Social Skills Nurtured Through a Culture of Autonomy and Collaboration in Japanese Schools | DECEMBER 2025

A pupil on duty erases the blackboard at the end of class.

In Japan, a culture has taken root in which children take on shared responsibilities that help manage daily school life. The educational framework—including class activities, pupil council activities, and school events, collectively known as tokubetsu katsudo or student-led activities¹—is unique in Japan and is recognized for promoting cooperation and a sense of public-mindedness. We spoke with an expert about the background of this educational system and the significance of its practices in schools.

Pupils on lunch duty serve side dishes during school lunch.

In Japan, under the principle of “running the school together,” pupils take on various daily duties, such as daily classroom coordinator (nicchoku),² cleaning duties,³ and committee activities⁴ that involve cooperation across different grade levels. KYOMEN Tetsuo, Associate Professor in the Institute of Human Science at the University of Tsukuba, studies how this educational system of shared responsibilities and collaboration helps children develop autonomy and a sense of public-mindedness. KYOMEN, who conducts research comparing school cultures internationally, explains the history and distinctive features of Japanese school culture, including the role of student-led activities, as follows.

“Japanese schools have developed not only as places of learning but also as places for social development. At the end of the 19th century, the grade-based ‘class’⁵ system was introduced, and students began spending much of their day together within their class. To build stable relationships in this new environment, the class was formed as a space with emotional connections, much like a family or local community.”

The idea of pupils actively managing their own school life further developed during the Taisho period (1912–1926), and unique class culture activities spread across the country. In 1919, the elementary school affiliated with Nara Women’s Higher Normal School⁶ introduced a class modeled on constitutional government, assigning duties and roles so that every pupil had a responsibility. “By the 1930s, pupil-centered cultural activities—such as publishing class anthologies and newspapers—advanced, and practices of self-management became more widespread,” KYOMEN explains.

Before World War II, these student-led governance activities were treated as “extracurricular activities.” After the war, they were incorporated into the formal curriculum and are now implemented as student-led activities.

“In addition to academic learning, nurturing autonomy, cooperation, and a sense of public-mindedness is a distinctive feature of Japanese education,” KYOMEN notes. In particular, one class activity—cleaning—has roots in Buddhist culture, where the cleaning is seen as training. Over time, it has become established not just as a matter of hygiene but as a practice that cultivates mindfulness and consideration for others.

In many other countries, by contrast, schools are primarily seen as places for learning, and it is rare for all pupils to participate in daily school management. “Japanese class activities can be described as education in ‘direct democracy.’ Every child shares their opinions, reaches consensus, and fulfills their assigned role. That experience becomes a source of the ikiru-chikara (“competencies for living”)⁷ in society,” KYOMEN says.

Another practice rarely seen abroad is mixed-age group activities, in which pupils from different grades collaborate. Committee activities as part of pupil council programs, club activities, and school events—all included in student-led activities—also involve cooperation across grades. Outside these formal programs, mixed-age group activities are undertaken during playtime and commutes. By respecting differences in age and ability while working together, pupils develop mutually supportive relationships that form the foundation for social skills.

In student-led activities, teachers play a key role in sharing the purpose of each activity with pupils, facilitating reflection, and guiding collaboration among pupils, all while avoiding excessive control.

Regarding recent changes in student-led activities, KYOMEN explains: “In today’s schools, there is an emphasis on balancing pupils helping one another in their learning with respecting each child’s individuality and way of learning. Alongside the essential daily duties that keep the class functioning, the role of classroom-chosen tasks—responsibilities that can make class life more enjoyable and strengthen interpersonal relationships—has once again come into focus.”

Classroom-chosen tasks involve pupils taking the initiative to manage tasks they are interested in, such as caring for plants and animals, organizing games and activities, or arranging movie screenings. These roles provide opportunities to cultivate initiative and a sense of responsibility and serve as a symbol of the Japanese school culture in which the class is regarded as a cohesive, shared community.

A pupil performing the task of caring for plants and animals.

“Both daily duties and classroom-chosen tasks involve participation as members of the school community, but classroom-chosen tasks give pupils greater opportunities to make the most of their individual strengths and talents,” KYOMEN explains.

The spirit of creating together, which is central to Japanese school culture, fosters not only the acquisition of knowledge but also the ikiru-chikara as a member of society. This is why educators around the world take a keen interest in Japan’s educational model.

Pupils cleaning at a school in Egypt. Japan’s style of education, “student-led activities,” is being introduced overseas as *Tokkatsu*.
Photo: KYOMEN Tetsuo

1. Educational activities aimed at developing students’ competencies by encouraging them to actively and practically engage in various group activities, applying discipline-based epistemological approach as members and contributors to a group or society, and solving challenges in group and personal life while demonstrating each other’s strengths and potential. (See “Fostering Children’s Ikiru-Chikara (“Competencies For Living”) through Japan’s School Education,” HIGHLIGHTING Japan, December 2025 issue)
2. A daily class duty in which students take turns performing tasks such as morning greetings, attendance checks, leading the class, erasing the blackboard, and reporting to the teacher. This system is widely implemented from elementary through high school, with the educational aim of fostering a sense of responsibility, leadership, and cooperation.
3. An activity in which students clean their school building or classrooms themselves. It is considered an educational practice that fosters a sense of public-mindedness and cooperation.
4. Activities in which students take on responsibilities for school operations across classes or grade levels. Tasks are divided by area, such as bulletin boards, the library, or broadcasting.
5. A unit in Japanese schools composed of a fixed group of students from the same grade. It corresponds to a “class,” where students spend time together for both lessons and daily activities.
6. A normal school was an institution established between 1872 and around 1950 to train teachers. At Nara Women’s Higher Normal School (1908–1952), teachers for girls’ secondary schools were trained.
7. As defined by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in the National Curriculum Standard, this refers to the balanced development of knowledge (academic ability), virtue (well-rounded character), and health and physical strength—skills and qualities needed to thrive in society.