The Act of Japanese Language Arts in Manchukuo: From the Perspective of the Local Education

Abstract

This paper intends to reveal the situations of Japanese language arts practices in Manchukuo. The elaborate examination clarifies the following points: (1) Japanese language arts practices in Manchukuo were influenced by the "local education (kyodo-kyoiku) theory" developed in the mainland, Japan. (2) The learning contents were designed, based on the Manchurian mode of life and the local education committee aiming to extract and re-edit the contents from the teaching materials available: such as national textbooks, Manchuria supplementary readers, and other supplementary readers including "local readers." These Manchurian efforts were similar to the ones seen in postwar Japanese language arts practices in Japan.