Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC) 2006
Annual Conference
Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British
Columbia, Canada

A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE
EDUCATIONAL DELIVERY IN JAPAN

Ohio University
Sumiko Miyafusa

October 12-15, 2006

I. Introduction
Generally speaking, Japanese education has attained one of the highest qualities,
in which most children graduate high school. Over 95 percent of Japanese graduate and

some Japanese education experts believe that the common Japanese high school students
gain about the same level of education as second year American college students. In
addition, Over 95 percent of Japanese are literate even though the Japanese language
contains three types of letters, making it one of the most difficult languages in the world
(Ellington, 2005).
In terms of Japanese K-12 education, the Japanese education systems utilize a 6-

3-3 model, which is primary, junior high, and high schools respectively, based on the
education system in Germany. Through elementary to junior high schools, education is
compulsory. The government of the nation, prefecture, and locality pay most educational
costs for students from 1st to 9th grades although about 30 percent of students go to
private schools (Ellington, 2005). Moreover, the National M inistry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mainly controls curriculum at school. Based on
the study guidance in Japan, the government decides on the main curriculum for each
year. Also, the Japanese government carries out textbook inspection systems. When
educators think the textbooks are proper for students, they have to report these books to
be inspected by committee .
Japanese teachers at all levels are much more prepared in mathematics than
schools in other countries. All Japanese students are required to take advanced
mathematics classes. Also, Japanese student s have many required Japanese language
classes. Japanese students have to learn complicated written language, including Chinese

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characters/expression, classic languages, and modern languages. In general, all Japanese
students take English classes from 1st grade of junior high school to the end of high
school (Ellington, 2005).
Based on Confucius’ idea, the Japanese suppose students should learn morals
while improving academic skills. In fact, many teachers have classes and activities about
morals through topics of minority problems and social efforts. For instance, Japanese
students and teachers clean their classrooms, stairs, and passageways from Monday to
Friday. During the weekend, students participate in recycle campaigns and waste
management. Japanese students greet teachers with bows to show admiration and
modesty whenever they meet at school.
In Japan, most students take entrance examinations to get into high school and
higher education. Even though about 80 percent of junior high and high school students
attend private preparation schools, called cram schools, for the examinations, some
universities offer an option of admission beside examinations, including interviews and
performances. In my case, for example, when I entered college, my university allowed
me to take recommended examinations. My high school selected me as a potential
student at the university, so my high school teacher wrote a recommendation letter
mentioning my efforts of academic grades, extracurricular activities, and events at the

school. A few weeks later, I received an admission letter from the university.
Finally, decreasing birth rates have become one of the significant educational
issues in Japan. The population in Japan is near 128 million; however, it is expected to
decline soon. Furthermore, over half of all Japanese women with children at school work
outside the home and there are numerous single mothers. These mothers often give up

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sending children into higher education for a lack of finances. If there are fewer students
at school, many professors have to leave their jobs. Although the Japanese graduate
enrollments at high schools and universities have inc reased recently, there are critical
issues in education in terms of decreasing children in Japan (Ellington, 2005).
In this paper, I will examine educational foundations and philosophical thoughts
in Japan while exploring how the educational system has been functioning as a historical
overview. Also, I will research critical pedagogy, guidelines, relationships between
teachers and students. Finally, I will suggest possible modifications and effective
educational approaches according to both positive and negative aspects in Japanese

education.

II. Overview of the history of education in Japan
Japanese education began in the 7th century. After the Taiho of 701, the
government created schools for samurai children. At the time, education mainly pursued

notions of Confucianism, and students studied and memorized Chinese classics, including
Analects of Confucius and Art of War .
In the middle of the 17th century when the Edo era began, other new types of
schools were established. The first form was temple schools, the terakoya, which became
the first common school in Japan. Another type of school was Dutch studies, or rangaku
where young samurai learned about combined arms, medicine, and other European

science. The school of Dutch studies only allowed students to gain outside knowledge
via the Dutch trading post in Nagasaki, Japan. Although Japanese education separated

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from the society and focused on ancient texts, its system became one of advanced
functions in the world at the time.
Before World W ar II, several Japanese leaders and intelligent scholars had started

to adopt Western science while considering possibilities of educational reform. The most
critical figure during this movement was Yukichi Fukuzawa, who concluded after
traveling the U.S.A. and Europe that the most meaningful system at that time was in
Germany. His idea, “Heaven does not create one man above or below another man. Any
existing distinction between the wise and the stupid, between the rich and the poor,
comes down to a matter of education,” has still been common sense in the modern
Japanese society (Japanese Education: Everything 2, 2002).
Imitating Germany’s educational systems, Japan created a 6- 3- 3 system: primary
school, middle school, and high school respectively. The system of high schools was
more comparable to the German institutions than to the high schools in the U.S.A. Only
primary school was compulsory at the time. Original Japanese universities also expanded.
The very first institution was the Tokyo Imperial University, now called Tokyo
University. Other prestigious universities developed later on, including Fukuzawa’s Keio
University, Waseda University, and Rikkyo University.
Through passing the Fundamental Law on Education in 1947, junior high school
become compulsory as well as primary schools. Even though the Allied occupation was
carried out when Emperor Hirohito accepted the Potsdam Declaration, much of the old
system remained. For example, the M inistry of Education just put a rubber stamp on all

textbooks without thoroughly checking for appropriateness. In addition, all students in

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the school wore the same uniforms, and curriculum of high school was similar to a
preparatory school for higher education, such as a university.
In the modern education system , there are multiple choices after high schools
depending on a student ’s goal. These schools contain special training schools, technical
colleges, junior colleges, universities and graduate schools.

To prepare students for

competition to enter high school and colleges, there are several cram schools where
students attend for supplemental information after regular school hours (Japanese

Education: Everything 2, 2002).

III. Philosophical foundation of educational thoughts in Japan
In this part, I will explore three decisive concepts which create Japanese culture and
education. These concepts are mainly traditional education, Confucian education, and
collectivism in the Japanese society.
Differences in educational systems are from the philosophical ideas of each country.
According to my experience of Japanese, the philosophical idea create s unique society
which is collectivist. Education in Asian countries, where the majority of people are
Confucian, leads to a traditional, collectivist society.
First of all, Japanese education has mainly been influenced by traditional education.
At the first part of this chapter, I will investigate how Japanese education follows rules of
traditional education.

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Traditional education
In terms of traditional schooling, Japanese teachers provide valuable knowledge
to students in education. Students often behave and listen humbly to the teachers (Freire,
1993). The traditional education depends on standardized tests, letter grades, and shortanswer tests. The authority of the teacher sets the tone of dialogue between students and
teachers (Shor, 1992). Therefore, educators select the program’s content and make
suggestions and students adapt to make their decisions (Freire, 1993) .
Indeed, Japanese students follow what teachers mention and believe what teachers
say is correct most of the time. Authority of the Japanese teachers clearly indicates
higher positions when one observes a conversation between students and teachers, or

between teachers and parents. All students and parents use respectful words to teachers
instead of using causal words in Japanese.
Also, Freire (1993) makes several points concerning the notions of traditional
education. He believes that the “banking method” of education does not include

students’ critical thinking skills and also discourages their future goals and curiosities.
Instead, this education may produce human robots that perform as they are told rather
than as thinking individuals. If students were adults, they would never create strong
critical thinking techniques. Finally, Freire (1993) concludes that authentic thinking and
behaviors of human beings must consider processes through communication.
As Shor (1992) discusses above, Japanese education, especially junior high
schools and high schools rely, on standardized tests, grades, and paper exams. Since
most students take paper exams based on standardized tests to get into the next
educational institution, these exams are extremely competitive. Memorizing information

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for the exams does not require critical thinking at all, while these processes cost money
and time and require extra schools. Some principals in public schools argue that teachers
do not only check students’ academic achievement, but also evaluate their extracurricular
activities and efforts of school events. However, when it comes to entrance examinations,
teachers are generally only interested in students’ academic achievement in the school.

Confucius
Throughout Japanese history, the powerful Confucian beliefs have influenced and
enhanced national life in all aspects of society and educational fields. Japanese education

has become one of the most successful in the world, partially because it has been built
upon the philosophical ideas of Confucius (M ungazi, 1993). In this part of this chapter, I
will analyze Confucian education which always connects to Japanese education.
Confucianism was introduced from China, which has been a powerful influence on
Japanese culture and education. According to Confucius , maintaining peace in family,
friends, and work relationships is necessary, and admiring hierarchy in both society and
in relationships is important as well (Gutek, 2006).
According to Mungazi (1993), the notion of Confucian education is to understand

the stable contributions of trained educators who are capable of foreseeing Japanese
education in the future. A main idea of Confucius is that educators should prepare and
develop instructions or rules in society. Improving both education and individuals was
important because these always relate to the relationships between a human being and
society. He understood that shaping the strong relationship between group members in
the society is critical in education as well. Japanese culture has adopted those ideas in

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every area of life. Therefore, Confucian philosophy is necessary in terms of all aspects of

Japanese educational efforts.
Group thoughts are important in the Japanese society. Everyone keeps rules and
disciplines based on the notion that Japanese people have similar opinions and share
common rituals that show cooperation. They avoid outstanding attitudes because these
show that the person does not follow rules and know discipline. Students, for example,
do not often oppose ideas of elders and professors, even if they hold different ideas. If
teachers do not accept students’ ideas and suggestions at the school meetings, they will

often adapt the ideas to better suit their own needs.
Conversely, another scholar defines the notion of Confucianism in the unique
view that people are always in a mix of human relationships. He argues that to cooperate
with others is possibly their destiny. A Confucian idea is that unity is like the wings of a
bird. Humans’ wings have to be set, which means that if wings move horizontally, the
bird can fly straight, but if the tips of wings go slightly down, the bird will immediately
fall to the ground. We can state that when a majority of people do different and wrong
things it is like these wings pointing slightly down. It is evidence that the whole country
could decline soon. As an example, love in the Chinese character has a heart in the
center of the character. It indicates not only a single organ, but also emotions, minds, and
spirits. According to Confucian philosophy, the character implies that one is going to
expand thoughts and perspectives while sharing his/her emotion and spirit with others.
No matter what their genders and ages are, all men/ women and elders/children unite with

their hearts in the center of the body. (Confucianism: Wisdom of Faith, 1996 )

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Here is a typical example of the movements of a bird’s wings: when one student
kills another student for fighting, the accident will be reported in the media so that most
Japanese will receive the information. Afterward, the reputation of the school will be
lowered in the eyes of others. Instead of the murderer receiving a negative reputation,
society will blame the instruction of the school, and lower the school’s reputation.
Finally, the philosophy of Confucius contains understanding of interpersonal
relationships in society. Relationships are hierarchical, and social order answers to
people’s obedience, responsibilities, and polite manners. The concept is that a human
being does not live by himself but with his/her relationship to others, such as
sovereign/subject, father/son, elder brother/ younger brother, husband/wife, friend/friend
(Wang, 2001).

Collectivism
According to the philosophical thoughts of Confucius, one can observe that most
ideas which Confucius believes relate to notions of collectivism. In this part, I will
explore the definition and concepts of collectivism belonging to Japanese society.
Although some scholars argue that attitudes of the Japanese tend to be individualistic,
there are decisive facts that show the collectivistic society in Japan.
Wikipedia (2006) asserts that collectivism stresses any discipline which is
important to the group. In a whole society, state, nation, race, and social status, people
should be subordinate to the collective group. Japanese historians believe that Japanese
people have instinctive senses and understanding that they cannot live without groups.

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For example, teachers would rather give lectures to primary students on how to
behave well in public and how to cooperate with other people than academic lectures.
They teach children that maintaining harmony is necessary within groups. Teachers
often mention at school that students should keep the same pace of others’ steps,
ashinami wo sor oeru. Good behavior often co incides with cooperation. In this case,
good behavior is indicated by children who followed teachers’ and parents’ instructions,
no matter if the idea is correct or incorrect.
According to Confucian concepts, collectivists base societal views on coexistence
with each other. Triandis et al. (1988) consider collectivism to promote interdependence

when the individual and group share clear aims. When it comes to individualism, the
relationship between the person and group goals may not show agreement (Wang, 2001).
One can see a similar situation of promotive interdependence in the classroom.
While American education tends to have student-centered classes, Japanese classes have

teacher-centered lectures at school. The class style brings the notion of a coexistence in
Japan in terms of the collectivist society. In order to smoothly cooperate with each other,
somebody in the group must lead the rest of the members. In the case of schools in Japan,
the leaders become teachers for the group of classroom and school. School can be
peaceful and attain cooperative work because of the relationship between teachers and

students.
In Tightness Looseness Revisited: Some Preliminary Analyses in Japan and the

United States, Chan et al. (1996) discovered several aspects of manifestations of tightness
and looseness: determinants of social behavior, sanctioning systems, values, cognitive
styles, and language. Tightness-looseness is a crucial dimension which explains cultural

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differences in several social behaviors. In terms of the social behavior of collectivist
cultures, the normative pressure mainly comes from specific smaller group members,
such as families and friend s.
In schools which propagate collectivist ideas, the normative pressure occurs
within specific smaller groups in both the classroom and house. For instance, once
students find a few close friends in the classroom, they tend to be together all the time,
such as going to music classes, taking physical education classes, visiting other classes to
see friends and going to bathrooms during break s. These smaller groups are microcosms
of larger collective societies, having characteristics of caring, idea sharing and
maintaining relationships with others. As another example, when parents expect their
children to get into prestigious schools as a next educational institution, most children
agree with it and go to cramming schools to follow parents’ desires.
Through these results based on literature review analysis, Japanese education
shows notions of traditional education, Confucian thought , and a collectivistic society.
Most people believe what teachers say is a lways correct because traditional education.
Also, the classroom tends to be a student -centered class, borrowing from the educational
philosophy of Confucius. Relationship of student grouping and children/parents shows
the unique concept of collectivism. In the next chapter, I am going to discuss critical
educational systems according to my experiences and case studies.

IV. Analysis of strength and weakness in Japanese education
In this part, I will analyze Japanese education from philosophical viewpoints.
F irst, and through case studies, I will explore Japanese teachers, students and class styles.

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Next, I will examine Japanese education in terms of the advantages and disadvantages of
the prevailing educational system in the light of my experiences. These critical
examinations will assist me in discovering meaningful educational approaches for

Japanese education .
To begin with, based on Confucian thoughts, I will analyze both positive and
negative views of relationships between educators and students in Japan. Everyone,
including parents, students, neighbors, and coworkers refers to educators, teachers and
professors respectfully. Students have to change their ways of speaking from casual to
respectful when addressing teachers. It is obvious that educators are highly ranked in
Japanese society. That is why many people in Japan believe that what teachers say is
always correct.
Therefore, an advantage of the relationship between educators and others is that
most people strongly trust educators in Japan. Although students may not be able to
argue with what instructors say, most Japanese students and parents still respect teachers

at school. A critical disadvantage of Japanese education is signified by the fact that
educators and students never have personal relationships with one another, so they cannot
exchange beneficial information besides class tasks. This is because educators often
intimidate students with their strong authoritative attitudes.
Indeed, these relationships between Japanese educators and students establish the

teacher-centered class. Based on a Confucian idea, followers obey what the leader says
in order to keep a peaceful group. In the case of Japan, educators become leaders in the
institutions and the students are the follower s. There are disadvantages of this belief. For
example, teachers often feel that they are teaching subjects to invisible students in a quiet

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place. Japanese students only listen to professors’ lectures; they do not ask questions and
argue critically. In addition, some professors in Japan still utter unpleasant words or
make facial expressions when students give the wrong answer. Therefore, students often
hesitate to share their answers and questions in class because they are afraid of making
mistakes, and so they seem shy and nervous.

Educators also observe students’ philosophical beliefs in Japan. In the video,
Schools of Thoughts- Teaching Children in Japan and America, the teacher mentioned

that in American schools children also have something to teach, and the process of
activities guides creativity. Alternatively, in Japan, teachers teach how to study well and
how to gain knowledge in proper ways for entrance examinations. Consider the
following case studies of Japanese teachers:
In the video, a teacher in a cram school was interviewed. He talked about how, in
Japan, there is an optional schooling that students can take to prepare for an entrance
examination for high schools and universities. This school referred to as a cram school,
is common in countries where non -English speakers live. The male teacher said cram
schools are not the place where students develop creativity and individuality. Rather,
they simply focus on memorizing information for examinations. Parents spend over 2 to
3 hundred dollars in a month for the school. Instructors and students never have critical
communication, but just look for expanded solutions of how to find answers quickly to
take entrance examinations.
A Japanese principle in a public school offered other insightful thoughts. He
observes that teachers do evaluate not only students’ grades but also their attitudes and
activities in school. And even if their scores are lower than other’s score, it does not

14

mean they cannot get into better schools. However, the reality is that they still focus on
mainly students’ grades rather than extracurricular activities they did in the school.
Although educators may want to consider students’ positive effort in schools beside
grades, one can obviously see traditional outlooks in the Japanese education (John, 1995).
The video concluded that the educational system in Japan definitely discourages
students from developing critical thinking skills, whereas American education seeks to
apply activities which develop student s’ thinking skills. Because they focus so much on
preparations for examinations, Japanese students do not have to develop their skills of
cognitive analysis. In addition, a lack of interactive discussions and presentations in class
leads to students that do not have strong public speaking skills, and many Japanese
students have difficulty expressing and analyzing their opinions.

In contrast, I have discovered that the Japanese educational system builds up
students’ general knowledge through preparations for entrance examinations. According

to research, lack of general knowledge often affects the number of students who graduate
college. While about 85 percent of Japanese students graduate, nearly 50 percent of
American students leave or change schools.
The possible reason for the different percentages may be students’ different
approaches toward academic work. Because of the pressure of entrance examinations,
Japanese students develop strong basic skills, while they are less creative. So, they feel
that the amount of class tasks and assignments at college are less painful than studying
for examinations. D ifferent levels of pressures in preparation for college affect the
percentage of graduates .

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In a nutshell, styles of competitive examinations in Japan have both advantageous
and disadvantageous consequences. On the positive side, students can thoroughly

develop their general knowledge through the process of preparing. This knowledge will
equip them for high-level academic work at a university, a technical college, a special
training school, or a junior college. Negatively, however, this educational system creates
less creative and imaginative skills. The way to study for examinations in Japan is to
memorize information for the test. Anyone who has large short-term memory, can pass
examinations. But, this skill never requires critical thinking.
Meanwhile, according to a report from Japanese media, one private school in
Japan has utilized a European style which focuses on discovery and experience. In this
style, teachers teach subjects well and in enjoyable ways. W hen Japanese students learn
English, the native speaking teachers lets the students practice new words and sentences
while chanting. Also, they use computers for learning English to promote student interest.
In a science class, students use authentic materials to examine chemical reactions at the
laboratory, and then they discover how things change, produce, and are structured. Both
students and teachers discuss reflections, suggestions, strengths and potential issues after

the experiments. The reporter mentions that this would be an ideal educational style in
Japan.
Indeed, some public schools in Japan have carried out creative classes even
through educational experts are concerned. In a public school in Tokyo, for example, the
teacher inspire s students to solve problems based on a story of Sherlock Homes. The
teacher creates a cooperative activity with detective stories. It is an ideal activity;
however, there is a serious problem. If the system of education changes in Japan, the

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society has to agree with it. In other words, social values, such as discipline , may change

as the educational system transforms from traditional to democratic. Therefore, the most
significant worry is that people may not follow rules like they already have been
accustomed.
At this point, I have discovered important insight in the analysis of the
educational system in Japan in terms of relationships between teachers and students, class
styles and philosophical thoughts. Based on the philosophical thought s of Confucius,
Japanese education has followed a traditional style. Because of the traditional education
and collectivist society, teacher-centered classes became the norm. Even though
educational levels in Japan are higher than other countries, students do not often develop
creative skills and ideas. These viewpoints create a very unique educational style in Japan.
Also, I believe both positive and negative aspects of the Japanese education contribute to
effective suggestions for educational approaches.

V. Conclusions & Suggestions
According to reviews, analyses, and case studies, Japanese education has pursued
ideas of traditional education, collectivist society, and Confucian philosophy. I provide
positive perspectives of these thoughts and other insightful views while suggesting some
meaningful approaches. F or Japanese students, I recommend a form of democratic
education for Japanese traditional education. Then, I show how Confucianism could
benefit from Dewey’s philosophy. In the end, Japanese teachers should encourage
students to participate in class discussions.

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First, I will need to compensate for pessimistic views in Japanese education while
utilizing helpful ideas of democratic education. Democracy is a situation of free
communication and mutual control in a community of shared authority, where all
members have opportunities to express opinions. In democratic education,
communication encourages learners’ language skills, ideas and critical thinking skills
through cooperative activities such as projects, presentations, and individual assignments
(Shor, 1993) . I believe that educational systems should also inspire students to improve
their thinking skills instead of only emphasizing academic scores. In Japanese education,
most entrance qualifications depend solely on students’ scores. I think these entrance
examinations should discover students’ cognitive and creative thoughts as well.
Although building basic knowledge is important for students, I believe continuing higher
education should not have to be that stressful and competitive. Therefore, I propose that
examinations include activities to check how students cooperative with others, their
positive attitudes in the activities, and their creative ideas.
Besides, Confucian philosophy highly values cooperation with others. Both
Confucian and Deweyan philosophical ideas contain positive perspectives. While
Confucius believed that cooperation is important no matter what types of personalities
people have, Dewey valued one’s unique expressions and individual contributions ,
regardless of age and gender. According to Confucian philosophy, thinking the same
beliefs and behaving similarly with other people brings harmony. Doing so fosters peace

and safety, even though it is tedious and to o conventional. In Japan, students often hold
in their creative or helpful thoughts in the classroom. Teachers often lead lectures and
class meetings and decide on school events and new principles without any argument

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from pupils. These teachers’ attitudes often discourage students from studying and
joining activities because they are more focused on just following school rules. That is
why I suggest teachers should understand student entreaties and respect student voices
more than they do now.
Finally, I believe that teachers in Japanese schools should inspire students to
participate in class discussion as much as possible.

Discussion in democratic education

promotes students’ critical thinking skills. In this case, critical thinking is a coherent and
creative custom of the mind that generate s meaningfu l context through discussion,
cooperative activities and presentation. Cooperative learning in democratic education

creates strong connections among educators, students and parents. Students experience
education as something they do instead of something teachers do for them (Shor, 1993).
This reflects Dewey’s emphasis on people as having unique opinions and attitudes rather
than being robot-like, as in Japanese education. In many cases, Japanese students could

be robot-like because they simply follow what teachers say.
The classroom of traditional education in Japan demonstrates that students are
quiet and obedient. Students carefully listen to lectures without questions and comments.
Even if students have questions during class, they rarely ask. They wait for asking
questions until class finishes because students are shy and do not want to interrupt
lectures. Nevertheless, students have to improve their communicative and thinking skills
for public use. After graduation, most students start working or studying at an institute of
higher education. In these places, people definitely need to know communicative skills
of negotiations, management, and discussion. Moreover, students should speak and
express their creative thoughts in class so that they might overcome shyness. Also,

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teachers should speak encouragement such as “That is a good idea!” and “Great job!” As
a result, students feel confident and their motivation to learn is increased. Unfortunately,
not many teachers use encouragement in Japanese schools. For these reasons, I suggest
that Japanese education should create a classroom environment where students freely
discuss with teachers and each other.
The main reason I suggest discussion-style classrooms is that they demonstrate
individual thoughts while creating an enthusiastic classroom. W hile sharing thoughts,
reflections, questions, and comments through cooperative projects, presentations and
group researches, the classroom becomes energized. Energy cannot be automatically
created by itself. But I believe energy is generated when learners discover clear goals
and explore solutions and effective ways toward accomplishing activities, projects and
discussions. “Energy is the electricity of many minds caught up in a circuit of thinking
and talking and writing. Energy is an aura of creativity sparked by the interaction of
students.” (Brown, 2001 p.203) I think this quote suggests that when the classroom is
full of energy, it makes the students cooperate with each other and feel confidence in
what they are doing in class. I am sure these positive attitudes influence learning
motivation outside of the class, which is crucial for students to achieve their aims.
In conclusion, Japanese education could profit from American educational
systems in terms of developing creative and unique individuals. In democratic education,
not only do students learn something, but also they teach educators their thoughts and
experiences while interacting with them (Shor, 1992). Human beings should learn
valuable facts while being socially aware, as opposed to being automatons who only
focus on the input and output of correct facts robbing students of creative learning.

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Through transformation and modification of education, Japanese students will develop
their critical thinking skills via listening, writing, reading and speaking activities.
Japanese classrooms will be more enthusiastic and students will show a more positive
attitude towards all subjects.
Even though it needs thorough examination and efforts from experts of both fields,
Confucian philosophy will help Deweyan democratic education and vice versa. While
cooperating with others, which both philosophers highlight, Japanese people can
recognize and respect others’ opinions in spite of the generation gap. Japanese education
can be more effective and of a higher quality for all citizens. Hopefully, a through
combination of philosophical thought, a multicultural education will soon emerge and
develop students’ academic knowledge, social behaviors, and relationships with other

people.
Furthermore , I have realized important facts, issues which can make education
more meaningful, and perspectives which can aid Japanese education. I believe this
research is just the first step; there needs to be more critical analyses, experiments, and
discussions in order to build more effective schools in Japan. I strongly believe
modifications in Japanese education are possible if both educators and students create
enduring plans and prepare careful research and experiments. Although I realize there
are other issues I should look at, such as minority, left -behind children, and suicide
among school students in Japan, my long term plan for Japanese education is to generate
integrative and enthusiastic classrooms. Hopefully, these energetic classrooms create
students who acquire strong thinking and cooperative skills while they develop academic
knowledge.

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