Paper Title
A Missed Opportunity ? The Rise and Demise of Japan‟s Teacher License Renewal System

Abstract
In response to a (supposed) decline in national academic standards and growing concerns surrounding teacher quality and ethics, the Japanese Ministry of Education initiated a revision of the education law in 2007 to path the way for the introduction of a teacher license renewal system in 2009. This reform required all teachers to complete 30 hours of training in specially tailored university courses in order to renew their teaching licenses every 10 years (prior to that they were valid for life). However, in late 2021, the government abruptly announced it was ending the generally unpopular system in 2022 (although initially the word ‘abolish’ was avoided) in an about face reminiscent of the turnaround on yutorikyōiku (“education without pressure” in which curriculum content and classroom hours were reduced) which ended in 2007. This article looks briefly at the background, outline and issues of the license renewal system and aims to establish the reasons for its demise and illustrate the similarities with the fate of the yutorikyōiku experiment. Further, drawing on data, feedback, and reflections from the author’s experiences with the system over 12 years, it looks back at the opportunities that could have been and, drawing on examples from Japan and other countries, examines what kind of ‘training’ is needed moving forward. It concludes by calling for a widening of the interpretation of ‘training,’ and indeed, the license itself, so as to increase diversity in what is a considerably restrictive employment sector. Keywords - Japan, Teacher Education, Teaching Licensing, Higher Education, Education Policy Reform