A Study of the Subject of Craft which Appeared in Japan during World War II (Part I) : An Investigation of the Independent Movement of the Subject of Handicraft

Abstract

This paper investigates the background of the appearance of the subject of craft in Japanese national education during the Second World War. Craft did not appear in the plan of the council for education in 1939. Instead, the area of craft was included as part of the subject of manual training as "handicraft." At the time, art educators protested against the plan of the council of education to include handicraft in manual training because the qualities of handicraft were different from those of manual training. Later, the Association of Handicraft Education of Japan presented a petition to the Ministry of Education to make the new subject of handicraft. This paper clarifies the details surrounding this petition.