Educating the Whole Child in Japan

Prior to the Tokugawa period, the Japanese had little use for education. Japan was divided into several hundred fiefs, ruled by men whose preoccupations were fighting, hunting, feasting, and showmanship. The samurai, the members of the warring class in feudal Japan, were trained in Zen Buddhism and military techniques. The limited scholarship that existed during this period took place in Buddhist monasteries: "Priests taught acolytes and other children in their temples, but there were few schools" (Beauchamp and Rubinger, 1989, p. 3). The illiteracy of the people did not present a problem because medieval Japan was mostly a verbal society, and all but the most important documents were oral gentlemen's agreements: "Their codes and edicts were brusquely straightforward and unconcerned with legal subtleties" (Dore, 1965, p. 2). Given the disposition for armed conflict during this period, laymen were more troubled with the prospects of war than with the edification of thems

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o two goals: nation building and modernization. The Japanese recognized the important interrelation between school and industry in achieving their goals: "The new schools turned out a literate worker who was not only willing to sacrifice himself through a frugal, somewhat feudalistic life style; he was also motivated with a work ethic infused by a nationalistic spirit" (Duke, 1986, p. 19). To accomplish the enormous task of modernizing its society the Japanese government set out to create a compulsory education system controlled by the national government. Towards this end, the Meiji government required primary education for all children and established a centralized school system. Whereas the Tokugawa period had been characterized by regionalism, diversity, and fragmentation, the Meiji reformers built an educational foundation based on a single curriculum and pedagogy: "From its inception, public education in Japan has been relatively centralized and dedicated to national goals" (Rohlen, 1995, p. 111). Granted, uniformity in Japan's education during this period did not emerge overnight. In the first two decades of the Meiji period, government policy was advisory: "Although the government set out detailed guidelines
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Approximate Word count = 3969
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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