ABSTRACT
Democracy is often referred to as Minshushugi (民主主義) in Japanese. Minshu means ‘sovereignty in the hands of the people’, and Shugi means ‘ism’. Minshu alone also means democracy. Although the question of when the idea of democracy originated in Japan is difficult to answer, the popularisation of the term Minshu as a concept of democracy was largely due to the modernisation of Japanese society that began with the Meiji Restoration in the late 1860s and 1870s. During the period from the beginning of the Meiji era (1868) to the end of World War II (1945), there were times when democracy flourished as an educational movement as well (e.g. the Movement for Civil Rights and Freedom (自由民権運動) in the 1870s and Taisho Democracy in the 1910s and 1920s), but the movement was limited. The Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法), promulgated in 1946, was inspired by John Locke’s political theory and Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. It aimed to create a democratic and peaceful state with basic human rights and the sovereignty of the people at its core. In the field of education, the value of democracy was introduced in empirical, child-centred education and curricula, such as problem-based learning, life education, and community education, which were influenced by John Dewey’s educational theory. The education of democracy underwent a major transformation afterwards. Democratic education shifted from an empirical, child-centred approach to a subject-centred approach, with more advanced content and greater emphasis on knowledge. Disputes began to arise over whether democratic education should focus on children’s interests and problem-solving or whether it should aim to improve academic achievement by understanding the scientific knowledge, foundations, and structures of subjects and by improving the educational content. This chapter analyses the impact of Dewey’s 1919 visit to Japan on the democratic movement and education and its development in Japan. Then, Ueno will discuss the origins of democracy and education in Japan and its contentious issues from the perspective of philosophy of education in dialogue between East and West.
