Based on premise that knowledge of other peoples and places is no longer a luxury but rather a pragmatic life tool, article focuses on the image of Japan in textbooks used in social studies classes throughout the United States. Suggests that U.S. textbooks get high marks on factual information but score low in context, analysis, and perspective.…

Points out problems in planning a social studies curriculum that will prepare Japanese society for the 21st Century. Claiming that the current curricula is ethnocentric, looks at objectives and teaching strategies for developing a global approach. Recommends development of a global information network to increase awareness of the interrelatedness…

Summarizes the recent changes in the highly centralized national geography curriculum in Japan. Prominent reforms include the implementation of environmental studies in the elementary schools and a broader emphasis, across the curriculum, on world geography. In teacher education, emphasis is now placed on teaching skills rather than subject…