The [[Meiji period]] saw the advent of public education, and its expansion to include most, if not all, of the children in the archipelago. Public education in this period made literacy, mathematical skills, and general knowledge of a variety of subjects much more easily accessible to a much wider range of people than ever before; the standard national curriculum also played a crucial role in creating a Japanese citizenry cognizant of an identity as citizens of a unitary modern state of Japan. | The [[Meiji period]] saw the advent of public education, and its expansion to include most, if not all, of the children in the archipelago. Public education in this period made literacy, mathematical skills, and general knowledge of a variety of subjects much more easily accessible to a much wider range of people than ever before; the standard national curriculum also played a crucial role in creating a Japanese citizenry cognizant of an identity as citizens of a unitary modern state of Japan. |