Two major educational viewpoints illustrated through Miyakawa Hiro’s children seriesbook, “Tampopo Sensei Anone,” are the teacher’s roles and teaching strategies.According to Hiro, the teacher’s roles include 1) being a role model expressing hardwork, repentance and apology, 2) showing love and understanding to students, and 3) handlingclass confl icts and encouraging good relationships among students as well as understandingbetween parents and their children. In terms of teaching strategies, Hiro’s suggestions are1) providing students with an opportunity to express their opinions, emotions and feelings bywriting diaries and sending postcards to their teachers, 2) replacing punishment by employingrecreational activities which assist in adjusting the students’ unsatisfactory behavior and livinghappily in the society, and 3) relating class activities with the beliefs of Japanese people inrural areas. For Hiro, a key to education is to prepare students with mental readiness andto be happy in their life based on their individual potential, which, according to Hiro, is asimportant as having academic knowledge.
