This article features the standards and practice for K-12 physical education in Japan. Physical education in Japan has many similarities to, and differences with, programs in the United States. Many of the main objectives for the school curriculum are the same; both systems promote major outcomes related to fitness and lifelong sport and physical activity participation. The Japanese system promotes two outcomes that many physical educators in the United States espouse, but are rarely included in official curriculum documents: making a mind-body connection and learning to live a happy and cheerful life. Most of the movement content taught at each of the three school levels is included in American schools at those same levels, but the two secondary school levels in Japan include cognitive content on the social and cultural aspects of sport, motor learning, and the affective outcome of learning physical activity for personal meaning. In comparison to the United States, there are major differences in the way curricular policies are decided in Japan. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology determines both the objectives and the content for school programs for the entire country; t