In the business and organizational studies literature, Japan provides many example of innovations in distribution of leadership (Nonaka, Sasaki, & Ahmed, 2003; Storey, Edwards, & Sisson, 1997), yet little has been written about different forms of leadership in Japanese education. Japanese teachers progress through a distinct set of highly institutionalized roles, described in this paper, and acquire specific sets of technical knowledge. While this has some superficial similarities with the ideal of teacher leaders developing and integrating multiple identities over time that (Lieberman & Friedrich, 2010): 24-31, pointed out, teacher leaders in Japan in these roles essentially take on administrative roles and evaluation functions – one of the barriers noted in (Lindahl, 2008). This means that true distributed leadership in Japan is constrained by highly institutionalized (and hierarchical) teacher work roles that while allowing teachers to attain significant career mobility over time (Akiba, Chiu, Shimizu, & Liang, 2012), and limits the organizations’ ability to innovate with alternative forms of leadership. Historically, Japanese teachers took on significant leadership roles, especially in the area of curriculum development (Doig & Groves, 2011) and student counseling (LeTendre, 1995). (Ikoma, 2017) notes a long-term collaborative culture of professional growth, but others have argued that this culture is now undermined by threats to teacher professional status (Gordon, 2005), increasing government control of teacher licensing (Akiba, 2013) and increasing social inequality (Kariya, 2012). Overtime, the national government has also asserted more control over the certification of teachers, and established a stronger, centralized system that tends to re-enforce hierarchy (Muta, 2000). This paper analyzes how the nature of teachers work in Japanese schools traditionally provided a form of distributed leadership, and critically analyzes how, given long-term changes, the ability of schools to implement important aspects of distributed leadership may be limited. In conclusion, a brief review of major policy initiates in teacher certification and school governance being planned for 2020, will have significant implications for the ability of schools to implementat of distributed leadership.

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