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The purpose of this paper is to examine the ongoing discourse on children's rights and related attitudes towards individualisation and risk in contemporary Japan's education system. The paper is also interested in how this discourse is translated into concrete change. The concepts of ‘children's rights’ and ‘risk society’ both have their origins in Western conceptions of the relationship between the individual and society, and the place of children and young people in that society. This paper explores the way that these concepts have been transformed by their adoption into domestic Japanese discourse on education reform. After a discussion of how the classical liberal concepts of positive and negative human rights can be applied to the specific case of children's rights, the discussion moves on to show how this debate has developed in Japan since the 1980s. Then the paradigm of the ‘Risk Society’ is introduced and the concepts of ‘positive risks’ and ‘negative risks’ are explored, first with reference to schooling in Western countries and then in relation to Japan. Finally, the relationship between risk, rights and neoliberalism is discussed, and it is shown how Western notions of individualisation have met strong resistance from various actors on both sides of the political spectrum. In the case of the Japanese education system, the shift of responsibility from state bureaucracies to individuals and private-sector organisations that is predicted by Risk Society theory has only partially taken place. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Extracurricular clubs are widely believed to be an important part of education in Japan, and Japanese students devote an enormous amount of time and energy to them. Until recently, however, there has been very little research examining either the content or the outcomes of participation in such clubs. In this paper, based on a nationally representative survey of Japanese high school seniors (n = 3753) we examine the relationship between participating in extracurricular clubs and Japanese students' self-concepts. Our findings demonstrate that students who join extracurricular clubs have more positive self-concepts than those who do not join clubs, and students in sports clubs have higher self-concepts than students in non-sports clubs. This paper, therefore, offers important data for scholars interested in non-academic aspects of Japanese education in general, and demonstrates the impact that extracurricular activities have on Japanese students' self-concepts in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines lifelong learning in contemporary Japan, considering first various conceptual, policy and practical aspects before contextualizing the reality of the relevance, focus and sustainability of lifelong learning in a rural Japanese setting by detailing lifelong learning as directed by Aomori Prefecture, Hirosaki University and in a special program of Hirosaki City. On the basis of this contextualization, the paper concludes by proposing that the lifelong learning sector that is emerging in Japan can be organized on the basis of four overlapping orientations: one based on personal interest for the 'hobbyist' as life- long learner, a second based on the lifestyle and contemporary issues concerns of the 'resident' as lifelong learner, a third through meeting the knowledge and skills needs of the 'careerist' as lifelong learner and the fourth through a specialized themes curriculum for the 'activist' as lifelong learner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As there are many anthropologists in Japan, including those who work elsewhere, the focus here is largely on foreign anthropologists who choose Japan as a field, and whose numbers have increased exponentially during the working lifetime of the author. The perspective is from Europe, but the vital cooperation of local anthropologists in Japan is acknowledged from the outset. The paper recounts ways in which these anthropologists have themselves cooperated, reviews a selection of the theory and ethnography they have espoused, and demonstrates the importance of anthropology as a discipline essential for a good understanding of Japan and its inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of English in Japan, outlining its current status and use. The paper begins with a critical review of the World Englishes model as it relates to the categorization of Japan within the expanding circle of English use and continues with a brief history of English language contact with the country. It then examines the changing role of English in the Japanese education system and media. This is followed by a discussion of the influence of English on the Japanese language as well as the role which the English language plays within the discourses of nihonjinron and kokusaika. The paper concludes with a call for empirical research to be conducted investigating the spread, acquisition and attitudes towards English in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss the conflicting views of Japan's mission in the world and national moral education held by Yamaji Aizan and Inoue Tetsujirō, two eminent intellectuals of the Meiji and Taisho periods. In doing so, I suggest that one can not understand the dilemma that Japanese intellectuals faced when they realized the limits of Meiji modernization if one simply labels them as 'nationalists'. Inoue Tetsujirō made a sharp distinction between Japanese culture and other cultures and regarded foreign countries as a threat to Japan. Inoue attempted to establish the Japanese spirit embodied in bushido as the basis of 'state-centred education' (kokkashugi kyōiku), while believing that Japan's mission was to spread this unique spirit to the world. In opposition to such arguments, Yamaji Aizan criticised Inoue's idea of Japanese cultural uniqueness, which he thought could hinder cross-cultural understanding. Yamaji was also opposed to Inoue's method of investigating Japanese spirit in history and utilising it as the basis of national moral education. Instead Yamaji asserted that there was a common humanity behind the different manners, customs and ways of thinking in each nation. Although often considered an imperialist, Yamaji believed that Japan's mission was to promote better cross-cultural understanding by removing prejudice and discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the articles included in the April 2001 issue of the journal Japan Forum. Influence of the government on domestic information in cooperation; Association of the theme of journal with contemporary Japanese government behavior; Perception on the need for informal diplomacy.

At the beginning of 2013 two independent cases made the headlines of Japanese newspapers. The first case involved the suicide of a high school student that was allegedly triggered after he received several beatings from his basketball coach for failing to perform well enough. The second case involved fifteen female judoka, including competitors in the London Olympics, who filed a letter with the Japanese Olympic Committee complaining of violence by two coaches, including the head coach of the women's team. Both these cases caused a national debate about the practice oftaibatsu(corporal punishment) in sport in Japan. This article is based on the outcomes of focus groups that were conducted with students at ten universities from across Japan in 2013. In particular, we examine the ways in which students’ normalised acts of violence from coaches, accepting them as necessary forms of discipline and, in many cases interpreting such acts as indicative of caring coaching and kindness. Further, we consider the responses of students, which suggest that these forms of corporal punishment are necessary in producing a uniquely Japanese form of identity. The complex relationship between sport and education in Japan suggests that attempts to change the ways in whichbukatsudōoperate, including coach/athlete relationships, is problematic and may require major reconsideration of the role of sport in education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Japan's foreign population is growing, and policy-makers need to address the manifold challenges of an emerging multicultural society. Most importantly, this concerns the task to prevent societal frictions from occurring. This article puts Japan's preparedness to face the challenge of trust-building between members of different ethnic groups to test. The realm of educational policies and schooling practices will stand at the center of interest. It will be argued that the Japanese approach of an integration policy, with its strong focus on the concept of multiculturalism on a national level of policy-making, falls short of creating opportunities for trust-learning among the members of the societal majority and various minority groups. On a subnational level, however, e.g. in Kanagawa Prefecture, some best-practice examples of trust-learning across ethnic boundaries can nevertheless be identified, and may serve as starting points for future policy reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A clarification is presented for the articles "The common sense that makes the ‘otaku’: rules for consuming popular culture in contemporary Japan" in the June 2013 issue of "Japan Forum" and "The Anxieties that Make the ‘Otaku’: Capital and the Common Sense of Consumption in Contemporary Japan" in the May 2013 issue of "Japanese Studies," both written by Kam Thiam Huat.

Sesame Street, the longest running and most popular children's program in world television history, has failed to gain a large fan base in Japan because of notions of place. Since 1969,Sesame Street has taught socialization skills, pioneered programming formats, developed marketing strategies and spread American ideologies. Sesame Street has aired in English in 145 countries; over thirty countries have developed localized versions. Japan's NHK public television broadcast Sesame Street from 1971 to 2004 to teach English to secondary-school students. In 2004, Sesame Street was moved to the commercial TV Tokyo network and was localized. Muppets were added to appeal to younger children. Yet the program was cancelled in 2007. A key to Sesame Street's worldwide success has been teaching cognitive skills and promoting compassion for local cultural differences, while tapping consumer desires for idealized American childhood. When New York was erased and the English language removed, Sesame Street could not compete with Japan's already extensive children's television market. Sesame Street characters, however, became more successful when removed from their original context. I overview five aspects of Sesame Street in Japan and Japan in Sesame Street that best exemplify the program's cultural and consumerist politics, significance in television history and the image of urban society it represents. Namely, I analyze Sesame Street's place on children's television, the reasons for its importation and localization, depictions of Japan, broadcast history and legacy after cancellation. I argue that the kind of popularity Sesame Street has enjoyed in Japan is different than in other countries and provides insight into the Japanese television industry and marketing of American childhood. I explore a historical moment when television was particularly influential in international relations and in constructing notions of ‘home’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The corpus of haikai (haiku) poetic material produced from the early until the latter part of the nineteenth century in Japan has been largely dismissed as unliterary since Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902). In particular scholars have avoided the study of the poetic practice known as tsukinami haikai, a form of poetic competition. By examining a specific tsukinami haikai text as well as looking at the process of tsukinami haikai competitions, I argue that they had an important pedagogical and cultural value. The poets who composed poems for tsukinami haikai competitions gained the education necessary to read Masaoka Shiki's arguments in favor of a 'literary poetry'. In addition the vocabulary that they learned from tsukinami haikai was 'universal' and thus transcended local identities. Tsukinami haikai is important for understanding the cultural history of nineteenth century Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a sea change in the way policy-makers around the world see the economic role of universities. With the rise of the knowledge economy, universities are regarded as potential engines of growth, capable of contributing not only to the creation of individual companies, but also of new industries. This is the reason why Japan has been far from alone in emphasizing university-industry relationships and their role in industrial innovations since the late 1990s. The objective of this article is to examine the economic roles played by Japanese universities and the factors that helped or inhibited them from becoming engaged with the economy. More specifically, the article discusses how their roles changed through three distinct periods: the late nineteenth century to the 1950s when Japanese universities were very active economically, the 1950s-80s when they became somewhat removed from the industrial development process and the 1980s onwards when they began to re-engage with the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]