It is very important for children to get an education but an elementary education in Japan has a lot of problems. Generally, many Japanese people are diligent but don't utter their opinions in public and tend to be afraid of failing. Probably, these characters are greatly influenced by the adults and the education which they get in their childhood. I will insist on some opinions with my experiences.
The reason why Japanese people don't utter their opinions in public is because they didn't have many opportunities to insist on their own opinions at school when they were child. Generally, children just listen to their teacher in a class in Japan while their teacher teaches them a subject that their teacher are in charge of. Their teacher sometimes questions them about the problems that their answers are obvious but they don't insist on their own opinions but just tell their teacher the correct answers. These bring about the loss of self-direction that they take positive action and that of originality that they have individually. To solve these problems, Japanese teachers should make many opportunities for children to insist on their own opinions such as oral and poster presentations.
The reason why Japanese people tend to be afraid of failing is because Japanese adults often scold children when children don't take action which Japanese adults expect. For example, when I was an elementary school student, I learned how to play the piano on weekends. One day, I took part in a piano recital and played two compositions at the recital. After the recital, my teacher who taught me how to play the piano scolded me because I couldn't play the piano very well as usual. So I lost confidence in myself and came to become afraid of failing. From my experience, Japanese adults should respect children's feelings and not scold but praise them.
In conclusion, Japanese people don't utter their opinions in public and tend to be afraid of failing. In Japan, the present style of classes in which children carry out desk work will bring about the loss of self-direction that they take positive action and that of originality that they have individually. Also, the ideal of Japanese adults for children will make children lose confidence in themselves and become those who are afraid of failing. To change Japanese characters, we must change the education.