This book is a collection of works that explore the implications of a national U.S. curriculum through the study of Japanese education. It consists of 10 chapters: (1) "The Development of the Course of Study and the Structure of Educational Reform in Japan" (Hiroshi Azuma); (2) "Setting National Standards: Educational Reform, Social Change, and Political Conflict" (Gerald K. LeTendre); (3) "How Do Japanese and U.S. Elementary Science Textbooks Differ? Depth, Breadth, and Organization of Selected Physical Science Units" (Ineko Tsuchida and Catherine C. Lewis); (4) "The Creation of Japanese and U.S. Elementary Science Textbooks: Different Processes, Different Outcomes" (Catherine C. Lewis, Ineko Tsuchida, and Samuel Coleman); (5) "Comparing Japanese and U.S. Teachers' Manuals: Implications for Mathematics Teaching and Learning" (Shin-ying Lee and Akane Zusho); (6) "Individual Differences and Japan's Course of Study" (Harold W. Stevenson); (7) "Teacher Professional Development in Japan" (Nobuo K. Shimahara); (8) "It's Glacial: Incrementalism and Japan's Reform of Foreign Language Education" (David L. McConnell); (9) "Deregulating Japan's High School Curriculum: The Unintended Consequences of Educational Reform" (Gary DeCoker); and (10) "The Role of the Private Sector in Determining National Standards: How Juku Undermine Japanese Educational Authority" (Nancy Ukai Russell). Wider contexts and future issues are discussed in an epilogue by Thomas P. Rohlen. (RT)