About Us

Our Activities

①Promoting ECEC Research and Survey

We promote research, in particular, on ECEC quality and outcomes. We also participate in international survey in partnership with international organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

②Building a Research Network

We build a strong research network with various research institutes including universities both in Japan and overseas, international organizations such as the OECD, local governments, kindergartens, nursery centers, centers for ECEC, ECEC associations, and other private think tanks.

③Disseminating Research Findings

We disseminate research findings and other relevant research information to multiple types and levels of ECEC actors, ranging from local governments to various levels of ECEC stakeholders in Japan and internationally, via our website or at conferences and symposiums.

Background

The Rationale

There has been a growing awareness of the importance of ECEC as part of education policy both in Japan and internationally. However, little research-based evidence has been generated and used in ECEC policy development in Japan. Hence, a strong need for our nation to engage more in ECEC research to help to realize evidence-based policy development and to strengthen the ECEC research environment by establishing a national center dedicated to ECEC research.

Objectives

To conduct policy research to inform policy development alongside foundational research from a medium to a long-term perspective;
To take lead in coordination with other relevant research institutions for advancing research stably and for the long term;
To cooperate with universities, local governments, ECEC associations, and private think tanks while respecting their respective strengths and roles/mandates;
To play a central role in the ECEC research networks in Japan and link to local "ECEC Centers" nationwide;
To collect, compile, and disseminate national/international research trends and findings; and
To participate in international ECEC research networks and research projects as the national representative from Japan.

Messages from the Senior Fellows

MUTO Takashi
Professor Emeritus, Shiraume Gakuen University

The establishment of a national research center on early childhood education has been the ardent desire of many fellow practitioners and researchers in Japan. There is a need to examine empirically the effectiveness of ECEC programmes in the context of Japan. In so doing, we need to quantify various aspects of 'quality' in ECEC, including practitioners' intervention processes and program environment, in order to discern how and what ECEC offering would facilitate (or not) children's development. There is much to do! I hope this center will produce meaningful and high quality research and fulfill the expectations of the people in Japan.

AKITA Kiyomi
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Gakushuin University

Giving a birth to the ECERC this year is epoch-making as 2016 marks the 140th anniversary of the first kindergarten opened in Japan! Our nation has fostered a number of ECE curricula independently developed at the local level and high quality exemplary practices for such. I envisage that the ECERC will become the central platform for ECEC research in Japan, by compiling and sharing such resource information, by effectively cooperating with local ECEC Centers, and by coordinating with international organizations, universities and other institutions dedicated to ECEC. Finally, I anticipate that the ECERC will be the place that produces evidence-based educational policy research toward higher quality ECEC.

KAMINAGA Mitsuko
Specially Appointed Professor, Osaka University of Comprehensive Children Education

I expect that the ECERC will grow into a research information hub that offers various types and levels of research-based knowledge necessary for effective policy development for quality improvement, ranging from ECEC practices and research findings both in Japan and overseas to case examples of local efforts by respective municipalities. As such, it is necessary for the ECERC, as the national network hub, to collect, compile and disseminate information from the perspectives of the past, the present and in anticipation of the future of ECEC and to cooperate with ECEC concerned actors, including administrative bodies and research institutions, academic or professional associations, teachers training universities, etc.

Research Staff

Director
ONO Akiko

Deputy Director・Senior Researcher
HORIKOSHI Norika

Senior Researcher
YAGISAWA Takashi
YOKOYAMA Makiko
HIRATE Sakiko
TONEGAWA Akiko

Researcher
YAZAKI Keiichiro

Senior Specialist
IWAKI Yukiko

Specialist(International Examination)
FUNATSU Kanami

Assistant Administartive Staff
YOSHIDA Yuki