Japanese Journal of Environmental Education Vol. 25(2015) No. 1

  Kogai kyoiku is a series of learning/education activities conducted in Japan after the 1960s by people who experienced public nuisance issues or issues relating to the environment/development that might harm their health in order to change their perceptions or actions, and those of others. But it has been little known in Japanese EE research. In this article, I discuss the meaning of inquiring about kogai kyoiku from the following three points:

ⅰ) Where should kogai kyoiku be placed in the history of EE ?

ⅱ) Where should kogai kyoiku research be placed in the history of EE research ?

ⅲ ) How should we proceed with kogai kyoiku research as EE research ?

  In conclusion, I point out that EE researchers should reflect what is known about kogai kyouiku and search what should be known in order to understand the history of EE (research) and reorient EE (research) in the post-3.11 society in Japan.

  The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship, if any, between understanding pollution education and gender. First, the roles of women in the history of social responses to pollution problems were considered. Second, the representation of woman schoolteachers in pollution education was examined. Among the findings is that, although women have been conspicuous in anti-pollution movements and studies on pollution, they are much less involved in education for understanding pollution. This is deemed to have been affected by gender segregation during the period of high economic growth.

  This article discusses the learning experiences that the Japanese anti-pollution movements from the 1960s- 70's inevitably imparted. Jun Ui (1932-2006), who was a famous scientist, critic, and activist in the field of pollution problems, especially Minamata disease, deeply respected non-academic people who struggled to tell neighbors about the pollution problem in their community. He respected them like the master of the science movement. They did not accept development plans introduced from outside of the community. They voluntarily researched about the possibilities of the pollution and attempted to create an arena for discussion. The learning activities raised the will to disclose the covert social discrimination structure, and change the social system. Those movements were connected to several networks which have the ability to support them by supplying scientific information about pollution problems. By the instrumentality of the network, activists were able to share their multiple experiences in different places, and felt great sympathy. This paper describes the "Jishu-koza KOGAI Genron (a voluntary public lecture on pollution problems by citizens and students)" at The University of Tokyo as the one of those networks. Ui often called Jishu-koza “a telephone switchboard of experiences” because the main job of the members in Jishu-koza was to introduce an action group to another one that has similar issues. It is an important fact that they exchanged their experiences including not only scientific information but also their failures to each other through the Jishu-koza network. It is necessary to reconsider the meaning of this intercommunication.

  This study reveals an aspect of the generation process of kogai kyouiku (education against environmental disruption), which was achieved by advocating an anti-pollution movement, by analyzing the fundamental structure of Koichi Yanagida’s idea in his passing down activities on Minamata disease. Yanagida was the representative of SOSHISHA, the Supporting Center for Minamata disease―an organization that conducted activities and supported movements related to Minamata disease. He also organized passing down activities on Minamata disease from the 1970s to the 1980s.

  Yanagida’s efforts are highlighted as follows. Interpreting Minamata disease as a problem representing the Japanese industrial society, Yanagida argues that it is necessary to transform the industrialized production systems and the lifestyles of people. He conducted his passing down activities on Minamata disease in the process of engaging in a movement aimed at transforming the production and lifestyles systems. Yanagida interpreted labor as an activity that possesses the function of forming human beings; he was interested in the industrialized life and education among children and adolescents. His passing down activities on Minamata disease comprised the following elements: 1) providing information on the overview of the damage caused by Minamata disease and its social structure, 2) underscoring recognition in a sensible manner, and 3) creating autonomy-based communities in different regions. For Yanagida, his passing down activities on Minamata disease represented not only a movement for social change but also an attempt to reorganize the system of forming human beings.

  This study discusses pollution and pollution education from the perspective of educational anthropology. In fact, pollution has not been a main issue in educational anthropology before. However recent studies on World War Ⅱ, earthquakes, and pollutions have been published, which has resulted from a change in the understanding of the concept ‘political’ in educational anthropology.

  First, we examine the development of postwar pedagogy and postwar educational anthropology in Japan. Through this examination we find that immediately after World War Ⅱ, Japanese educational researchers, especially in educational anthropology, examined Japanese national politics or political thoughts influenced by those of the United States and the ex-Soviet Union thinkers. They regarded the modernization of Japanese education and society as an urgent challenge during that time, and thus they were unable to work well with the problems inherent in the modernization, including pollution. Since the late 1980s, researchers have been forced to tackle the problems inherent in the modernization, especially in educational anthropology, as they have finally come to conduct clinical investigations into modern education and society in Japan with full consciousness of the historical, social, and political contexts. From the perspective of recent educational anthropology, we know now that we can regard pollution education as “calling human beings and modern education into question”.

  In Japan, pollution became a social problem in the 1970s. At the time, educating the public about pollution was associated with the movement for preventing pollution. In the 1990s, many victims of environmental pollution incidents settled their claims through the judicial system. One of the repercussions at the time was the construction of public museums that exhibit information on environmental pollution. The purpose of these museums is to inform the public with correct knowledge about pollution so that it does not occur again. The public environmental pollution museums work to eliminate discrimination and prejudices against pollution. On the other hand, the private environmental pollution museums were established through campaigning against pollution, with the objective of training citizens. The conferences and events for exchanging activities between the public and the private museums have been being held since 2013. Cooperation towards the generalization of environmental pollution education has just begun.

  Based on analysis of the articles published in the Japanese Journal of Environmental Education since its launch in 1991, this article illustrates the characteristics and challenges of environmental education research in Japan, with reference to the role of Kogai education research, one of the two pillars of the history of environmental education in Japan. This article finds that the Journal is skewed against Kogai education, non-positivist methodologies and qualitative methods. It is also argued that these issues are related to each other, and that drawing on past and present Kogai education research is significant for the sound development of environmental education research in Japan.

  This paper clarifies the following three points concerning the consensus building process for establishing the semitropical forest management zoning plan of the Yambaru Forest, Kunigami Village in Okinawa, Japan. The authors were members of the planning project team organized by the local government of Kunigami Village in 2009. The first point is how it was possible to overcome the various conflicts among stakeholders in the process of establishing forest zoning plan. The second is how the consensus building process was designed so as to build fair relationships among participants and encourage them to respect different interests. The third is how the consensus building process was implemented.

  Both Forest Education (FE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aim at cultivating people’s understanding of the environmental conditions of a particular area and enhancing the ability to solve identified issues. The process of collaboration in drafting a forest plan has important educational value because it creates an opportunity for participants to think about forest use from different perspectives. The process of discussing possible solutions to the problems also contains a significant educational value. This is because the stakeholders who have an interest in and concern for forest management are given an opportunity to learn much about their home and its environs. This paper focuses on a participatory consensus building process from the perspective of environmental education and examines its significance as an educational opportunity. It argues that it is critically important to include communicative processes that encourage participants to share a variety of ideas and identify different ways to value the forest. By implementing such participatory processes, people can reach a better plan for sustainable forest management and initiate actions to realiza the shared plan.

  Discussing ways of collaborative education between high schools and universities is one of the important targets in the Super Science High School (SSH) project. For producing better educational effects, it is desirable to collaborate between them as frequently as possible. However, frequent collaboration causes additional burden to the teacher on the university side as the result of effort made to prepare lectures and time for giving them. This study aims at reducing these burdens by adopting two approaches. Firstly, several graduate students were employed as teachers and the lectures were given by these teachers whilst paying attention to keeping the quality of the local forest research program. Secondly, a database lecture records was established so that several teachers can share what they conducted in the lectures with each other. As a result of the first approach, the burden of time required for implementation was not reduced sufficiently. However, the burden caused due to preparing for the lectures was eased. On the other hand, the trial establishment of the database showed its effectiveness from the viewpoint of sharing information on lecture content among several teachers, although some problems remain to be solved.

  The issue concerning “conservation of living organisms” must be interpreted as a part of so-called trans-science that encompasses a number of disciplines. In school education, understanding the status of the natural world and living organisms and the like, and the scientific methods that are employed in their conservation are subjects studied through science. However cultivating the behavior for conserving nature and living organisms is a subject studied outside the realm of science, rather as social studies and ethics. Therefore, the author analyzed the descriptions of Curriculum Guidelines published between 1947 and 2008 with the objective of identifying the issues related to conservation education.

  An understanding of living organisms in the balance of the nature world has been shown in science textbooks. Perception of beauty and harmony in nature was described as an object of science in the Curriculum Guidelines issued between 1947 and 1951. However, such an object has not been evident since 1958. Conversely, the need to recognize the sublime in nature has been described in ethics since 1969.

  Regarding having a sense of reverence for life―that is, the sense of caring for plants and animals―was described in Curriculum Guidelines issued for social studies in 1955. The attitude regarding respect for life has been defined as an object of science since 1969. In the education of ethics, descriptions regarding respect for life have been offered since 1958.

  In the 1970s, nature conservation education―the orientation of links between a plurality of subjects―was proposed; however, these links have not become popular yet. From this viewpoint, one may say that it is possible to demonstrate an issue on the conservation of living organisms by increasing the teacher's awareness of the mutual relationship between science and ethics.

  Through the active support of both educational policy and citizens’ groups, education for sustainable development（ESD）has spread throughout Japan, conducted mainly under the auspices of UNESCO-affiliated schools. Each school has utilized the period of integrated study to conduct ESD, and in the process has created a regionally-linked ESD with great individuality. However, in addition to ESD, Japan has also introduced educational ideas arising from the OECD educational policy, and is thus facing the difficult problem of globalizing education. It is believed that this will likely have a particularly large effect on educational goals, content and methods of teaching.

  In this research, a theoretical problem was derived from the process of implementing ESD within the domestic educational policy framework and examined to elucidate the influence that ESD exerts on skills development in the period of integrated study. As a result, the importance of addressing the following three points for future ESD practice in schools are proposed: 1）Reconsider “the relationship between individuals and society” within the framework of educational goals; 2）Implement practice promoting the internal transformation of the learner; and 3）Implement practice based on analyzing actual learners and their situations.