ABSTRACT
As described in Chapter 1, the 1998 revision of Japan’s national curriculum involved a significant cut in the hours that primary schools devoted to traditional school subjects. In part, this was inevitable because of the implementation of a five-day school week, which meant that fewer school hours were available for lessons. However, it was also necessary because of the introduction of the new curricular area of so¯go¯-teki na gakushu¯ (Integrated Studies), which was allotted as many as 105-110 hours a year in the third to sixth years of primary school – more than any subject except Japanese (kokugo) and maths.1 Usually referred to more briefly as so¯go¯ gakushu¯, this new area was the centrepiece of the reform programme at the primary level, and key to the attempt to solve the problem of how to develop children’s individuality at the same time as making them better socially integrated.
