Yumiko MIKANAGI
Professor, ICU
【Full article not available. The summary below is the same as the article that appears in the seventh issue of the CGS Newsletter.】
Sigh. As expected, the revised Basic Education Law has been approved in the Diet. According to the draft law, the revised law will include new phrases such as “civic spirit” and “patriotism.” These changes themselves are cause for concern as they imply a regression toward greater intervention and control of education by the state akin to the prewar Imperial Rescript on Education. However, here I will broaden the scope of the argument and focus, from a gender perspective, on the fundamental principles behind the so-called “Beautiful Nation” advocated by the Abe administration in its revision of the Basic Education Law and other policies.