Abstract
This study explores the establishment and development process of the handicraft course in regular elementary schools and higher elementary schools in Ehime Prefecture, by examining historical records related to handicraft education published in the Journal of the Ehime Education Association; the study covers the 22 years from 1886 to 1907. As a result, the findings elucidated the reality of the efforts made by the Ehime Education Association to disseminate handicraft education while paying careful attention to the handicraft education trends of the central government and across the country. In particular, based on the academic theories and views of Rokushiro Uehara and Hideyoshi Okayama, while disseminating handicraft education theories, the Ehime Education Association was concurrently exploring ways to actualize classroom practices in consideration of the actual circumstances in Ehime Prefecture. Meanwhile, though professionals in the field of education had been perturbed over whether the handicraft course should be classified as a vocational education subject or a regular education subject, it was ultimately concluded that the handicraft course should be classified as a regular education subject.
