A Study on a Significance of Interreligious Competency in Japanese School Education

Abstract

In Japanese public education, there are no opportunities to learn religious education. Because we deeply regret the national Shintohism which led us into World War II. Moral education becomes strong nowadays, because of raising some problems of bullying in schools. The lack of religious knowledge gives us no ability to criticize a religion in general. Therefore, I think that religious knowledge should be set up as an element of culture in schools. Basically, religious education has contained faith and culture for a long time. However, it is necessary for Japanese to distinguish between growing faith and teaching knowledge of religions in public schools, because the former is prohibited in public school, but the latter is possible. In order to assert of achievement of so−called “religious knowledge education” in public school, it should be explained several topics such as, situation of Japanese religious consciousness or attitude（chapter 1）, discussions of significance of religious education in public schools after World War II（chapter 2）, and relationship religious education and moral education in today’s public schools（chapter 3）. After the explanation, I would like to consider of a significance of interreligious competency in public school in the future.