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URGED UPON JAPAN Education Mission Finds Use of Ideographs a Handicap— Emperor’s Place Scored By LINDKSAY PARROTT By Wireless to T he New V ork T imes. TO KYO , April 6— A drastic ' overhauling of the Japanese edu cational system from primary schools to universities, including schools to universities was recom mended to General Douglas MacArthur in a report of the United States education mission to Japan, made public today. Making one of the most sweeping departures from the traditional Japanese cultural system, the commission called for the abolition of the Chinese-derived ideographs from the Japanese writ te n language and the substitution !of the Roman alphabet as a meas ure to eliminate what it ternied one of the hardest grades in Japanese progress. THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 1946. means of adapting the Roman* al phabet to Japanese sounds and its introduction into the schools, newspapers, magazines and books.” The present system, the mission asserted, “constitutes a formidable obstacle to learning.” ROMANALPHABET 'URGEDUPONJAPAN Continued From Page 1 Faith in the People I The report expressed a consider !in the democratic tradition,” but able measure of faith in the Japa he pointed out that many reforms, nese people and in Japanese teach such as language reform, might ers, placing the blame for the fail take years to complete. ure of Japanese education on a The central theme of the report “nineteenth century pattern, high was the creation of democracy in ly centralized, providing one type Japanese education by the estab of education for the masses and lishment of local control over another for the privileged few.” schools, as well as by the severe “ On the whole, we have had re limitation of the powers of the vealed to us,” the report said, “ a Ministry of Education to dictate varied picture of a people bewil textbooks, plan curricula or ham dered by the turn of events, but per the autonomy of teachers. The earnest in their striving to use an plan proposes that the Ministry be emerging freedom to forge the in confined largely to administrative struments of a democratic society. duties and that control of teaching The teachers of Japan, in so far as be vested in the prefectures, each their views have been represented with an Allied civilian educator as to the mission, are critical and a full-time adviser. restless and looking for leadership The report made a long series of outside of the Ministry of Educa specific recommendations, includ tion.” ing a widespread campaign for The report, which is by far the vocational training as a means of most sweeping examination made procuring manpower for the re-_ since the surrender of the entire building of Japan, adult education Japanese educational system, placed in the prefectures and co-education considerable emphasis on the train in the primary schools. ing of teachers and on adult educa Other recommendations included tion. Teacher-training in normal the establishment of new ‘‘lower schools and colleges should bel secondary schools” and particular broadened and a new program es-| ly the elimination of the Imperial tablished, the report said. influence in the schools. In this connection the report said: “ The ceremonial use of Imperial Rescripts and the practice of obiesance before the Imperial por traits have in the past been a pow erful influence for the regimenta tion of student thought and feeling; they have served the purpose of a militant nationalism. They should be discontinued. The ceremony connected with the use of such in strumentalities we consider unde sirable in the development of personality and incompatible with public instruction in a democratic Japan.” The mission took issue with the Ministry of Education in recom mending the abolition of Chinese characters and the substitution of the Roman alphabet. The most recent proposal from the Ministry was a curtailment of the Chinese “kanji” and an increase in the use of phonetic characters. This the American mission apparently con siders unsatisfactory. Declaring that much useful time of Japanese students was wasted in memorizing the Chinese charac ters, the mission proposed the “prompt establishment of a Japa nese committee of scholars, educa tors and statesmen to formulate
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