ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to describe the main features of the system of teacher education in Japan and to analyse the key issues that affect it. For understanding both the system of teacher education and the tensions inherent in it, it is necessary to consider its historical origin and the major reform it underwent in the late 1980s. The chapter contains three sections: the first provides a brief review of the sociohistorical context of teacher education and the nature of the reform agenda: the second describes the key features of the prevailing system of teacher education; and the third identifies and discusses the major issues currently affecting teacher education in Japan.
