<Reports>Regional Characteristics and Origins of School Culture in Japan

In Japan, the school system is supposed to be centralized and uniformed nationwide, based on the national laws and rules such as the Courses of Study. However, the actual school culture in which students and teachers are experiencing in daily lives is considerably different from region to region. It can be said to have rich diversity in terms of locality and historicity. This paper shows various examples of such local school culture in the aspects of subject teaching, extra-curricular activities, educational environment and student guidance. They include the variety of the class styles, teaching of local historic heroes, physical education, school lunch, athletic festivals, school trips, school ceremonies such as graduation ceremonies, school songs, schoolrooms, schoolyards, school uniforms, and belongings at school, etc. Through this introduction, we can discover that some of them are from Dutch words, probably because of the influence of the national isolation policy (Sakoku) of the Edo Period. We also recognize that some of the school cultures are originated in the style of the army, which were introduced under the policy of Meiji government to enrich the country and strengthen the military power. In addition, we know that regional dialects play a part in forming unique school culture. These regional school cultures are now being homogenized in the information age. Some of the school cultures which were created under the environment of the pre-war era are now inevitably being changed and modernized. Even so, many of them will still continue to take root into each region and it is meaningful to study the history and backgrounds of such school cultures in order to understand the characteristics of Japanese school education