The Ad Hoc Council on Educational Reform pointed out in 1987 that Japanese education must prepare for the ever-increasing information needs of the future, and in 1988, a proposal for the development of information networks was published by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture. This proposal recommended the utilization of a wide range of…

Provides an overview of inservice teacher training programs in Japan, which have few links to formal distance education programs. Teachers' growing use of computer communications networks is reviewed as a self-teaching method, and future directions are suggested. (Contains nine references.) (EAM)