Abstract
Jinjo Shogaku Sanjutsu (1st-6th grade, 12 volumes in all) is a national
textbook of arithmetic used in ordinary elementary schools from April, 1935 to March,
1943. It was also called the Midori Byoshi (green covered textbook), because the cover
of the textbook was green. The previous textbook, Jinjo Shogaku Sanjutsusho, was also
called the Kuro Byoshi (black covered textbook), because the cover of the textbook was
black. Naomiti Shiono, educational supervisor in the Ministry of Education, became the
head of the project and compiled the Midori Byoshi. He spent seven years and one month
from September, 1933 to October, 1940 on the compilation of the textbook. This was done
amid the heightening and expansion of the mathematics education reform movement. The
following points are discussed in this paper. First: The process of Naomiti Shiono aiming
at the revision of the Kuro Byoshi textbook until he became the Midori Byoshi textbook
compilation head, and the compilation process that followed. Second: The characteristics
of the aims, the contents, the methods and the levels of the Midori Byoshi textbook.
Third: Response to and the significance of the Midori Byoshi textbook compilation.
Fourth: The message from Midori Byoshi textbook to the present day arithmetic and
mathematics education. That is, to strive for an enriching education, and not to lower
the level of education, and so on.
