Non-Formal Environmental Education in Japan

抄録

This paper summaries non-formal environmental education in Japan from a historical standpoint. In pre-war Japan, although development based on the policy of “rich country and strong army” brought about environmental degradation in all parts of the country, this did not lead to the birth of environmental education. The nature conservation and anti-Kogai movements that emerged in the post-war era prompted the “environmentalization” of society and education, marking the birth of environmental education in Japan. This education expanded to include nature-oriented education starting in the 1980s and became institutionalized starting in the 1990s. In today’s context characterized by neo-liberal restructuring of the entire educational system in which environmental education is becoming increasingly marginalized, the organization of locally based critical and creative learning is urgently needed.