• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.655-679
• /
• 2008

This study is to analyze the base of selection and feature of description on Korea-related content in Japanese curriculum(geography and history) and high-school geography textbooks. Japanese curriculum requires that there are two or three neighbor countries to be selected and their contents consist of life and culture and have to compare with those of japan in view of understanding and respect on similarity and difference. The content of physical environment is only dealt as factors influencing on life and culture because regional teaming of neighbor countries focus on it. Dok-do is described with conflict region in most of textbooks. But some textbooks describe Dok-do with territory of Shimane-Hyun in Japan or devide like japanese territory on the map. There are described han-gul(Korean language), confucianism, buddhism and christianity, han-bok(Korean clothes), rice and soup, bulgogi(Korean meat dishes) and scissors, spoon and chopsticks, ondol(Korean floor heater), etc. with the cases of specific Korean life and culture. And, exchange between Korea and Japan focuses on more cultural view increasing recently than political and economical view. Then Japanese high-school geography textbooks humanize geography because of they focus on life and culture and promote not only knowledge and understanding but also altruism and empathy because they focus on similarity and difference through comparison between neighbor country and Japan. This shows how to able to practice regional teaming in globalization and multicultural society.