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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 2000 > Part 1 Chapter 1 Section 1 4

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Part 1 Toward a Culturally-Oriented Nation
Chapter 1 Japanese Culture Today
Section 1: The Environment Surrounding Culture
4. Education to Nurture a Fertile Mind



(1) The Importance of Emotional Education Through Traditional Culture and the Arts

Important issues in Japanese education include the decline in the educational function of families and local communities; the excessive competition in entrance examinations; growing concern over delinquency; bullying; and school absenteeism. The fact that the power to make judgments based on one's own inquiry and express one's own thoughts is not adequately nurtured, and that the insistence that there be only one correct answer disallows a more comprehensive perspective have also been pointed out.

As such, school education must emphasize emotional education and nurture in students the qualities and abilities to enable them to learn and think independently and act on their subjective judgment. At the same time, it must cultivate a rich human nature which possesses a high regard for justice and fairness, self-judgment, cooperation with others, consideration for others, and respect for human rights, as timeless values. The importance of emphasizing the study and value of Japanese history and culture in order to nurture Japanese people who have pride in their history, traditions, and culture as well as a rich international sensibility and a respect for the history and culture of other countries, has also been pointed out.

While working to cultivate an aesthetic sensibility in children through instruction in artistic subjects such as music and art, children's appreciation of and participation in local cultural and traditional events inside and outside of the classroom is also important in order to nurture a rich human nature, and it will be necessary to enhance such opportunities.


(2) Enhancing the Function of Family and Local Community With the Introduction of the Five-day School Week

By uniting schools, families, and local communities, which each play a role in education, the five-day school week was intended to cultivate in children a rich spirit and strength by increasing opportunities for them to participate in outdoor activities and experience social interaction. Based on this way of thinking, a monthly five-day school week was implemented starting in September of 1992 and a semimonthly five-day school week starting in April of 1995. From FY2002, the comprehensive five-day school week will be introduced into all stages of education at the same time.

As such, it is necessary to enhance places and opportunities for children to engage in a wealth of experience with their peers on the weekend in their communities, and for society as a whole to promptly develop a framework to provide places and opportunities for children to have such experiences.

According to the Management and Coordination Agency's "Report on the Basic Survey of Youth Lifestyles and Consciousness" (1995), the majority of children favorably evaluate the community in which they live (See Figure 1-1-22 ). It is desirable that adults in the community consider children's feelings in providing an environment for the children to enjoy new experiences and exercise their creative efforts. It is hoped that encouraging participation in local traditional culture and municipal development activities will not only cultivate a rich spirit in children, but also train them as successors for these activities.

Figure 1-1-22 Evaluation of One's Own Community


(3) New Courses of Study

In December 1998, the Courses of Study were revised with the aim of carefully selecting an educational curriculum based on the five-day school week so as to assist the transition towards an independent-learning, independent-thinking educational system, and for every school to develop educational activities in a comfortable atmosphere in order to nurture a "zest for living" in each and every child. The curriculum will be introduced into kindergartens in FY2000, and in elementary and lower secondary schools in FY2002. It will subsequently be implemented in upper secondary schools, grade by grade, starting from FY2003, and in schools for the blind, the deaf, and the otherwise disabled.

The purpose of the New Courses of Study is to cultivate in children in each school a "zest for living." In developing creative and distinctive educational activities, it is necessary for the New Courses of Study to nurture the ability to learn and think independently, establish a fixed basic and fundamental content, and enhance educational activities which encourage individuality. The role of moral education is to cultivate a fundamental sense of morality in order to restore an attitude of respect for the individual and reverence towards life in the home, in school, and in greater society; work to create a culture full of a rich spirit and individuality and develop a democratic society and country; and foster a spirit of independence in the Japanese people to enable them to willingly contribute to a progressive and peaceful international society.

Also, the New Courses of Study have instituted a period of "Integrated Study" in which each school conducts educational activities, such as cross-sectional comprehensive learning and learning based on students' interests, which encourage creative thinking in accordance with aspects of the local area, the school, and the children.

The objective of "Integrated Study" is to give students the capability to find problems, learn, think and judge for themselves; to nurture the qualities and abilities to better solve problems; to acquire a way to learn and think; to foster an independent and creative attitude towards problem-solving and exploratory activities; and to enable them to reflect upon their own way of life. As such, it is necessary to actively introduce social experiences such as outdoor activities and volunteer work; observation and experiments; visits and surveys; presentations and discussions; hands-on learning such as productive activities and making things; and a problem-solving approach to learning. The "Integrated Study" makes it possible for each school, based on their own discretion, to conduct activities that could not be easily and adequately taken up in school education. It is hoped that each school will work on participation in artistic and cultural activities and experiencing local traditional cultural events.

Furthermore, as discussed below, Japanese music will be taught as part of music education in lower secondary schools.

It is hoped that children who have acquired a "zest for living" through this type of education will discover for themselves the value of traditional Japanese culture, or discover the potential for self-expression through culture and the arts, thereby assuming responsibility for the future growth of Japanese culture.


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