Following the report of the Central Council for Education (2021), STEAM education policy planning, curriculum development, and trial implementation have begun in various regions of Japan. In Japan, however, STEAM education, as well as its predecessor STEM education, has not been adequately addressed in national education policy, and there is some confusion and bias in understanding the implementation of STEAM education. In particular, there are various views on how the “A” in STEAM should be understood and how STEAM education should be positioned in the curriculum, and these views are controversial. In this study, I analyzed the interpretation of STEAM education in the U.S. Department of Education, Education Commission of the States, State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education, and other public agencies where STEM and STEAM education are prevalent. As a result, I clarified that A in STEAM is an arts subjects, and that in terms of curriculum, arts and STEM subjects follow a common theme and are based on subject matter standards. On that basis, I mentioned how STEAM education should be in Japan in the future.

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