World Literature in Textbooks in the Japanese Education System

The article analyses the historical development and current status of foreign and Japanese literature in Japanese language textbooks in the Japanese education system, focusing on the decreasing inclusion of world literature content. After the World War II reforms, a licensing system was introduced that allowed private publishers to publish textbooks that conformed to curriculum guidelines. These guidelines were revised several times, changing the content of textbooks and educational priorities over the decades. The early Japanese textbooks of the post-war period notably contained foreign literature from the canon of world literature, reflecting Japan’s desire to reconnect with the global community. However, as the curriculum evolved, the proportion of foreign literature content gradually declined, dropping from over 20% in the early post-war period to less than 3% in the latest guidelines. Today, the Japanese high school curriculum has further reduced the study of literature, with compulsory subjects focusing on language skills rather than the study of literature. Notably, the inclusion of authors who write mainly in Japanese but have an international background has replaced traditional foreign literature in today’s textbooks, and presents Japan’s cultural diversity within the Japanese literary scene. The responsibility for teaching world literature is increasingly falling to universities, where a more comprehensive humanities curriculum can provide Japanese students with a broader global perspective on literature and knowledge of world literature.