As the final bell rings, a flurry of six- and seven-year-olds dash out of class at Minami Ikebukuro Primary School in Tokyo: hats on, water bottles flying. Four girls are left behind; it’s their turn to clean up. They pull child-sized brooms from a cupboard and get to work. Four brushes knock together as they gather paper shreds and dirt. “It always gets dusty here,” says Mariya, pointing to grooves in the floor. The others rush over to help. By cleaning, children learn not to make a mess in the first place, says Kohashiguchi Megumi, the teacher. They also learn to be egalitarian: no, “Oh the caretaker will clean it up later.” At first, small children “act wild, like monsters!” says Satou Hiroshi, the genial head teacher. “Our job is to prepare them to enter society” by teaching them to collaborate, take initiative and treat everyone equally. He calls it hito-zukuri, the art of making people. The results are impressive. Not only do Japanese children do well academically; they also show remarkable independence at a …