Abstract
This paper examines the application of ESD in home economics education to foster citizenship by
analyzing the UN’s sustainable development society. The Japanese government’s report (2017) to the
United Nations on children’s rights, and the concluding observations of the United Nation’s Committee
on the Rights of the Child (2019) directed toward Japan are examined. These observations were made
against the backdrop of the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals. The report and concluding
observations are investigated as a framework through which the present status of children’s rights in
Japan can be highlighted—including the problems that need to be addressed, and how this subject might
be connected to what is taught in Home Economics classes.
In conclusion, it is important for Home Economics classes to incorporate information on the social
efforts and government measures taken to guarantee the rights of children. Moreover, with the goal
of concretely improving children’s lives, such classes ought to pursue a style of learning that respects
children’s opinions, thereby helping to foster their physical and spiritual autonomy. Reproductive
health education must be implemented. Furthermore, I argue that to assist children in developing into
economically and socially independent adults, it is helpful for them to be able to express their opinions
on new ways of living or shaping the society. Learning that creates opportunities for participating in
society is also beneficial: It can enable children to become conscious of their future roles in constructing
a sustainable development society. This self-understanding of structuring content around the interrelatedness
of self-help, cooperation and public assistance during adolescence, is linked to their eventual
independence.
