Earlier studies have concluded that the religious sphere is less open to creativity than are other areas of human activities. Also, it has been suggested that artistic freedom and creative expression are unwelcome in the domain of religious iconography. In the present study, we address this subject with regard to children's artistic expression of…

Creativity is a multifaceted construct, yet traditionally measured as divergent thinking (DT) with originality as its main focus. As originality tends to be discouraged in East Asian cultures, this measurement discrepancy is especially problematic in cross-cultural studies. Given cultural variations in the centrality of context, in the current…

This onto-epistemic experimental essay is a modest attempt to imagine another world yet to come in a time of what David Theo Goldberg calls "dread." To interrogate the unnamable feeling/texture the author's body wants to be free from, memories of the author, an…

Research on the implications of negative emotions for creativity has yielded mixed findings. To clarify this relationship, we conducted a short-term prospective study with data collected across two time points. We also explored the moderating roles of family expressiveness and gender in the creative process. The sample included 392 Japanese…

The purpose of this research is to: (1) clarify the scope and connotation of the OPOP (One Product/Project/Performance, One Paper) model comprehensively; (2) show its application in design and creative teaching; (3) introduce this model to more people. First, the author reviews the design doctoral education system and its shortcomings and analyzes…

This study examines the underpinnings of Japan's "programming education" in elementary school music, officially implemented nationwide in 2020. Through that reform, which has introduced "programming thinking" (a local version of computational thinking) in all areas of compulsory education, the country follows the international…

Asian culture has been test-centric for over 1,400 years. U.S. education has been since the 1990s. Based on Kim's creative Climates, Attitudes, and Thinking skills (CATs), creativity indicators were developed using the 2015 PISA questionnaires. Study I examined: (1) relationships between students' PISA science scores and CATs; (2) differences…

Producing original knowledge is the foundation of scientific progress. Originality is associated with certain skills and practices that can be trained and socialised. This study investigates how inbreeding as a career practice influences the socialisation of originality. An analysis based on a sample of mid-career life scientists in Japan finds…

Pretend play is important for children's development. However, recent research indicates that, as preschool children age and get more proficient at pretend play, they prefer real objects. We examined whether toddlers prefer real objects when they are younger as well as when they are older and more proficient in pretend play situations. Forty-three…

Creativity is generally considered a personal attribute, which is individualist and cognitive and less as a relational construct situated culturally and collectively. Past comparative cultural studies of creativity involving East Asian contexts focus on an individualist and cognitive perspective with relatively limited research investigating the…

Our study investigated the role of creativity in second language (L2) speech production using a picture narrative and an open-ended argumentative task administered to 60 Japanese-speaking learners of English. Following recent findings in the field of psychology, the participants' creativity was assessed in terms of cognitive dimensions (divergent…

This paper focuses on the dynamics of education in the interplay of power and seduction as creatively displayed in Takarazuka Revue's performances re-enacting the major players of the Cold War: USA and Russia (rather than former Soviet Union). "Oceans 11" (cosmos troupe, 2019) and "Once Upon a Time in America" (snow troupe,…

This paper is a critical systematic literature review of empirical work on creative pedagogies from 1990 to 2018. It responds to the increased international attention being afforded creativity and creative pedagogies in research, policy and practice and examines the evidence regarding creative pedagogical practices and the potential impact of…

There is great gender gap in mathematics and science among countries around the world, but the gender gap is one of the largest in Japan. In order to address this issue, we evaluated an educational intervention to empower the next generation of female youths by employing design thinking to ignite their interests in Science, Technology,…

Unlearning is a recurrent theme in Japan. To further understanding of what this entails, we focus on the view of learning laid out by a revered 13th century Zen-inspired playwright. For Zeami, learning involved a movement from the acquisition to unlearning of skills, punctuated by an experience of "mushin," followed by creative…