In this article, the authors argue that to understand the very low incidence of outside-of-marriage childbearing in contemporary Japan one needs to take into account perceptions of all possible solutions to a premarital pregnancy: marriage, abortion, and childbearing outside wedlock. To demonstrate the particular impact of these perceptions in…

This pilot study explores the apologies Japanese nursing college students thought they would use in their L1 (i.e. Japanese) and their L2 (i.e. English) when bumping into each other. The students completed a questionnaire, the results of which indicated that they believed they should always apologize for bumping into someone. The paper describes…

The book is entitled History Wars in the Classroom: Global Perspectives and examines how ten separate countries have experienced debates and disputes over the contested nature of the subject, for example the "Black Armband" and "Whitewash" factions in Australia who adopt opposingly celebratory or denigratory views of Australian…

Filling a significant gap in the literature, this book examines the impact of culture on the social behaviors, emotions, and relationships of children around the world. It also explores cultural differences in what is seen as adaptive or maladaptive development. Eminent scholars discuss major theoretical perspectives on culture and development and…

This study is concerned with ways in which children with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder arising from a hemizygous deletion in chromosome band 7q11.23 including the gene for elastin (ELN) and approximately 20 surrounding genes, are affected by social mores of vastly differing cultures: the United States and Japan. WS…

Similarities and differences are explored in programs and provisions for academically able students in the United States, Japan, and West Germany. Discussed are social attitudes toward gifted education (especially the belief that special provisions for an "elite" group are undemocratic) and the use of various teaching methods as…

This study surveys recent literature on education in Japan to determine what elements of the Japanese educational system could be incorporated into America's pedagogical system. There are four sections with the following titles: (1) What comparisons are being made between Japanese and American students in achievement and IQ tests scores? (2) How…

Historical and contemporary special education in Japan and the United States are compared. Differences in societal acceptance of the handicapped, integration into regular education, educational finance, parental roles, governmental control, and staff training are highlighted. The authors' personal experiences demonstrating the influence of culture…

An explanation of the change that has taken place in the aims and purposes of educational policy of industralized societies as the relationship between the education and the occupation systems has changed over the course of the transformation of elite education into a mass phenomenon is the objective of this paper. Analysis and discussion is based…