1 Educational Development after the End of the Occupation

The effectuation of the Peace Treaty between Japan and the Occupying countries on April 28, 1952, which restored Japan to the long-awaited position of a fully-sovereign power, heralded an appropriate time for Japan to reexamine the various reforms that had been enacted during the Occupation.

Given the pivotal role of education in the development of a democratic society and state the need to reexamine the state of education was particularly pressing. While the broad outlines of a democratic educational reform had been drawn during the Occupation period, much still remained to be accomplished after 1952. At the same time, it was increasingly apparent that some aspects of the democratic educational system introduced during the Occupation period were not suited for the Japanese situation with its own particular culture and traditions.

There are discernible three general periods of educational development between 1952 and the present. The first period encompasses 1952 -1958, during which while the new 6-3-3-4educational system took firmer root, some adjustments were made to respond to the Japan's special circumstances. The second from the end of the 1950s through the 1960s was a period of rapid economic growth and social development within the framework of the postwar reconstruction. In response to these social changes, the educational system also underwent rapid expansion and development. The third period opens with the 1970s. Though marked by no striking event, education during the 1970s seems to have shifted priorities to new areas of development and change. Perceiving this transition the Central Council for Education, which was established on June6, 1952, replacing the former Education Reform Council (Kyoiku Sasshin Shingikai), submitted a report on June 11, 1971, outlining an overall reform of school education.

Educational development between 1952 and the present has been strongly influenced by two notable social phenomena. One is the so-called postwar baby boom: The first wave entered elementary schools in 1954, lower secondary schools 10 1960, upper secondary schools in 1963, and universities in 1966. Since a fundamental tenet of the new educational system was that education should be equally available to all through the upper secondary school level, the baby boom, in conjunction with the rising level of national income, brought about a rapid expansion of school enrollment with a rise in the percent-age of pupils continuing through upper secondary school.

The second social phenomena consisted of the inter-dependent factors of innovation in scientific technology, rapid growth of the economy, and the increasing maturity of the society. The presence of these factors meant that educational development encompassed more than a mere expansion of physical facilities; the very nature of education has had to be adapted to keep up with the times.

The measures taken to cope with these social phenomena, and to readjust the policies under the Occupation, were regarded by some critics as a retreat from the "new educational" ideals. Objections were raised that these steps constituted a return to the prewar educational system or that they placed education at the mercy of socioeconomic concerns. Indeed, educators have often lacked a clear concept of development. The two decades after the end of the Occupation, therefore, were not years of steady progress within the field of education. Rather they can be characterized, primarily, as years of consolidation of the new educational system, adapted to Japan's changing situation during the period.