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A Summary of Japanese Literacy History

  • Journal of Studies on Schools and Teaching
  • Abbr : JSST
  • 2023, 8(2), pp.129-193
  • DOI : 10.23041/jsst.2023.8.2.005
  • Publisher : Education Research Institute at CNUE
  • Research Area : Social Science > Education
  • Received : May 12, 2023
  • Accepted : August 31, 2023
  • Published : August 31, 2023

Kawamura, Hajime 1

1독협대학

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The history of reading and writing in Japan began around the 5th century, when Kanji were introduced from China. The habit of reading and writing hardly spread among the busy people. Around the 10th century in the Heian period, Hiragana and Katakana, which were based on Kanji characters, began to be used, but it seems that only a minority of the people used them. On the other hand, in Japan, where imperial examinations were not adopted, opportunities for learning Chinese writing were limited, and under a strong class system, eve aristocrats who were illiterate were able to succeed in life. After the Sengok u period ended and the Edo shogunate was established in the 17th century, the adoption of documented control made it an essential requirement for local leaders to master the Chinese characters. On the other hand, letters spread among the people in areas where commercial activities were flourishing. Over the next century or so, the cultural level of the local leaders rose as they learned to read books using the characters they had learned and engaged in various cultural activities. At the end of the Edo period in the 19th century, it spread to the people around them, including women. The place for that learning is Tenarai-juku. However, the level of their literacy was quite low, and outside of the cities, most people were only able to write their own names, less than half of the population could read and write letters. and in some mountain villages literacy was close to zero. In many cases, women were not given opportunities to learn letters. In the latter half of the 19th century, when the Meiji period began, school education began to show results, but literacy levels differed greatly depending on the region. Literacy was lower industrial areas than in commercial areas, partly because children were used as laborers, and the gender difference that has existed since the Edo period remained. In the latter half of the 20th century, after the war, there were almost no people who could not read or write even a single character. On the other hand, in order to read and write Japanese, it is essential to remember over 2,000 kanji characters and two types of characters, but even most prime ministers are questioned about their ability to read and write of Chinese characters. In addition, there is a large gap in the ability to understand what is read and written, and this is a problem that plagues modern Japan as an academic ability problem. Furthermore, the ability to read and understand information is also rapidly being sought, and the problem of reading and writing is also a modern problem.

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