democratically constituted society to investigate whether Japanese schools are organized in a way that students can experience democratic living, by examining diversity and interaction within schools. I also rely on Reimer’s notion of citizenship education to explore whether schools in Japan foster the competencies necessary to understand, care about, and act upon global challenges, by examining the teaching of relevance and development of sense of purpose. Based on the analyses of PISA data, I find the following characteristics of Japanese education compared to OECD countries: (1) the high school system sorts students not only by their academic achievement but simultaneously by their family background, creating the least diversified schools; (2) interaction, measured by student participation and debate in class, is low; (3) teaching relevance and application of scientific concepts in class are limited; and (4) students have a low sense of purpose at the end of compulsory education. The lack of opportunity to practice and internalize democratic values in the school, to connect what is being taught to real-world issues, and to develop one’s sense of purpose may partly explain the current youths’ political apathy and why there is little youth-led collective activism in Japan.

Stakeholders’ Experiences and Perceptions of the Provision and Practice of Language Support for Ethnic Minority School Children in Japan

This study examines experiences and perceptions concerning the provision of Japanese language support for ethnic minority school children between the ages of 6 and 12 enrolled in public elementary schools in a city located in the Kansai region of Japan (hereinafter referred to as “City M”). This paper will focus in particular on interpreting the experiences and perspectives of language support teachers, volunteer interpreters, mother-tongue language supporters (hereafter referred to as MTLS) as well as three principals of three public elementary schools located in particularly different areas of the City M. Each of the school’s history, backgrounds and current situations are varied and unique. One-on-one interviews of 40 to 60 min in length were conducted with a total of 9 participants consisting of public elementary school principals and Japanese language support teachers. These results of the data collection provided a deeper understanding and explanation of the reasons behind current trends and challenges regarding the accessibility, implementation, provision, and practice of language learning support for ethnic minority school children. The findings from this research will increase awareness of current issues faced by practitioners supporting ethnic minority children in their learning. The research findings also provide insight into what obstacles need to be overcome in order to provide adequate, sufficient, and sustainable educational support for children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds within the mainstream Japanese education system.

Advancing 21st-Century Creativity and Innovation into Japanese Educational System

The 21st century requires a new set of skills for success in a global economy. Creativity and innovation are essential components of skills, yet the current Japanese educational system does not place a strong emphasis on these skills. This paper stated the importance of project-based learning and technology integration approaches that can be used to advance creativity and innovation in the Japanese educational system. By promoting creativity and innovation in the Japanese educational system, we can help to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills that are essential for success in the 21st century. The paper provides detailed strategies for overcoming challenges in advancing 21st-century creativity and innovation in the Japanese educational system. Finally, the paper emphasizes the importance of providing teachers with the necessary training and support to implement innovative approaches effectively.

Fūdo in Foreign Language Learning in Japan and Finland

While the Japanese education system and policy have been studied extensively, Japanese philosophy and thoughts have rarely served as a theoretical and methodological resource in the field of comparative and international education. Resonating with a current scholarly attempt to explore the possibilities and limitations of using Japan as an epistemic resource, I have experimented with drawing upon Japanese philosophical thinking, namely Watsuji Tetsurō’s (1889-1960) comparative phenomenological study, to analyse the current foreign language education reforms in Japan. In this paper, I tell the story of my thought experiment in which I explore autoethnographically how my epistemic mindset has changed during my PhD journey through a slow dialogue with Watsuji’s study on milieu, relationality and ontological inquiry into human beings. Aiming to multiply the epistemological resources for educational research, I analyse reflexively on the way in which I was destabilised by Japanese philosophy in (un)learning educational practices in Japanese contexts. In so doing, I explore how ‘foreign’ educational comparativists might be able to move beyond the storyteller role in foreign contexts or the expert role in home contexts and, accordingly, contribute to promoting a pluralistic knowledge production.

The importance of financial literacy: Evidence from Japan

AbstractThis paper examines financial literacy in Japan using a recent dataset from 2022 and finds that financial literacy levels are low. Only 36% of the respondents could correctly answer the Big Three financial literacy questions, three well-known questions assessing the understanding of interest, inflation, and risk diversification. Also, significant demographic variation exists in the Japanese population: the young, women, and the less educated are those who struggle the most with these fundamental financial concepts. Additionally, we find that Japanese who know the basics about environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)-related principles are also those who show better financial literacy levels than those who do not know about ESG. Lastly, our results confirm that financial literacy matters: it is strongly and positively correlated with active investment behavior, which may affect wealth accumulation and financial wellbeing.

Decolonial interventions in the postwar politics of Japanese education: Reassessing the place of Shinto in Japanese language and moral education curriculum

Much of postwar politics in Japanese education has revolved around the tensions between conservative’s retrogressive desire for the imperial past on the one hand and the liberal-left’s progressive agenda on the other. The former demands a return to the teaching of traditional (Confucius) family values, patriotism and Shinto-inspired reverence (awe) towards the universe, while the latter demands teaching for rational, critical minds deemed essential for democratic citizenship. This binary structure of political contestation is increasingly problematized by the emerging political sensibilities around the ecological crisis and eco-feminist critique of human exceptionalism, hype-separation between human and nature and ontological individualism. The chapter demonstrates how the new ecological and decolonial literature demands a fundamental rethinking of the postwar politics of Japanese education, in particular, in relation to the place of Shinto—the Japanese indigenous belief system—in school curriculum. It exposes the limitations of the postwar liberal-left discourse which has reduced Shinto to nothing but the conservatives’ retrogressive desire to ‘return.’ The chapter concludes, drawing on Chen’s (2010) notion of de-cold-war politics, that the Cold War framing of education policy debate must be overcome to unleash the decolonial and ecological potentials of Japanese education towards addressing the pressing sustainable challenges today.

Fifth-generation edge computing-oriented speech recognition system applied in Japanese education and social sentiment classification

Fifth-generation edge computing-oriented speech recognition system applied in Japanese education and social sentiment classification

Learning from Japan: Advancing Education in the Arab and Islamic World through Creative Approaches

Taking a historiographical approach, this research delves into Japan's history, culture, and education. It aims to uncover the key curricular reforms and societal influences that have contributed to its academic excellence. This study highlights Japan's exceptional academic leadership. It traces it back to historical milestones, academic reforms, societal attitudes, and cultural frameworks. Notably, the Japanese educational model emphasizes principles such as effort, collaboration, problem-solving, and comprehensive education, which have played a significant role in their success. By drawing inspiration from these findings, school policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders in the Arab and Islamic worlds can consider adopting and adapting elements of the Japanese educational model. This will inform curricular reforms and foster academic excellence. Moreover, this study recognizes the importance of fostering a collaborative exchange of ideas and experiences between Japan and the Arab and Islamic worlds. By embracing Japan's historical lessons and engaging in transformative dialogues, both regions can shape the future of education, promoting deeper understanding and more effective policies. However, it is imperative to acknowledge the limitations of this study, such as the limited sample size, cases, and variations. Therefore, further research is warranted to explore more diverse cases, larger sample sizes, and varied demographics. This will enable us to attain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding that can guide the formulation of appropriate and effective educational policies.

The Influence of Teacher-Student Relationships on Student Motivation and Achievement: Perspective from Japan

This study conducted a comprehensive literature-based exploration into the critical role of teacher-student relationships in student motivation and achievement within the Japanese educational context. The foundation of this research pivots around the understanding that these relationships may significantly affect the educational outcomes for students. Drawing upon multiple scholarly sources and empirical studies, the research investigates how the unique cultural and educational environment in Japan impacts these relationships. We found that the Japanese educational system, characterized by a strong teacher authority and a culture that values harmony, shapes unique teacher-student dynamics. The study further analyzed how these dynamics contribute to students' intrinsic motivation and academic performance. Findings suggest that positive teacher-student relationships in Japan, often marked by respect, emotional support, and constructive feedback, are likely to foster a nurturing and motivational learning environment. This supportive atmosphere subsequently promotes student engagement, facilitates cognitive development, and enhances academic achievement. Conversely, less optimal teacher-student relationships may lead to lower motivation levels, hindering students' potential to succeed academically. This study not only highlights the importance of cultivating positive teacher-student relationships in the Japanese context but also underscores the universal applicability of this principle in achieving optimal educational outcomes worldwide. This research contributes to the broader discourse on educational pedagogy, providing valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and researchers. However, it is noteworthy that further empirical investigations are necessary to deepen our understanding of this topic, considering the diverse social, cultural, and individual factors at play. As such, the study concludes with recommendations for future research directions, emphasizing the need for a holistic and inclusive approach to education. Keywords: Teacher-Student Relationships, Student Motivation, Academic Achievement, Japanese Education System, Educational Outcomes

Building Connections to Protect Ethnic Education: The Chōsen Schools’ Intercultural Network

Abstract: Prompted by the desire to return to their homeland and reclaim their ethnic identity after the end of Japan’s colonial rule, Zainichi Koreans taught their children the Korean language and educated them about their cultural heritage at what later became known as Chōsen schools. While neither the Japanese nor the South Korean government supported the Chōsen schools, the North Korean government provided them with financial support through an organization called Chongryun. Despite enduring suppression and discriminatory treatment by the Japanese government, Chōsen schools have managed to survive, becoming the largest foreign school system in Japan. This article examines the impact of activism by the Chōsen school community in protecting ethnic education and promoting intercultural engagement between Zainichi Koreans, Japanese, and foreign school communities. Focusing on three key events, the article examines efforts by the Chōsen school community to resolve bias and misunderstanding among members of the Japanese public concerning the ethnic education they provide. It argues that Zainichi Koreans’ grassroots activities have helped to build intercultural connections with local communities and other foreign schools in Japan.

Paratopia: anime, school clubs, and the aims of education

Over the past twenty years, in the worlds of popular media revolving around manga, anime, light novels, and games, there has been an explosion of interest in extracurricular activities (bukatsu) taking place within school clubs (katsudō kurabu or katsudō sakkuru). The rise and explosion of school clubs in popular culture has occurred alongside a wave of heated debates about Japanese education that culminated in a series of education reforms, commonly discussed and implemented under the rubric of yutori kyōiku or ‘relaxed education’. To open a dialogue between Japanese popular culture and education, this essay examines the aims of Japanese education from two perspectives: the perspective of the history and sociology of education (the discourses, debates, and policies that have shaped curricular and extracurricular activities), and the perspective of popular culture, with an emphasis on extracurricular activities related to school clubs as they are explored in anime or Japanese animation. It considers how the historical formation of ideals for Japanese education, the global rise of schooled society, and the legacy of sports and culture clubs have shaped the poetics of school realism in anime and have contributed to its global appeal. This essay thus shows how the boom of culture clubs in anime serves to resituate and redirect the social and historical ideals of Japanese education.

일본 고등교육재정 지원 제도의 현황과 시사점

The purpose of this study is to present implications to Korea by comparing and analyzing the government's financial allocation criteria according to the type of university establishment in Japan. In order to conduct the study, the current status of higher education in Japan and the current status of financial support at universities were checked, and the type, meaning, scale, and criteria of government financial support were analyzed.
 The main findings of the study are as follows. First, Japan provides operating expenses grants to national universities and ordinary expenses subsidies to private universities to support higher education finance.
 Second, the scope of support and budget vary depending on the type of university establishment, but it supports general expenses of universities and provides separate budgets to strengthen the competitiveness of universities and solve educational problems.
 Third, the university was financially supported by evaluation. In particular, when supporting ordinary expenses subsidies to private universities, the calculation standards and unit prices are specific, and clear standards for adjusting the budget are presented. This becomes a means of managing the quality of universities while supporting finance.
 Finally, based on Japan's higher education financial support system, improvement measures were proposed for the direction, scope, size, and target of higher education financial support in Korea.