ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates Japan's response to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on its education system, emphasising both immediate actions and long-term strategies. It begins by discussing the centralised nature of Japan's education system, governed by the Ministry of Education, and its role in shaping the pandemic response. Through an analysis of international and national assessments, including the Programme for International Student Assessment and Japan's national assessment, the chapter demonstrates that overall learning loss was minimal, although cross-sectional data highlight limitations in understanding regional and demographic variations. To address these gaps, panel data studies are examined, revealing disparities across regions and among student attributes. The chapter also examines policy initiatives implemented during the pandemic, which focused on leveraging the crisis to advance digital education, most notably through the accelerated GIGA School Initiative. Lastly, using year fixed-effects regression analysis at the prefectural level, the chapter concludes that the effectiveness of these digitalisation-focused policies is questionable in terms of improving student learning, in comparison to schools and/or Boards of Education's grassroots efforts.
