The major early influences and actual training methods by which classroom management routines and behavioral control strategies are established in the first grade of Japanese elementary schools are examined in the first of three sections of this study. Drawing on relevant literature and preliminary results of an 18-month ethnographic study of Japanese preschools and first grade classrooms, this paper traces the roots of the inculcation of classroom discipline, the management strategies of behavior control, and the early socialization of attitudes toward learning activities. The second section discusses the nature of preschools and day care centers as an environment for the acquisition of basic classroom routines and attitudes. The third section examines the methods used by Japanese first grade teachers during the first weeks of school to train efficient and orderly classroom routines and to establish expectations and sanctions for appropriate classroom behavior. The paper concludes by considering the continuity of these routines and disciplinary approaches over the remainder of the child's public school career and offers some observations on the relevance of the Japanese approach to the United States system. (RSL)