Christian Galan

Christian Galan
Born1960 (age 65–66)
France
OccupationAuthor; professor; researcher
NationalityFrench
SubjectEducation in Japan; Japanese language

Christian Galan (born in 1960) is a French Japanologist and professor of Japanese language and civilization at Toulouse-Jean-Jaurès University (formerly Toulouse-le Mirail) and a researcher at the French Research Institute on East Asia (IFRAE; formerly Japanese Studies Center CEJ) of the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco, Paris).[1] He has devoted most of his work to the study of the Japanese education system.[2]

Within the IFRAE, he directs the research group "Education, Childhood(s), and Society in East Asia" (EESAO)[3] and has co-directed with Emmanuel Lozerand the research group "Speech and debates of the Meiji era".[4] He is also director of the Toulouse branch of the CEJ, and co-director with Yves Cadot of the French academic journal Revue d'Études japonaises, established in 2024.[5]

Biography

After graduated from the Ecole Normale of Toulouse in 1982, Christian Galan defended a doctoral thesis in Japanese Studies at Inalco under the supervision of Jean-Jacques Origas in 1997.[6] He also holds the Habilitation to supervise research since 2006. His current teaching at the University of Toulouse-Jean-Jaurès focuses on language as well as Japanese history and society.[7]

His fields of research mainly concern the study of the Japanese educational system in its various dimensions, historical and educational in particular. His career as a researcher has been organized around six major axes to which his various publications are attached: the teaching of reading in Japan: history, politics and pedagogy;[8] the Japanese writing system and the question of illiteracy;[9] teaching Japanese in France and in Europe:[10] policy and research on pedagogy;[11] the history of the Japanese education system: a shift from Edo era education to education in the Meiji era, a chronology of the history of education, and a study of some pivotal times,[12] transfers of knowledge to do in education between Japan and China,[13] etc. ; current reforms of the Japanese education system, including universities;[14] the history of childhood and young people in Japan.[15]

He has co-directed with Emmanuel Lozerand, the "Japan Collection" at Belles-Lettres Editions and, between 2010 and 2023, was in charge of a mission of general inspection for the Japanese language subject in secondary education for the French Ministry of National Education.[16]

Selected works (in English language)

In a statistical overview of Christian Galan's writings, WorldCat lists about 22 works in 57 publications in 3 languages in more than 580 library collections[17]

  • Patrick Heinrich and Christian Galan (dir. by), Language Life in Japan: Transformations and Prospects, Abingdon, Routledge, 2010. (ISBN 978-0415855129)
  • Christian Galan, I’m Learning Japanese, illustrations by Florence Lérot-Calvo, New York, Tuttle Publishing, 2010. (ISBN 978-4805315538)
  • Christian Galan, "Language textbooks following the Meiji Restoration. Innovations from the Gakusei period", Cipango - French Journal of Japanese Studies, 2013, n° 2. (DOI https://doi.org/10.4000/cjs.281)
  • Christian Galan and Patrick Heinrich (dir. by), Being Young in Super-Aging Japan: Formative Events and Cultural Reactions, Abingdon, Routledge, 2018. (ISBN 978-0367445188)
  • Christian Galan, "What immediate lessons can France learn from the Japanese education system?", Le Monde, June 23, 2022. (URL https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2022/06/23/what-immediate-lessons-can-france-learn-from-the-japanese-education-system_5987730_23.html)
  • Anne Gonon and Christian Galan, Occupy Tokyo: SEALDs, the Forgotten Movement, Leiden, Brill, 2023. (ISBN 978-9004545922)
  • Christian Galan and Harald Salomon (dir. by), Histories of Children and Childhood in Meiji Japan, Abingdon, Routledge, 2023. (ISBN 978-0367651336)
  • Christian Galan, "Eugenics and Education in Post-war Japan", translated by Karen Grimwade, Cipango - French Journal of Japanese Studies, 2024, n° 8. (DOI https://doi.org/10.4000/12vjt)
  • Christian Galan, "Japan's lesson is clear: Simply reducing the school schedule is not enough for children's well-being", Le Monde, september 3 2025. (URL https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/09/04/japan-s-lesson-is-clear-simply-reducing-the-school-schedule-is-not-enough-for-children-s-well-being_6745027_23.html)

References

  1. ^ "[CEJ-EESJC] Christian Galan". w3.cej-eesjc.univ-tlse2.fr (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  2. ^ P. F. Kornicki, " Reviewed Work: L'enseignement de la lecture au Japon. Politique et éducation by Christian Galan », Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, no Vol. 65, No. 2,‎ 2002, pp. 470–472
  3. ^ "About EESAO". Éducation, Enfance-s et Société en Asie Orientale (in French). Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  4. ^ "La famille japonaise moderne, 1868–1926 : discours et débats CEJ". Bibliothèques spécialisées de la Ville de Paris. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. ^ "1 | 2024 - N°01 – Etudes japonaises". Etudes japonaises (in French). 24 June 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  6. ^ Galan, Christian (1 January 1997). L'enseignement de la lecture au niveau élémentaire dans le système éducatif du Japon moderne depuis Meiji (1872–1992) (thesis thesis). Paris, INALCO.
  7. ^ "Section de japonais – UTM – Christian Galan". japonais.univ-tlse2.fr. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  8. ^ "D'Est en Ouest: Révolutions conservatrices (4/4) : Climat, théorie du genre, darwinisme : la bataille des programmes scolaires". France Culture (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  9. ^ Chartier, Anne-Marie (15 December 2013). "GALAN (Christian). L'enseignement de la lecture au Japon. Politique et éducation / GALAN (Christian), FIJALKOW (Jacques), (dir.). Langue, lecture et école au Japon. Toulouse : Presses universitaires du Mirail, 2001, 365 p. / Arles : Éd. Philippe Picquier, 2006, 405 p." Histoire de l'Éducation (in French) (138): 182–187. doi:10.4000/histoire-education.2680. ISSN 0221-6280.
  10. ^ "Le japonais au Mirail". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Les ravages de la modernisation universitaire, Christophe Charle et Charles Soulié (Dir.)". 31 December 2007.
  12. ^ Humbert, Marc (2008). "Christian Galan, Jacques Fijalkow (dir.). Langue, lecture et école au Japon". Ebisu – Études Japonaises. 39 (1): 205–206. doi:10.3406/ebisu.2008.1508.
  13. ^ "En Asie, les maths sont synonymes de réussite scolaire et sociale". La Croix (in French). 28 February 2014. ISSN 0242-6056. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  14. ^ "Le Japon va-t-il vraiment supprimer les sciences humaines à l'université ?". Libération.fr (in French). 25 September 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  15. ^ "Made in Japan". France Culture (in French). 15 May 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  16. ^ "Inspection générale de l'Éducation nationale". Ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Jeunesse (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  17. ^ "Results for 'christian galan' [WorldCat.org]". worldcat.org. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
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