Fragments of Historical Study of Kanji Education in the post-War period:

Focusing on Kanji Education in the Case of “Hito” Magazine

Abstract

This study summarizes and discusses the changes to Kanji character teaching in the educational magazine “Hito” based on the lineage in “Nippongo Kanji Characters, 7th Edition”. The importance of systematic Kanji character education regarding the private education research movement included the Japanese language policy movement known as “reaction” and the movement promoting the establishment of “the Table of Chinese Characters in Common Use” was recognized before the 1970’s from the time preceding the 1970’s when “Hito” was founded. Under these circumstances, “Hito” attempted to organize the systematic Kanji character education practice. From the 1970’s through to the early years of the 1980’s, Susumu Okada supported Tohdoh Akiyashu’s study to develop the systematization of Kanji character education. Additionally, the Miyashita Hisao Group from the end of the 1980’s through to the 1990’s supported Shirakawa Shizuka’s study for the development of the systematization of the Kanji character education. The beginning of Okada’s teaching focused on the classification method of the Kanji families based on radicals. However, it indicated an issue. On the other hand, the teaching from the late time of Miyashita was based on the knowledge of conventional Kanji character education and made it possible to overcome this problem by supporting Shirakawa’s Kanji Research.