Three main situations in Japanese schools where the mentor plays a role include cognitive or academic teaching, physical training, and cultural education. Significant others for children and adolescents in these contexts are teachers and coaches. Japan has always possessed various kinds of apprenticeship systems for traditional artistic skills, drama, physical training, and cognitive domains. These systems have changed in recent years, however, and it has become difficult for masters to find apprentices who they can train to become their successors. Adolescents are beginning to demand the right to choose and decide on their own careers. Research into Japanese mentors suggests that the most significant others in adolescents' lives are parents, peers, and juku teachers. In the public school environment, some students have mentor relationships with competent teachers, while some teachers are neglected by students or not recognized as mentors. It is concluded that teachers should be psychologically significant partners for their students and should be recognized as such by students. A key factor in achieving this goal, however, is class size, and teachers' peripheral workloads should be reduced so they can participate more effectively. 8 references, 7 tables.