Yoshiyasu Ida

Japan: GIS-Enabled Field Research and a Cellular Phone GIS Application in Secondary Schools

In this chapter, we describe the status of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the secondary schools of Japan. We describe the Japanese education system and provide some examples of using GIS in secondary school classes. Also, we discuss how to introduce GIS into secondary school education through the introduction of GIS into the national curriculum standards.

Outline of Geography Education in Japan

The aim of this chapter is to present an overview of the current situation of geography education in Japanese schools and consider its future in the country. Geography is part of the Social Studies curriculum in elementary and junior high schools, and it is an elective subject in senior high school. The main content of the geography curriculum in elementary school concentrates on the students’ local environment. Japanese and world geography is the focus in junior high school, whereas world geography comprises the main content in senior high school. As for teacher training, there is an in-service training system in Japan. Furthermore, a teacher’s license update system was recently implemented requiring compulsory training, which in some universities includes fieldwork training. This chapter also addresses political issues affecting geography education and surveys how geography education groups can appeal to the government and the public, to highlight the importance of geography in schools.

Basic Geography and the Future of Geography Education in Japan

In Japan, many senior high schools require students to take a course in either Japanese History or Geography; most students select Japanese History. Consequently, many students fail to master the minimum level of basic geographic knowledge. To resolve this knowledge gap, the Science Council of Japan introduced in 2011 a plan to make Basic Geography and Basic History compulsory subjects. Basic Geography is designed as a compulsory two-credit class with the content structured from two perspectives, global-scale and local-scale. The course is developed around knowledge and skills that could help students become interested in current international issues, and the course is expected to create solutions from their independent ways of understanding and thinking about the world.