The resonance of Minna’s voice in Japanese schooling

This chapter examines the characteristics of Japanese schooling by focusing on the word Minna and the Japanese conception of the self. Minna usually represents ‘everybody’ and is a term used by teachers, students, and parents throughout all levels of primary school, junior high school, and high school in Japan. In Japanese schools, Minna is frequently used in educational activities and creates a unique learning environment. The chapter proposes that Manabi is a living art in our unpredictable and unprecedented world facing an era of globalization. It discusses unique learning styles in Japan. The education scholar Manabu Sato has actively used the words of Manabi rather than of ‘learning’ since the mid-1990s in Japan; he suggests education that combines Western learning linked to Dewey’s thought and Vygotsky’s social constructivism and Manabi. The idea that education is fostered by relationships is influenced by various characteristics that are particularly Japanese.