Traditional Japanese education and childcare are said to respect autonomy by emphasizing supervision, but Professor Yosuke Hirota of the Graduate School of Letters, Osaka Public University, says that So Kurahashi, who is known as the ``father of early childhood education in Japan,'' By analyzing San and Kitaro Nishida, a representative philosopher of the Kyoto School, we found that the spontaneity seen in Zen and the concept of nature, which has a transcendence that goes beyond that, have a latent influence on Japanese education. .
According to Osaka Public University, the idea of watching over children is often emphasized in Japanese childcare, but researchers overseas consider this to be a uniquely Japanese characteristic. To find out why, Professor Hirota analyzed the texts of Sozo Kurahashi and Kitaro Nishida, who were active from the Taisho era to the prewar period.
As a result, we came to the conclusion that the spontaneity seen in Zen and the concept of nature, which has a transcendence that goes beyond Zen, have a potential influence on the way of thinking about education and childcare in Japan. Professor Hirota believes that behind the modern thinking of the West, Japan's unique pre-modern way of thinking is hidden and unconsciously manifesting itself.
Professor Hirota said, ``In Japan, there is a tendency to seek naturalness in various fields.The idea that naturalness is good was imported to Japan in modern times, but its roots lie in the learning of pre-modern Japan.'' commented.
