Articles and
Books

Reports and Journal Articles

– Mithout, A.-L. (2016). “Children with disabilities in the Japanese school system: a path toward social integration?” Contemporary Japan, 28(2), 165–184. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1515/cj-2016-0009

This is a research article critiquing the progression of inclusive education in Japan, identifying some of the aspects that haven’t improved, as well as the challenges students with special needs will face in the Japanese “special support education” system. It is a good read for those who want detailed explanations of the drawbacks of the education system in its current form.

– http://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/elsec/title02/detail02/1373858.htm

This is a report straight from the headquarters of education in Japan, MEXT, about what is offered within the realm of Special Needs Education in Japan. This is the most direct and straightforward overview of what Japanese education is believed and aiming to offering regards to education for students with special needs. Other articles must be read to get different perspectives and claims on what is said in this report.

– http://www.jldd.jp/gtid/global_trend/1-Development-of-SpecialNeeds_Educa_J_Som.pdf 

This is an article but more like a report published by a well known Japanese professor called Professor Kaoru Yamaguchi. The professor was a pioneer in improving Applied Behavioral Analysis in Japan, as well as in improving the Japanese special needs education system with a focus on a better inclusive system. This report talks a little about the history of the special needs education system, the progression, and importantly places an emphasis on the importance of parents’ power and movement to further improve things.

– http://www.childresearch.net/chief2/13.html

These are a series of three blog posts by a Japanese professor on an NPO organization website called “Child Research Net” which in its own right is worth looking at. These three blog posts are written as a critique of inclusive education in Japan and how the writer believes that since ratifying the “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, Japan has actually moved towards what some may call an “exclusive” education system. Definitely worth a read and an interesting perspective from a Professor who has been involved in improving education in Japan.

– https://www.nier.go.jp/English/educationjapan/pdf/201209SEN.pdf

This is a short article or you could say report written about all of the laws that have led up to the status of special needs education in Japan as it is now. An interesting and unique part of this article is that it provides some data about the teachers and special education certificate holders working in special needs education provided by MEXT. It also finishes with a list of challenges that are believed to be facing Japanese special needs education.

– https://savvytokyo.com/special-needs-education-japan/

This is a article written on a website created to help provide useful information to international families living in Japan. The name of the website is called “Savvy Tokyo” and has a lot of useful information in general, and the particular author of this article Kirsty Kawano, has written a lot of interesting articles about education for international students in Japan. This particular article talks about special needs education in Japan, both inside of the Japanese public education system, as well as alternative opportunities outside. There are comments by readers below that are interesting to read, as well as a list of all the related articles written which are worth checking out too.

– https://www.nise.go.jp/cms/resources/content/11475/20160330-162832.pdf

This is a report published by the National Institute of Special Education (NISE) in Japan, essentially the Special Needs Education (SNE) division of the Ministry of Education (MEXT). It was published in 2016 and talks about the state of SNE in Japan, as well as future goals and targets.

– https://www.nise.go.jp/cms/resources/content/835/Special_Education_in_Japan.pdf

This is more of a brochure, also published by NISE that has a lot of useful information about SNE in Japan, as well as many important questions in an FAQ format, that are thoroughly answered by the NISE.

– http://www.dsq-sds.org/article/view/120/120

This is an article published in the Disability Studies Quarterly, which is a Disability Studies Journal. This particular article shares a long list of useful resources and interesting reads related to disability and disability studies in Japan.

– http://www.usjp.org/jpeducation_en/jpEdSpecial_en.html

This is a chapter from a book, titled “Japanese Education in the 21st Century”, written by Miki Y. Ishida in 2005. This particular chapter is available online, and is about SNE in Japan, including a lot of interesting remarks about the history of SNE in Japan.

– https://www.city.otaru.lg.jp/sisei_tokei/otaru/foreigner/index.data/school_education.pdf

This is a guide published by Otaru City of Hokkaido, available online, that contains a lot of useful information written in English about entering schools and the education system in Japan. While not particularly about SNE, it is still a useful guide to take a look at it to learn more about entering schools.

– https://prezi.com/jesnu3icizal/japans-special-education-system-not-so-special/

This is a Prezi presentation created by an individual named Eve Bridger in 2011, that criticizes the SNE system in Japan. It is well researched presentation and it makes for an interesting read and perspective.

– http://reposit.lib.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/bitstream/2298/35864/1/KKK0065_139-144.pdf

This is an article that discusses the attempts to create a more inclusive education system in Japan, with a focus on a case study example in Yamaga City of Kumamoto Prefecture. It is an interesting article to read as it shares a lot of important information about the attempts of MEXT to improve inclusive education in Japan.

– http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/117/117

This is an article published in 2008 that discusses the evolution of SNE in Japan leading up to 2008, with a lot of interesting criticisms of the state of SNE at the time of the article. 

– http://www.schoolexcellence.p.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Y-WP13.pdf

This is an interesting article published in 2017 that talks about the history of SNE in Japan, as well as the movement to inclusive education in the 1970s in Japan.

– http://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Continuum_appendices_07_08_13.pdf

This is an extremely comprehensive review by the National Council of Special Education (NCSE) that reviews SNE in a number of different countries, including Japan. The particular section on Japan starts at Page 174, and it is interesting to read about the state of SNE in Japan compared to other countries, as well as problems facing Japan currently regarding SNE.

– http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.863.2088&rep=rep1&type=pdf

This is an article published in 2004 that criticizes Japan’s inclusive education system. The article was published over a decade ago so some of the criticisms are outdated now, but many still pertain to the current status of SNE in Japan.

– http://kodomonet.sakura.ne.jp/en/contents_2_4.html

This link leads to an FAQ page of a website that has a lot of useful information about the education system in Japan. This website was created for the purpose of providing useful information to other language speaking families in Japan about the education system, so is a very useful website to refer to.

– https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259176131_Immigrant_families_and_children’s_schooling_in_Japan_Trends_challenges_and_implications

This is an article published in 2014 that offers a very comprehensive research based commentary on the experience of the international student and their family in the Japanese education system. It is a highly interesting read and should be read by anyone who is interested about international background children and education in Japan.

– http://www.kuasu.cpier.kyoto-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/NGWS-paper-1026%EF%BC%88Sena-Nukata%EF%BC%89-.pdf

This is an article from 2015 that talks about the multicultural experience of Japanese Filipino students and the challenges they face in Japanese schools, including language based issues.

– http://www.kyoiku.metro.tokyo.jp/en/about/number.html

This is a report from the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education that aims to inform international families, in English, about how the school structure usually presents itself in Japan. The website itself is a very useful one and provides a lot of vital information that families should know.