Postwar education
戦後教育
せんごきょういく
After its surrender in 1945, Japan renounced the militarist prewar and wartime education system, and sought to develop a more democratic style of education. The educational policies of the Allied Occupation (the United States) had a significant influence. The Fundamental Law of Education of 1947 《→Kyoiku Kihon Ho 教育基本法 Fundamental Law of Education》 and the School Education Law of 1947 were formulated in response to recommendations presented in reports by the first education mission from the United States. This became the basis of the education system as it is today. The essential elements of the new system were the replacement of the existing dual-track (popular and elite) system with a single-track 6-3-3-4 system (six years of elementary school, three years of junior high school, three years of high school, and four years of university), compulsory education through junior high school (equivalent to ninth grade), establishment of the principle of coeducation, and creation of a system of local boards of education.
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