Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS IN JAPAN 1971 > CHAPTER 1 (2) a

CHAPTER . IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AND METHOD

Textbooks, i.e. officially approved books dealing with a definite subject of study, systematically arranged, are being used in Japan as a principal source of study material. It is legally stipulated that elementary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools must use textbooks.

Before the war, books other than textbooks were rarely used. Education was mainly textbook-oriented. After the war, the use of other appropriate books has enriched materials for study. Textbooks, however, are still important educational materials.

The authorization of textbooks, which has been in practice since 1948, aims at accrediting privately written and compiled books as textbooks. The authorization is made by the Minister of Education on the basis of the recommendations submitted by the Research Council for Textbooks Authorization comprised of teachers, and other learned and experienced persons.

The adoption of textbooks is the responsibility of boards of education for public schools and of principals of each school for national and private schools. In the case of public elementary and lower secondary schools, the same series of textbooks is adopted for an area for which more than one board of education is responsible.

To pupils enrolled in compulsory schools, textbooks are distributed free of charge. The expenses for this are disbursed by the central government.