To help children develop well-rounded characters, MEXT in cooperation with other ministries and agencies has entrusted local public organizations to carry out projects offering regular experiential learning planned by children themselves and has been promoting environmental learning through experiential activities.

These activities take place in such venues as rivers (in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of the Environment), fishing ports (in cooperation with the Fisheries Agency), agricultural waterways (in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), forests (in cooperation with the Forestry Agency), companies and shopping streets (in cooperation with the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency), and National parks (in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment) suited to experiential activities and through exchange with cities and farm villages (in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).

(b) Expanding locations for children’s experiential activities in cooperation with other ministries and agencies

MEXT is implementing the following approaches in cooperation with other ministries and agencies to expand the locations available for children’s experiential activities.

(i) Children’s Waterside Rediscovery Program (in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of the Environment)

To enable children to enjoy rivers and to provide them with experiences in which they “learn from rivers,” boards of education, river bureaus, environmental bureaus and citizen groups cooperate in selecting and registering rivers that can serve as “children’s waterside,” promoting the use of rivers by children and making improvements as needed to enhance children’s experiential activities.

(ii) Rice Paddy Paths and Babbling Brooks Promotion Program (in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)

To enable children to enjoy and deepen their understanding of farm villages, boards of education and farm administration bureaus cooperate in selecting and registering farm waterways that can be used by children as “rice paddy paths and babbling brooks,” in promoting children’s use of rice paddies and farm waterways and in making improvements as needed to enhance children’s experiential activities involving farming and farm villages.

(iii) Children’s Marine Products Industry Interaction Promotion Program (in cooperation with the Fisheries Agency)

To enable children to enjoy fishing ports and deepen their understanding of the fisheries industry, boards of education and fisheries bureaus cooperate in selecting and registering fishing ports that can be used by children as “seas for children,” in promoting children’s use of fishing ports and in making improvements as needed to enhance children’s experiential activities involving the fisheries industry and fishing villages.

(iv) “Children of the Sea” Beach Construction Program (in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

To enable children to enjoy safe outdoor and nature experiences at beaches, boards of education and coastline managers cooperate in enhancing experiential activities at beaches by promoting the construction of environmentally-friendly and easy-to-use beaches.

(v) “Children of the Forest” Club Activity Promotion Program (in cooperation with the Forestry Agency)

Boards of education and general forestry facilities cooperate in providing children with a broad range of experiential activities in forests – forestation activities such as planting trees and cutting away underbrush as well as experiences in building wooden structures and making charcoal – through which children can learn more about the connections between people’s day-to-day lives and the environment/forests.

(c) Programs to promote extended outdoor and nature experiences for youth

To popularize and firmly establish extended nature-based experiences for youth, MEXT in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has been providing subsidies for programs run by local public organizations that offer outdoor and nature experiences taking advantage of local conditions – camping, mountain climbing and other outdoor activities – and featuring communal living by