Figure 1.--So far we only find evidence of school field trips after World War II. Here we see a Japanese school group on a field trip to a windmill. The snapshot is undated, but looks like the mid-1950s to us. |
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We are not sure when Japanese teachers began taking children on school field trips. We have not yet found examples before World War II, but we do not know that fireld trips were not conducted before the War. Cost must have been a factor because the children had to be transported to the site. We see many examples in the photographic record after the War as the Japanese economy not only began to recover, but to create unprecedented prosperity. . We suspect that field trips became more feasible as Japan begame more prosperous. Japan had an excellent school system before the War, with the growing economy, substantial funds were available to spend on schools. Schools now had the funds to rent busses to take the childten to all kinds of interesting places. And in the city the childten could use subways to get to museums and parks. Changes in the curiculum may well have been a factor. As far as we can tell, field trips were a common part of the school program by the 1950s. We see children taking all sorts of field trips to important museums, parks, temples, and historical sites, much of which could be coordinated with the curriculum.
We have no evidence of Japanese children on school field trips during the 19th century. Of course a modern public school system was very new to Japan. It was one of the reforms following the Meiji Restoration (1867/68). In a dramatic break from tradition, Western models were used. Field trips other than a walk to a nearby park or interesting site would not have been possible because of the cost of transporting the children. This of course was also the case in the West.
We are not sure when Japanese teachers began taking children on school field trips. We have not yet found examples before World War II, but we do not know that fireld trips were not conducted before the War. Cost must have been a factor because the children had to be transported to the site. We see many examples in the photographic record after the War as the Japanese economy not only began to recover, but to create unprecedented prosperity. . We suspect that field trips became more feasible as Japan begame more prosperous. Japan had an excellent school system before the War, with the growing economy, substantial funds were available to spend on schools. Schools now had the funds to rent busses to take the childten to all kinds of interesting places. School busses were not usually use because they are not very common in Jaoan. And in the city the children could use subways to get to museums and parks. Changes in the curiculum may well have been a factor. As far as we can tell, field trips were a common part of the school program by the 1950s. We see children taking all sorts of field trips to important museums, parks, temples, and historical sites, much of which could be coordinated with the curriculum.
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