short essay on japanese education

Short essay: Thoughts on learning to speak and write in a foreign language… naturally

When learning a foreign language, I think we all tend to go through stages. First, we may have a mild (or major) interest in the culture of a foreign country, and begin to pick up a few words here or there in that country’s native language. In the case of Japanese, it might be a few phrases from subtitled Anime where it’s easy to pick words that frequently appear. I still vividly remember learning one of my first Japanese expressions from a good friend in high school: “ Hajimemashite, douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu “.

The next stage involves more formal learning by taking one or more classes or devoting some of your spare time to properly learn the basics of the language, especially grammar, pronunciation, and alphabet(s). For many people, memorizing isn’t that challenging (given the time and effort), but the tricky part here is to start learning the ins and outs of that language’s grammar, including certain tendencies that are different from one’s native language, like how in Japanese subjects are often omitted.

After a few years of extensive study, most people can probably manage to figure out the meaning of text in that language, assuming they have access to a dictionary. Learning to understand spoken language can be much tricker due to differences individual speech (in Japanese there are significant differences across genders and ages) and also due to regional accents/dialects. But, even for listening, I think practice really does make perfect, at least in the sense that you “understand enough” to either enjoy the content in that language, or learn something from it. For reading and listening, which I’ll call passive tasks, there is typically so much context to go by that you can just guess things as you go–essentially every sentence becomes a mini puzzle. If you are living your day-to-day life in that language, any misunderstandings you have about the meaning of a certain expression will probably get ironed out by time, as you undertake a gradual process of trial and error.

Now we come to the real challenge: the  active  tasks of writing and speaking in a foreign language. It depends on the person, but for me I feel speaking is generally the harder of these two. One reason is that you typically have to respond in real time, and the other is the need to be concerned about pronunciation, not only of individual words but also of phrases, since in Japanese the intonation of words can influence words later in the sentence. You also have to worry about things like  aizuchi (words used to show you are listening, like “ sou desu ka “) and words that show you are thinking (like “ etto… ” which is a little similar to the English “umm…”). You also have to inflect your speech to express your emotions. Finally, you need a conversation partner in order to make any progress. This condition alone means that self-taught students who don’t live in a country which speaks that language will have a very hard time of getting to an advanced level in their speech.

There are some advantages to learning to speak as compared to learning to write. For example, when speaking there is a quick feedback cycle between expressing something and getting a response. Although it’s usually pretty hard to find someone to correct your mistakes during a conversation (except maybe a private tutor who is paid for that), there is often an opportunity to reuse an expression you just heard, which allows you to cement it in your memory for more easy recall later.

Learning to write, on the other hand, lacks many of the difficult aspects of learning to speak, like pronunciation and a need to respond in real time. For those doing self-study, especially those living outside of Japan, it should be easier to pick up writing (and by writing, I am mostly referring to inputting with a keyboard, though writing by hand is also included) because there is nearly an infinite set of resources available in the form of websites and in many books which can be pretty easily acquired from online retailers. One can also write all day long, in the form of a blog or essay, without needing anyone available at that moment (unlike speaking which usually requires a partner). So, in a certain sense, you can study writing as much as your free time allows.

However, herein lies one of the challenges of learning to write natively. Just as with speech, it is pretty difficult to find someone to correct your mistakes on somewhere like a daily blog. The problem comes when you know just enough grammar and vocabulary to be dangerous, meaning that you can just start writing nearly anything that comes to mind, using only a dictionary and knowledge of grammar rules. However, if you are not careful you might end with extremely unnatural prose that sounds like something that came out of a computer translator. Ok, maybe not that horrific, but you get the point.

Getting to the final stage, where you can write like a native, such that none of your language has the scent of your native language, is quite a challenge, and I feel many people are never able to achieve this goal. I myself still have a long way to come, though I tell myself this is because I have placed an emphasis on passive Japanese (i.e. reading and listening) over active for many of my years of study.

Completely natural writing (as well as speech) requires not just learning a complete set of grammar rules to build sentences with, but also a large set of exceptions , without necessarily any logic behind them. To put it another way–how often have you read the text written by a non-native speaker of your native tongue and said to yourself “this just doesn’t feel right”. It isn’t technically grammatically incorrect, and there is no official rule that has been broken. Some of this can be explained by the linguistic phenomenon called “collocation”  which describes how certain groups of words are used more commonly together than others.

To help get your writing to sound more natural, I suggest you try and create a tight feedback loop which mimics a conversation. This means that you should favor writing emails (either to a friend or coworker) over writing a blog. When writing emails, try to force yourself to reuse words and expressions used by the person you are communicating with (hopefully a native speaker). Also, if you say something unnatural it’s more likely to be pointed out as opposed to a blog where mistakes can sit for years on a webpage without anyone pointing them out. Text chat provides an even shorter feedback loop (nearly immediate), though you should keep in mind the expressions you learn from chatting with someone may not be applicable to an email or other more formal type of writing (think of the abbreviation “l8r” used in English chat, which would be strange to use in a business email).

If you really want to keep a blog in a foreign language, I recommend reading other blogs written by native speakers immediately before and after you make a post, and be sure to do a thorough proofread of your text before posting it, looking for unnatural or incorrect parts. When I have written a blog in the past in Japanese, I frequently googled combinations of words to verify if they were common before using them. This helped me write much more natural sentences, but it had the disadvantage of being quite tedious and taking out some of the fun out of blog writing.

Another option when you are reading is to take notes whenever you come across an expression that seems useful, and force yourself to use it in the next day or so in your own writing. This can be an effective way of increasing your vocabulary, though it takes a good amount of persistence and willpower to not get lazy and quit after a few days.  If you have the time you can write a few example sentences on the spot, though that can interrupt your reading practice.

One other way to help raise your writing and speech to native level is to find one or more role models–native speakers who you can respect and pick up phrases from. I think to a certain extent this automatically happens when speaking, especially when we make friends and talk to them on a frequent basis, but for writing I feel it requires a bit more conscious effort to find and leverage such linguistic role models.

Once in a while, ask a native speaker to give you detailed criticism of your writing so you can have a sanity check to see how close to native level you are. Doing this for everything you write would be way too tedious (for both you and the other person), though there are some tools out there like Lang 8 which can help make this process more efficient (disclaimer: I have not actually used this site but think it is worth experimenting with). Writing in a foreign language for weeks, months, or longer, without having someone double check your work carries the risk of developing certain bad habits that will be hard to break later.

Another thing I am considering getting into is writing fiction short stories in Japanese. I feel this is one of the hardest domains because much of the internet doesn’t contain full texts of proper ‘literature’, so the technique of google for natural sentences isn’t nearly as useful. Also, it is harder to find someone to correct your language since you’ll need a person that is pretty well-read. Finally, the lexicon of words used in literature is much higher than in normal everyday conversation, emails, or chat. The best thing you can do is just read as much as you can in that language, ideally from published authors, and try to remember as much as you can as you read.

At the end of the day, learning to write and speak naturally in a foreign language is essentially about learning to imitate others in an efficient way, and match up thoughts and feelings with the appropriate words. I feel the number one enemy is not the large number of words nor the foreign concepts you need to master, but complacency . The danger is when we realize we’ve reached the level where native speakers actually understand what we are saying (or at least seem to), and we slack off, telling ourselves that we’ve made it. Learning to speak and write such that we can communicate basic ideas is very different from doing so with native-like expressions, and making sure we are aware of the massive gulf between these two things is one of the steps to true fluency.

This reminds me of a book I once read about Zen meditation many years ago, “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” . The central theme of this book was that there is something special about people when they start to learn something new: they look at everything with an unbiased, fresh mind, devoid of expectations and thoughts of “I should be pretty good at this since I have this much experience”. Though the book was focused on meditation, I think applying the concept of  Beginners  Mind to our language studies may have a surprisingly large impact, especially for those that have been studying a few years or longer.

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

7 thoughts on “ Short essay: Thoughts on learning to speak and write in a foreign language… naturally ”

HiNative and Lang-8 were designed just for that purpose: to have natives correct your writing. HiNative has a spoken aspect too, and while it is shorter, that makes it easier for everyone. Trying to learn from longer clips is exhausting.

Thanks for letting me know about HiNative, it looks interesting! Maybe I’ll check it out sometime.

Your assessment of higher level language learning is very true. Mimicking native patterns and habits is key to improving your ability. Writing and speaking are also very different, in all languages. In most cases your writing is not going to exactly replicate the way you would speak it, and sometimes writing like you would speak comes out quite strange. As with learning the language in the first place, I think practice, as you suggest, is key. It’s really nice that there are websites to help with your writing, because it can be hard even to get friends to correct your writing, especially if they don’t want to be harsh on you.

Thanks for the comment, glad you agree with that I said (:

Totally agree with what you said. When I read your entry, nuances like 分かる being preferred over 知る came to mind. I have used Lang-8 for years, and I can vouch that it is a very good tool for studying Japanese, if one is hardworking. Since others correct one’s entries, one should correct other people’s entries for a balanced exchange, so it does become time-consuming. However, it is really good because one gets to see a variety of expressions recommended by a variety of people. While this is good for N3-ish learners and above, lower level learners might find it confusing to have so many different options to choose from and may require a non-native to explain the difference to them. But all in all, I definitely recommend Lang-8 🙂

Thanks for the response. Good to know you have gotten so much use out of Lang-8.

Actually I’ve created my own program to help everyone practice writing in Japanese, maybe you’d get some use out of that as well?

If you are interested, check this out:

http://selftaughtjapanese.com/japanese-writing-lab-improve-your-writing-skills/

Hello locksleyu 🙂

Thank you for your recommendation. I have just slaved over a script for a Japanese speech contest, so I’ll take a break from writing for a bit ^^;; (bit.ly/JapSpeech) if you’re interested 🙂

I’ll join the writing lab when I feel up to it 😀

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

English Language Education in Japan: Problems and Solutions

This paper provides a brief outline of some of the major changes in English language education (ELE) in Japan and then focuses on contemporary developments. The author identifies key problems with Japan's ELE system and provides some possible solutions. Future directions for Japan's ELE system are also discussed.

Related Papers

Donna Tatsuki

Sophia Linguistica

Kensaku Yoshida

Shounan Eibungaku

Yumi Kobayashi

English is perceived as “a common international language” by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (hereafter, MEXT, 2014) and other scholars (e.g. Otsu, 2015, p.105). However, English education within Japan does not live up to the designed expectations of MEXT, educators, and scholars alike (e.g. Otsu, 2015). To reflect this both the TOEFL and IELTS average scores are the second lowest in Asia (ETS, 2016; IELTS, 2015). Japanese English learners also tend to be far less fluent in English communication (Shiozawa, 2016a). Based on these findings it may be that in order to improve the English communication abilities for Japanese people, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) perspective could be one of the essential elements to consider implementing to aid improvement of Japanese English education. This paper will therefore explore the importance of ELF perspective for English education within Japan as well as the issues and challenges of incorporating the ELF perspective into the Japanese education system.

Howard Brown , Bethany Iyobe

The number of institutions offering English-medium instruction of content classes (EMI) is growing in Japan. Along with high profile programs at elite universities, innovations in EMI are developing across the country. According to government sources, at least 194 universities currently offer some undergraduate EMI courses, often in humanities and social sciences. However, individual EMI programs are developing to suit local needs and contexts. Some are fully-developed, degree-granting programs while others have much less coherence. Currently there is no overall picture of the growth of EMI and no clear indication of what the future implications for Japanese higher education might be. This presentation focuses on the initial results of a study attempting to develop just such a picture. Based on a review of published documents, interviews with EMI program stakeholders and a survey sent to all universities known to offer EMI, results show that EMI programs in Japan exist along a continuum from ad hoc collections of EMI classes scattered across faculties, based on individual teachers' decisions to teach in English, to entire campuses running in English. A tentative typology of undergraduate EMI in Japan can now be proposed to outline the motivations, goals, makeup and pedagogies of programs. This allows a discussion of possible implications of this new trend to proceed on a solid foundation: a real understanding of the current state of EMI in Japan.

Introduction The new courses of study for Japan's primary and secondary education were formally released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (hereafter MEXT) in 2008 and 2009. One of the biggest changes has come in the area of English education, with English being included for the first time in the elementary school curriculum. The inclusion of English in elementary school should theoretically have a huge impact on the way English will be taught in junior and senior high schools. In this paper, we will look at the state of English education in Japan and the prospects the new course of study point to.

hana xochitl

Robert Brock

This essay reviews the situation of English teaching in Japanese universities. English is a compulsory subject for most freshmen students, who have already studied it for six or more years. Many of them have little need or enthusiasm for more English. We discuss this situation and how to motivate the students.

Humanities and Social Sciences Bulletin 人文科学論集, Meiji University

Annette Bradford

Dennis Riches

In recent years Japanese universities have been feeling increasing pressure to survive in the competition for a decreasing number of students, and English pro- grams have been an obvious target of reform because of their potential to appeal to applicants who want the language skills to communicate with the outside world. However, there are many ways in which this reform could be carried out badly by university administrations that don't take a full account of the complexity of the issues surrounding English education in Japan (EEJ). A common framework for reforming English programs is a corporate one, tak- ing inspiration from successful reforms at companies. This could be the wrong way to approach the problem because a corporation has several advantages over a univer- sity when it needs to restructure itself. One obstacle facing universities is that they are intensely democratic, and thus political, institutions. Reform cannot proceed as it does in a corporation, with the old ...

Research paper

Wongani Kings

ABSTRACT This research dwelt on the challenges faced in the teaching and learning of English as a second or foreign language. The paper uncovers factors that limit the learning and teaching of English as a second or foreign language. These challenges are mainly societal and administrative centered, teacher centered and finally, learner centered. The study also came up with workable solutions to overcome the identified challenges.

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

Status Quaestionis

James D'Angelo

Peter Broeder

RELC Journal

Charles Browne

Takunori Terasawa

Choy, Y.H and Spolsky, B. Eds. 2009. English Language Teacher Education in Asia. Seoul: AsiaTEFL

PREMISE JOURNAL:ISSN online: 2442-482x, ISSN printed: 2089-3345

Novita Triana

Language, Culture and Curriculum, 11(1), 1-8

Michael Lessard-Clouston

OnCue Journal

Howard Brown

Current Issues in Language Planning

Yuko Butler

International Education Conference, San Francisco (Clute Institute)

Jan Stewart

Floris, F.D. (2013). English language teaching in Japan - Issues and challenges: An Interview with Toshinobu Nagamine and Masaki Oda. English Language Teaching World Online (ELTWO): Voices from the Classroom, 5 (June 2013).

Flora Debora Floris , Toshinobu Nagamine

X. Gao (ed.), Second Handbook of English Language Teaching, Springer International Handbooks of Education

Enver Kazić

Naoki Fujimoto-Adamson

Multiculturalism and Conflict Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific

Toshinobu Nagamine

Bill Mboutsiadis

World Englishes

Miho Fujieda

Keiko Umeda

Journal of World Languages

Gregory Paul Glasgow

New Voices in Japanese Studies

Levi Durbidge

Theodore Bonnah

John Wendel

TESOL Communications

Matthew Michaud , Philip Gurney

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Description of the Japan Educational System Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Postwar problems of japan education system, how have the problems changed with time, my view on japan educational system.

Education system in Japan before and at the period of war was based on German education system characterized by high schools and university colleges purposely for educating students after completion of basic primary education (Vogel, 1971). Later on, after the occupation of Japan by the America and her allies, educational system was transformed to incorporate US educational system (Vogel, 1971). This system constituted of three junior schools and one senior school. In the same period, a repeal of the imperial Rescript was done and the university education was formally recognized (Japan Echo, 1998). Further, the issue of Kanji was resolved and the Japanese educational system was reorganized to allow for Toyo Kanji as well as the altering of orthography to reflect the spoken usage (Vogel, 1971).

Postwar period in Japan was characterized by rise in education levels; extension of democratic rights such as improvement of women status as well as the modernization of business management. By this time, American educational system had left a permanent mark on the content of Japan’s educational, one reason being the attitude of Japanese leadership adopting policies geared at Americanizing Japan (Ralph C, 2003).

The initial problem of Japan postwar educational system was, the extent to which Japanese acknowledged the fundamental philosophy behind the American education system which was being introduced in all spheres of the life (Haward, 2002). The postwar educational system geared toward transforming youths into individuals, who their prime aim in life was to get jobs and make carriers in Japan’s big organizations. This was different from the earlier system, whereby from kindergarten the system focused on preparing the students for college and university entrance exams (Ralph C, 2003).

Consequently, this led the scholar to think that the sole objective of education is to acquire the most effective technique to ensure future status. The result was mass production of dehumanized machine-like technicians (Vogel, 1971). This deviated completely with the old system of elite school in prewar period where schools were places for molding character. This is because the old system emphasized on educating the students on how to express themselves, take risks and consider others as well as how to take responsibility for one’s actions (Vogel, 1971).

The postwar Japan educational system abandoned this old system and in its place introduced an American educational system which in effect produced some remarkable influence (Ryoichi K, 1999). The two systems of education that is the Japan educational system and the American educational system looked similar, but the philosophy on which American educational system was based was not observed or understood by Japanese people (Ryoichi K, 1999).

This was exemplified by the neglection of the Japanese people of the concepts such as American’s full board prep school system. Further, the system attached more significant to liberal arts and free thinking which was not fairing well with Japanese populace (Richard L, 1988). Additionally, programs which entail business executives examining and discussing human values through readings of classic thoughts attracted little attention from Japanese people (Japan Echo, 1998).

The post-war Japanese education system was narrowed to educate professionals who excelled in how to do it environment instead of professionals who are able to find and address the challenges of how to do and why to do it.

To this date, Japan educational system has made some necessary transformation to a system that educates students in a broader sense with rich human and educational experience. The new Japan educational system produces individuals equipped with both knowledge and skills. This as in effect enabled the system produce individuals who are capable of finding and addressing the challenges of what to do and why do it.

In the modern Japanese educational system a change has occurred in the middle and high school education which are significant force in forming the character and thinking process in individuals (Christopher P, 2001). The trend toward mass education at the university level is now not being accepted and the system has been redesigned to look as a way of academic achievement and the breadth of appropriate to higher education.

The current Japan educational system is characterized by firm beliefs as well as wealth skepticism characterized by an unwillingness to accept the established order uncritically.

To this date, the Japan educational system has broadened its visions away from its American -centered standing and as such it has incorporated Japanese perspectives (Christopher P, 2001). Overall, Japan has begun to seriously think about its future relationship with Americans and how to develop that relationship. The postwar Japanese educational system problems have changed over the time and the system now as in effect incorporate a Japanese perspective.

The changes in the Japan educational system as brought remarkable changes in the cultural aspects of Japanese people. As result to changes in Japan education system some of American core beliefs, values and attitudes have been incorporated in Japanese culture.

The current education system in Japan began its formulation as a school system in 1872 (Ryoichi K, 1999). When Japan was occupied by United States and its allies the system underwent several transformations which as result led to incorporation of the US educational system in the Japan educational system.

In 1947, the 6-3-3-4 educational system was adopted in Japan following the enactment of fundamental law of education and the school education law of 1947 (Haward, 2002). Later, in 1948 Upper secondary schools were initiated in Japan educational system. That is, after pre- school education the students start formal education which constitutes of 6 years consistent education in elementary school, 3 years in lower secondary school, 3 years in the upper secondary schools and 3 year in the high schools. The upper secondary schools offered both full-time and part-time courses and later in 1961, correspondence programs were incorporated in the Japan educational system.

In 1949, the new system for universities and colleges were started whereby junior college system was formulated on provisional basis in 1950 and later on permanent basis in 1964 (Vogel, 1971). In 1962, technology colleges were started purposely to provide lower secondary school graduates with a five year consistent education. At first, these colleges were offering courses only in engineering technology and mercantile marine studies, however they later started to offer training in other disciplines. The modern Japanese educational system follows this system. Perhaps, there are some a few modifications but the system is based on the above framework.

In addition to normal educational system students and pupils in need of special care, such as those with disabilities are educated in special classes or at least in special classes at elementary schools or lower secondary schools depending on the nature and the extend of the disability (Ralph C, 2003).

Basic education is compulsory in Japan until a child reaches the age of 15 years (Christopher P, 2001). This is in order to provide each individual with basic living techniques such as writing and reading which in essence facilitates the progression an individual to high level of education.

A recent research effort indicates that 90% Japanese student population complete and that 40% of the entire populace complete college and university education. Currently, the Japan education educational system is undergoing numerous reviews to keep in line with the modern technology advancements. These reviews geared toward incorporating modern teaching techniques among many other issues. Currently, Japan is one of the leading countries in the field of technology and especially in the information and communication fields. The can be attribute to the effects of the education system in play.

Christopher P. Hood (2001) Japanese Education Reform: Nakasone’s Legacy, London: Routledge.

E. F. Vogel (1971). “Examination Hell”, in Japan’s New Middle Class, The Salary Man and His Family in a Tokyo Suburb, University of California Press. Pp.40-67.

Haward W. French, (2002) ‘Educators Try to Tame Japan’s Blackboard Jungles’, New York Times.

Ralph Cassel, (2003) Class Room Crisis: Though Talk about Micky Mouse Schools’, Asahi Shimbun, “Why can’t little Taro Think?” The Economist, 1990. pp. 21-23.

Ryoichi Kawakami, (1999) ‘”School Collapse” A Report from a Junior High School’, Foreign Press Center Japan.

‘Crisis in the Schools’, JAPAN ECHO Vol.25, No.3, June 1998.

Richard Lynn (1988) ‘Why Johny can’t read, but Yoshio can’, National Review, v40 n21 pp. 40-42.

• "Coming of Age in New Jersey" by Micheal Moffatt
• Introducing English as a Second Language in Primary School in the Middle East
• The Meanings of Home in Postwar Britain: A Home-Centered Society
• National Identity in Asian Post-War Architecture
• The Role of Women in Postwar Italian Films
• Public Education's Economic Challenges and Policies
• Greek Fraternities and Sororities in Universities
• High School and College Life
• Afrocentric Schools in Toronto
• New Classroom Design Features Advantages
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, September 13). Description of the Japan Educational System. https://ivypanda.com/essays/description-of-the-japan-educational-system/

"Description of the Japan Educational System." IvyPanda , 13 Sept. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/description-of-the-japan-educational-system/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Description of the Japan Educational System'. 13 September.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Description of the Japan Educational System." September 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/description-of-the-japan-educational-system/.

1. IvyPanda . "Description of the Japan Educational System." September 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/description-of-the-japan-educational-system/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Description of the Japan Educational System." September 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/description-of-the-japan-educational-system/.

Promotion of Educational Travel to Japan

• ABOUT JAPAN EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL
• arrow_right WHY JAPAN?
• arrow_right Traditional culture
• arrow_right Modern culture
• arrow_right Natural environment
• arrow_right Japanese food
• arrow_right Sports
• arrow_right Made in Japan
• arrow_right Crisis management
• arrow_right Social systems and infrastructure
• arrow_right Peace and friendship
• arrow_right SCHOOL IN JAPAN
• arrow_right JAPANESE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
• arrow_right SCHOOL LIFE IN JAPAN
• arrow_right PLAN YOUR TRIP
• arrow_right SUGGESTED ITINERARIES
• arrow_right SCHOOL EXCHANGES
• arrow_right TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE SCHOOL EXCHANGE
• arrow_right IN-PERSON EXCHANGES
• arrow_right ONLINE EXCHANGES
• arrow_right VISITOR'S VOICES

class JAPANESE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

About Japanese Educational System and Japanese Schools.

Curriculum Outline

The Japanese school system primarily consists of six-year elementary schools, three-year junior high schools and three-year high schools, followed by a two-or-three-year junior colleges or a four-year colleges. Compulsory education lasts for 9 years through elementary and junior high school. School exchanges during Japan Educational Travel are mainly implemented in junior high and high schools. For physically or mentally challenged students, there is a system called “Special Needs Education” to support special students to develop their self-reliance and thus enhance their social participation.

School Education Chart

Introduction to Schools in Japan

Event school timetable.

Public schools in Japan have classes five days a week, from Monday to Friday. There are also schools that have classes on Saturday. In junior high and high schools, there are six class periods each day, typically lasting 50 minutes for each. After classes, students clean the classrooms in shifts and then start their club activities. There are a variety of clubs such as cultural and sports ones.

An Example of School Timetable

event Academic Calendar

In principle, the school year begins in April and ends in March of the following year. Most schools adopt a three-semester system, with the first semester from April to August, the second semester from September to December, and the third semester from January to March. There is also a summer break (from the end of July to the end of August), a winter break (from the end of December to the beginning of January), and a spring break (from the end of March to the beginning of April).

An Example of Academic Calendar

event School Organization

Each school has a principal, a vice principal, teachers, a school nurse, and other administration staff. As the chief executive, the principal assumes all responsibilities of the school, including the courses provided and related administrative work. The vice principal supports the principal to manage administrative affairs of the school and to be in charge of student’s educational activities and curriculum as well. Furthermore, in order to ensure school’s smooth operation, teachers take on various responsibilities, such as taking care of educational activities, students’school life, and employment guidance for students after graduation. Many schools also establish their own committees, for example a International Exchange Promotion Committee, and others.

Related Information

Special Features of Japanese Education

About Features of Japanese Education.

event Regarding the Level of Education

The level of Japanese education is high even by world standards. In OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) aimed at fifteen-year-olds, Japanese students recorded high levels of achievement, particularly in science related areas. Educational activities outside of school also flourish, and programs leading to advanced education are implemented. Enrollment in high schools, the second-half of secondary education, reaches over 90%, and the enrollments in college are also high reaching over 50%. Admission to high schools and colleges is mainly through entrance exams, held from January to March. Source: OECD

location_city Foreign Language Education

English is a compulsory subject in junior high and high schools. There are also elementary schools that introduce English education from intermediate grade classes. In some high schools, apart from English, students are also allowed to take courses in Chinese, Korean, French, German, etc.

location_city Student Clubs

Student clubs are a characteristic part in Japan’s school education. Under teachers’ guidance, students with the same interests in sports, cultural activities, or fields of study voluntarily gather together after classes and on days off. There are also numerous student clubs revolving around Japanese traditional sports and culture, such as judo, kendo(Japanese swordsmanship), sado (Japanese tea ceremony), kado (Japanese flower arrangement), shodo (Japanese calligraphy), etc. Club activities also provide students with the chance to participate in school exchange and friendly matches.

Sports Clubs

• Track and Field
• Kendo (Japanese swordsmanship)

Culture Clubs

• School Band
• School Choir
• Kado (Japanese flower arrangement)
• Sado (Japanese tea ceremony)
• Shodo (Japanese calligraphy)

check 学校交流する場合のポイント

Check_box 1～3月は受験シーズンのため交流は難しい.

海外における教育旅行は、それぞれの国・地域によって特徴が異なると考えられるが、日本で現在受け入れている教育旅行は、日本の修学旅行のように、教師等の引率者と児童生徒で構成される団体旅行として実施されることが多い。

check_box 英語での交流が可能

Check_box 部活動も充実, stories of school exchanges.

Learn About School Life in Japan

• Corpus ID: 59520300

Japanese English Education and Learning: A History of Adapting Foreign Cultures.

• Minoru Shimizu
• Published 2010
• Education, History
• Educational Perspectives

12 Citations

The role of grammar instruction in japanese efl context: towards communicative language teaching, the monolingual borrowers: reconciling the success and failure of english in japan.

• Highly Influenced

Investigating the effect of incorporating cultural elements in English Language teaching to enhance Japanese college students' L2 vision as intercultural speakers

Language teacher training approaches in japan: what are the issues, consuming english: an eikaiwa experience of cultural ‘otherness’, tarihsel bağlamda i̇ngilizce ve japoncanın dil teması, language socialisation of young children: a case of english immersion nursery school in japan, applying emic sociocultural concepts in enl preschool action research, the roots of prejudice in japan. where it all began, l2 learning outcomes of a research-based digital app for japanese children, related papers.

Showing 1 through 3 of 0 Related Papers

This website uses cookies. They are used to ensure that you can use this website and it's services smoothly. In addition, we use cookies to understand how our website and services are being used. By continuing to browse the site, you are deemed to have agreed to our use of cookies.

• Overview of the Japanese Education System

The Japanese Education System

• Types of Higher Education Institutions
• Higher Education Qualifications
• Admission to Higher Education Institution
• Quality Assurance System
• Learning Assessment

Overview of the Education System

The Japanese educational system starts with pre-school education, followed by 6 years of elementary education, then 6 years of secondary education (3 years of lower secondary and 3 years of upper secondary education), which leads to a wide range of higher education. The 9 years of elementary and lower secondary education cover compulsory education.

There are kindergartens (幼稚園 yochien ), day care centers (保育所 hoikusho ), and “centers for early childhood education and care” (認定こども園 nintei-kodomo-en ) for pre-school education. As for elementary and secondary education, typical educational institutions include elementary schools (小学校 shogakko ) for elementary education and lower secondary schools (中学校 chugakko ) and upper secondary schools (高等学校 kotogakko ) for secondary education. There are also schools for special needs education (特別支援学校 tokubetsu-shien-gakko ) [departments of kindergarten, elementary, lower secondary, and upper secondary] for children and students with disabilities.

In addition, in 1998, it became possible to establish 6-year Secondary Education Schools (中等教育学校 chuto-kyoiku-gakko ) which combine lower and upper secondary education, and in 2016, it became possible to establish Compulsory Education Schools (義務教育学校 gimu-kyoiku-gakko ) which combine elementary and lower secondary education.

For upper division of Secondary Education Schools and upper secondary schools, there are also schools that offer part-time courses (定時制 teiji-sei ) in the evening or at other specific times and periods, correspondence courses (通信制 tsushin-sei ) that offer distance education, and 高等専修学校 koto-senshu-gakko which is Upper Secondary Courses of Specialized Training Colleges (専修学校高等課程 senshu-gakko-koto-katei ).

Types of higher education institutions (HEIs), higher education qualifications, and admissions are described in the following sections.

Organization of the School System in Japan

Organization of the school system in Japan (PDF)

Academic Calendar

Governed by law, the academic year for elementary and secondary education institutions and Colleges of Technology (KOSEN) starts on April 1 and ends on March 31. At universities and Specialized Training Colleges, rectors or presidents determine the beginning and end of the academic year for their institutions. At upper secondary schools, upper secondary department of schools for special needs education, and universities, matriculation and graduation of students may take place in the middle of an academic year according to the division of academic term of each institution.

Many universities in Japan use a semester system (first semester from April to September, and second semester from October to March), but there are also some universities that use trimester or quarter systems.

<Reference> - Number of universities admitting students at times other than April (AY2021)   Undergraduate level: 261 universities (34.8%, N=752)   Graduate level: 342 universities (53.0%, N=775)

- Number of universities implementing each academic term system at undergraduate level (AY2021)   Semester system: 694 universities (92.3%)   Trimester system: 17 universities (2.3%)   Quarter system: 49 universities (6.5%)   Other systems: 120 universities (16.0%)

- Number of universities implementing each academic term system at graduate level (AY2021)   Semester system: 592 universities (91.6%)   Trimester system: 10 universities (1.5%)   Quarter system: 37 universities (5.7%)   Other systems: 96 universities (14.9%)

* Since the above figures represent the number of universities that have faculties and graduate schools implementing each academic term system and it may not be uniform within one university, the total does not equal the number of universities that responded to the MEXT’s survey.

[Source] Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) " 大学における教育内容等の改革状況について（令和3年度） " [Japanese only] (AY2021: Status of university reform concerning educational content, etc.)

Statistics of Higher Education

(as of may 1, 2023), number of higher education institutions.

Number of Student Enrolment in Higher Education

Number of Full-time Faculty and Staff in Higher Education

<Reference>　MEXT, School Basic Survey Results [Japanese only]

*1　Includes graduate schools

*2　32 prefectural colleges of agriculture (農業大学校) are included in 'Public'.

*3　Only the institutions defined by the "Guideline for the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications - Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education" (MEXT, 2019) are included. There is no published statistical data on the numbers of student enrolment, full-time faculty and staff.

Number of International Students in Japan

Number of Japanese Students Studying Abroad

Major Laws and Regulations Pertaining to Higher Education

For the laws and regulations listed below, English translation is avialable for Basic Act on Education only. Please also note that only the original Japanese texts have legal effect, and the English translations are to be used solely as reference materials.

• Basic Act on Education (Act No.120 of 2006 amended Act No.25 of 1947 in its entirety.)
• School Education Act (Act No.26 of 1947)
• Order for Enforcement of the School Education Act (Cabinet Order No.340 of 1953)
• Enforcement Regulation of the School Education Act (Ordinance of the Ministry of Education No.11 of 1947)
• Degree Regulations (Ordinance of the Ministry of Education No.9 of 1953)
• Rules on granting the titles of Diploma and Advanced Diploma to graduates of Post-secondary Courses of Specialized Training Colleges (Public Notice of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture No.84 of June 21, 1994)

Links to Standards for the Establishment of each type of higher education institutions are listed on the Quality Assurance System page.

Japanese Education Reform Towards Twenty-First Century Education

• Open Access
• First Online: 24 April 2020

Cite this chapter

You have full access to this open access chapter

• Shinichi Yamanaka 2 &
• Kan Hiroshi Suzuki 3  

49k Accesses

16 Citations

3 Altmetric

This chapter describes an education reform towards twenty-first century education in Japan. The Ad Hoc Council on Education which was established in 1984 by Prime Minister was the starting point of the reform. Japanese society was also undertaking a transition from twentieth century industry to twenty-first century industry. Education reform was a part of it. That was the reason this education reform involved national wide debate including industry people, union people, mass media people, politicians as well as education people. This education reform covers all aspects of education, that is contents, teachers, facilities, school management system, education administration system and fundamental laws. At first this chapter focuses on reform of national standard curriculum from 1990 until 2020. The basic stance of this reform was that the teaching style must take the transition from cramming to help students acquiring the ability to learn and think on their own. And then other reforms such as introduction of national academic ability test, reform of teacher training system, reform of university entrance examination and reform of school management system are also described. This chapter describes the continuous efforts and challenges during this education reform.

You have full access to this open access chapter,  Download chapter PDF

Similar content being viewed by others

Japan: Conversion of the Philosophy and Aim of Basic Education

STEM Education in a Changing Society: Japanese Experience and Urgent Problems to Be Solved

Background and Context of Education System in Japan

4.1 overview.

Japan is currently undertaking reforms in school education toward twenty-first century education. These comprehensive reforms include a wide range of changes, such as reform of national curriculum standards, a new school evaluation system, introduction of a national academic performance test, teacher training, reforms in university entrance examinations and admission policies, and improved coordination between schools and society.

These reforms aiming to better prepare students for the twenty-first century began in the 1980s. The starting point was a report by the Ad Hoc Council on Education set up by the Prime Minister in 1984. The report stressed that respect for the individual should be the fundamental principle upon which education reforms are built. It urged Japan to shift its focus from standardized, conventional rote learning towards learning that would help children develop the flexible and independent mindsets needed to think, judge, and take responsibility for their actions. After the report, Japanese education began to steer towards twenty-first century education with comprehensive policies to ensure the success of new approaches to teaching and learning.

However, the process of transforming into a twenty-first century education system has not been without challenges. For example, when Japanese students scored low on the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) in 2003 and 2006, the public blamed the curriculum reform as the main reason for the decline and claimed public education should focus on helping children acquire academic knowledge. Nevertheless, Japan didn’t alter the direction of its educational reform. Instead, in response to mounting public criticism, the National Assessment of Academic Ability was introduced in 2007. The purpose was to assess children’s academic performance as a basis for further reforms. Since 2009, efforts such as employing more teachers, including assigning more teachers to schools with academic and behavioral problems, and introducing morning reading sessions at schools were implemented nationwide and have begun to demonstrate success. In 2012, Japanese children achieved the highest total PISA score among all the member states of the OECD.

On the other hand, although students’ academic performance had improved, issues such as low motivation to learn and self-esteem remained. Further, the government had to consider making further changes to social and employment structures to prepare for anticipated technological advancements (such as artificial intelligence [AI]) and discussions of the OECD Education 2030.

With these conditions in mind, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) thoroughly reviewed the abilities and skills which children should aim to acquire and subsequently revised the National Curriculum Standards. The new standards will be implemented from 2020 to 2022 and include active learning (i.e., independent and interactive in-depth learning) in all school courses. The standards also include new subjects such as scientific exploration, general exploration, public comprehensive history, and comprehensive geography. The government has also improved university entrance examinations by reforming the selection process to evaluate applicants’ broader competencies beyond academic ability and the mere quantity of their knowledge.

Furthermore, MEXT implemented reforms in teacher training programs in line with changes in the National Curriculum Standards: launching the induction training system; introducing the teacher’s license renewal system; and improving training programs for working teachers to enhance their skills and abilities.

As for coordination between schools and society, the government established the School Management Council System (Community Schools) to incorporate local communities’ needs into school management. Additionally, a reform of the teaching certificate system aimed to employ people who were in non-teaching careers as full or part-time teachers.

The reform toward twenty-first century education is closely connected to the transition underway in the larger Japanese society. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when Japan became a modern nation-state, Japan focused on industrialization as a mean of national development to “catch up” with Western developed countries. A similar process has also occurred with the Japanese education system before and after World War II. In the 1980s, when Japan’s GDP was the second highest in the world, Japan had to begin setting its own goals for prosperity without imitating the model of Western countries.

Recently the world has also undergone a great transformation due to globalization and the development of information and communications technology (ICT), including AI. To adapt to these major social changes and establish a twenty-first century education system, Japan has continued to prioritize education reforms.

4.2 Structure of the Chapter

All countries are now facing similar challenges to their societal and educational institutions due to the information revolution, globalization, and environmental changes. In response to these changes, Japan has been making comprehensive education reforms since the 1980s to bring its education system to the twenty-first century. This chapter starts by explaining the background of the educational reform in Japanese society and education.

Second, the chapter describes the National Curriculum Standards. Reform of the Curriculum was the starting point of the education reform in Japan. The National Curriculum Standards stipulate objectives, content, time allocation and course of study for each subject for each school level: primary, junior, and senior high schools. The revision of the National Curriculum Standards also required the revision of textbooks, as well as changes to teacher training, teaching facilities, and numbers of teachers. Based on these reforms, revision of the National Curriculum Standards was implemented to each local government and school.

Third, this chapter describes the National Assessment of Academic Ability for students which has been conducted by MEXT since 2007. The aim of the assessment is to measure students’ academic achievement and identify any weaknesses with national and local educational policies, including the National Curriculum Standards.

Fourth, this chapter discusses the reform of University Entrance Examination. In Japan, the university entrance exam is still focused on assessing the amount of academic knowledge students acquired in school education. All efforts to reform primary and secondary education are in danger of failure unless the university entrance exam is successfully reformed.

Finally, the chapter describes the reform of the educational administrative system, including the relationship between national and local government and the partnership between schools and local communities.

This chapter is mainly based on the papers of the Central Council for Education and its sub-committees in MEXT, as well as reports of the Education Rebuilding Council and other education councils established in Cabinet Office.

Generally speaking, Education Councils established in Cabinet Office make recommendations on educational reform, then the Central Council for Education (CCE) established in MEXT makes more concrete recommendation taking into account of them. MEXT carries out educational policies based on the CCE’s recommendations.

4.3 Background of the Reforms

4.3.1 ad hoc council on education.

In the 1980s, the Ad Hoc Council on Education stated that Japan’s education system needed to be transformed from the twentieth to the twenty-first century. The Ad Hoc Council on Education was established as an advisory panel to the Prime Minister to support education reforms that were not only beneficial to educators, but also to society as a whole and the people of Japan. The Ad Hoc Council on Education was created in response to a deteriorating education system. The problems included children’s problematic behaviors such as bullying, school violence, and truancy; psychological and physical pressure placed on students due to the excessively competitive entrance examinations; and schools’ inaction in the face of problematic teachers.

Two sets of issues were identified as causes of this deteriorating state of education: issues with the whole Japanese society and the Japanese school education in particular.

4.3.2 Issues in Japanese Society

Japan undertook industrialization in the 1860s during the Meiji period and achieved dramatic economic growth after World War II. By 1968, Japan’s GNP ranked second highest in the world. These achievements came with the economic mechanisms of mass production, mass distribution, and mass consumption. The results were people were lifted out of poverty and became wealthier; had an improved standard of living; lived in peace; had a higher standards of welfare, education and culture; had enhanced public safety; and a higher average life expectancy. In the 1970s, however, developed nations, including Japan, suffered the side effects of wealth, including environmental, resource and energy problems; the disintegration of large family units and local communities due to urbanization; and the growth of the number of nuclear families. Japan’s natural ecosystems and living environments suffered damage, people’s physical and emotional health declined, and stress and frustration levels increased. Furthermore, as people’s values became increasingly diverse and relative, traditional values lost their influence. This weakened the unifying power in society and made it difficult for people to form close interpersonal relationships and connect with nature. These pathological and sociocultural phenomena had an enormous impact on children’s lives.

In the twentieth century, Japan successfully adopted the science and technology industries that were the fruit of Western developed nations’ research and development efforts. After becoming the nation with the world’s second largest economy, Japan found itself needing to explore new scientific and technological creations. This marked Japan’s transition from following the model of Western countries’ industrialization to setting its own goals without a model.

On the other hand, the growing tide of internationalization required Japan to work with foreign countries to deal with global issues shared across national borders, including international economic issues and environmental problems. This meant that Japan could no longer focus only on its own interests in international settings, as it had from the Meiji period until the post-war economic growth period. The country now needed to actively contribute to international peace and prosperity and help solve various problems across the globe.

Moreover, advances in information technology resulted in a transition from conventional hardware to software, which involved further development of information technology, AI and integrated systems. This change indicated an individual’s ability to process information, make choices, and share information would rise to a higher level of importance. This technological progress fundamentally changed the systems to produce, distribute and consume knowledge, information and technologies in both education and research. This change led to the need to nurture intellectual, productive, creative and emotionally-healthy individuals, rather than those with standardized skills and intelligence.

As these facts indicate, Japan’s education reforms launched in the 1990s also involved efforts to keep up with the maturation of society, internationalization, and advances in science and technology, which were all phenomena shared across developed countries in the 1970s and 1980s. The reforms also aimed to transition the country from the age of pursuit of the Western model to the future-oriented, creative society geared for international services. The education reforms were also expected to adjust to the rapid changes that the whole society was undergoing. Hence, it was essential to clearly define the actor of the reforms and their specific responsibilities to ensure coordination between society and the education system.

4.3.3 Issues with Japan’s Education System

The following two problems were identified as the major contributing factors to Japan’s deteriorating education system: (a) Excessively competitive university and high school entrance examinations and “cramming-style” education that focused on rote learning; (b) The inflexible, standardized educational approaches and the non-transparent culture of the education system which leads schools and the board of education to conceal ‘bad news’ from the outside world. For example, a school will generally not disclose the existence of bullying.

After Japan adopted the modern school education system in 1872, school education thrived rapidly due to people’s enthusiasm for education and growing national income. In the 1980s, the high school enrollment rate reached ninety-four percent and the college enrollment rate reached thirty-seven percent. The improvement in equality of educational opportunity for public and higher education served as the driving force of Japan’s economic growth. To achieve society’s goal of catching up with Western developed countries, school education focused on teaching science, technology, and other knowledge from the Western countries. This led to standardized learning approaches centered on the “cramming-style” rote learning.

The excessive competition in entrance examinations further drove the education system to focus on rote learning. Before World War II, government agencies and major corporations favored employees who were alumni of specific universities and determined their employees’ salaries and benefits according to their educational backgrounds. This school record-oriented employment favoring alumni of specific elite universities remained after the war. Major corporations had “designated school systems” in which they gave preference to job applicants from prestigious universities. While the college enrollment rate was rising, competition for admission to these prestigious universities became increasingly intense because of the preferential treatment given to job applicants from those universities. University entrance examinations in Japan tend to focus on scores that applicants have obtained in academic achievement tests in order to maintain objectivity and fairness in the selection process. Hence, applicants needed to achieve high scores in entrance examinations to be accepted at prestigious universities. This fact prompted high school education to adopt rote learning as an approach to score high in university entrance examinations. The competition for admission to prestigious universities led to competition among junior high school students aspiring to enroll at prestigious senior high schools. Competition in entrance examinations took hold of students in their early teens. This fierce competition took away the joy of learning and the time to have fun with friends and families from children, which had serious adverse effects on children’s physical and psychological development. The negative aspects of industrialization in the modern world also had a negative impact on children’s psychology. The excessive competition in university and high school entrance examinations overly distressed students, including much younger children, physically and psychologically. These factors were believed to have caused emotional disturbances which led to problem behaviors, including bullying.

The Ad Hoc Council on Education emphasized the importance of helping children develop their creativity and ability to think and express themselves. The Council stated that these were the qualities and abilities needed to handle rapid changes in society with flexibility and a positive attitude. It proposed that schools should teach students to apply the knowledge and information they acquired to their own thinking processes, creative efforts, and self-expression because Japan would need more creative talent with individuality in the twenty-first century.

The Council developed the following proposal to prepare students for the twenty-first century:

Set clear goals for school education and change teaching content in order to help children develop their qualities and abilities as the foundations of their lifelong learning, which will lead to twenty-first century education

Adopt diverse assessment approaches that value children’s individuality

Implement reforms in the university and high school entrance examinations so that applicants’ abilities are evaluated on multiple dimensions

Establish a framework for responsibility in school education and coordination with society

The conventional approach of teaching content and methods was not the only issue the Ad Hoc Council on Education’s report raised as the problem in Japanese education. The report severely criticized the secretive nature of Japanese schools in their preference for concealing problematic information such as that pertaining to bulling, use of physical punishment by teachers, sexual harassment by teachers and the line, which hindered early detection of the deteriorating education system and damaged public trust in schools and teachers. To provide a solid twenty-first century education, it was vital to establish responsible and trustworthy educational administrative systems and school management systems.

The report also stated that the government should review the rigid authorization, standard and guidance system by the national and local government and promote deregulation. The goal of these efforts was to eliminate excessive standardization, unnecessary focus on details and the exclusive nature of schools; all of which characterized educational administration in general. These reforms would encourage creative approaches in the classroom and dynamic teaching that would value children’s individuality. The Council also proposed that schools as education providers and municipal boards of education should act more autonomously, independently and responsibly and take initiative in order to ensure their freedom, autonomy and self-reliance. Hence, a basic outline of education should be compiled from the National Curriculum Standards and other requirements specified by the national government, and more options should be offered to schools and the boards of education. This would encourage schools and boards to act at their own discretion in developing various systems and trying new approaches.

In Japan’s educational administrative system, the local board of education has authority and responsibility over school education. The Council’s report criticized the boards of education for lacking the necessary sense of responsibility, mission, autonomy, initiative, and vision for twenty-first century education. The report identified the reason for the inaction was a lack of awareness that the boards should act on their own initiative and responsibility. This was attributed to the deep-rooted mindset of educators that school education was granted by the national government, even in the post-war period when local governments became the major actors of education. The report also stated that educational institutions and school educators tended to regard each other as family. This meant they favored the exclusive nature of schools that kept problems hidden and unresolved under the guise of “educational considerations”. They also waited for upper echelons to make decisions and give them instructions so they would do nothing different than others. They valued the stability and continuity of education. For these reasons, the institutions and educators were not likely to change.

As specific measures to revitalize the boards of education, the Council proposed to improve the selection and training of members; establish a framework for responsibility for complaint handling procedures; take proper action to handle incompetent and problematic teachers; and coordinate with the governor and mayor’s offices. It also proposed establishing a framework of responsibility for school management and ensuring principals fully exercise their leadership.

The Council stated that the decentralization of the educational administrative system and school management system, along with the establishment of a framework of responsibility, was key to Japan’s efforts toward twenty-first century education.

4.3.4 Recent Issues in Japan

The Ad Hoc Council on Education in the 1980s identified problems in Japan’s education at the time and proposed a direction for educational reform. However, modern Japanese society is considerably different from that of 30 years ago. Nevertheless, the Council for the Implementation of Education Rebuilding, which was established in 2013, identified the same problems as the Ad Hoc Council 30 years prior and proposed the government continue the educational reforms toward twenty-first century education. The agenda of the 2013 Council included reforms in curricula, educational administrative systems, university entrance examinations, and partnerships between schools and local communities.

The following sections examine to what extent the reforms for twenty-first century education have been implemented since the 1980s, their outcomes, and what reforms are currently in progress. This includes reforms in curricula, university entrance examinations, educational administration, school management, and the reform of the National Assessment of Academic Ability.

4.4 Curriculum Reforms

Japan has National Curriculum Standards that specify requirements for curricula. MEXT revises them almost every 10 years. The National Curriculum Standards establish the legal framework of duties and responsibilities to maintain a level of education prescribed for elementary, junior high and senior high school education. It covers general requirements for curricula, objectives, teaching content for each subject, key points of teaching, time allocation and course structure on a subject by subject basis. Examining the revisions to the National Curriculum Standards helps demonstrate how twenty-first century education is implemented in the framework of a school curriculum.

4.4.1 Reforms in the 1990s

MEXT revised the Courses of Study to incorporate the proposals by the Ad Hoc Council on Education in order to prepare Japan’s school education for the twenty-first century. The revised National Curriculum Standard was implemented from 1992 to 1994. Footnote 1 The National Curriculum Standards in the 1990s emphasized the importance of “viewing children’s academic performance from a new perspective.” This meant educational guidance should motivate children to learn independently and help them develop the qualities and abilities to think, judge and express themselves. In other words, the revised Standard were designed to help children voluntarily identify problems and take initiative in thinking, judging and expressing themselves. Therefore, teachers were encouraged to adopt teaching approaches which focused on children’s individuality, hands-on learning and problem-based learning. National and municipal projects were launched to provide workshops for teachers, prepare documents which explain the pedagogy of the new approach, and offer models of teaching at model schools designated for pedagogical research. All of these efforts were to promote school education based on the “new perspective on academic ability.” Another initiative was the introduction of the new subject, “life environment studies”, to first and second graders in elementary schools. However, while some schools effectively implemented the new approach, many schools had difficulty making the transition from a teaching style focused on the acquisition of knowledge to the application of knowledge. MEXT revised the National Standard Curriculums to address this challenge in the 2000s.

4.4.2 Reforms in the 2000s

The National Curriculum Standards developed in the 2000s Footnote 2 took further steps to achieve the purposes of the curriculum reforms in the 1990s. It stated that children in the twenty-first century need to acquire “a zest for life”. In order to foster this zest for life, “Period of Integrated Study” was introduced to cultivate competencies to think, make judgement, express and act by oneself through cross-curricular and project-based learning. Additionally, teaching content allotted to each subject were reduced to make time for students to think and study by themselves. The National Curriculum Standards in the 2000s represented a shift from a teaching style focused on helping students cram for exams to helping students acquire the ability to learn and think independently. The Curriculum Standards stated that school education would focus on helping children develop “a zest for life” built upon “the qualities and abilities to find issues, learn and think on their own, use their initiative in making decisions and taking action and find better solutions”, “a sense of true humanity that encompasses self-discipline, the ability to cooperate with others, empathy and emotional health to let external events touch their hearts” and “the health and stamina to stay resilient throughout the life.”

The National Curriculum Standards listed several examples of themes for the newly introduced “Period of Integrated Study,” such as international understanding, information and the environment. Schools were allowed to freely decide what to do during the class hour according to their students’ interests, and thus the Standards did not dictate a particular content or pedagogy for this period. Schools were encouraged to engage students in integrated studies by actively introducing learning activities for: problem-solving in cooperation with others; using written or visual materials to express their views and opinions; outdoor activities in natural settings; volunteer activities; arts and crafts; observation and experiment; and hands-on learning such as research tours.

These curriculum reforms did not develop smoothly. The reforms in the 2000s introduced a five-day school week, which resulted in a reduction in the overall number of instructional hours. Since schools also had to adopt new hours for integrated study, hours for other subjects including mathematics, science and Japanese were reduced by 15%. In addition, teaching content decreased by 30% in order to give students a time to study by themselves.

The dramatic reduction in the content of curricula resulted in a decline in children’s academic performance. The public severely criticized the reduced instructional hours as “ Yutori (relaxed) Education” that would weaken the basis of Japan’s strength. “The Period of Integrated Study” was also criticized as a part of “ Yutori Education” that led to the decline in academic performance. Moreover, in the PISA 2003 and 2006, the ranking of Japanese students’ scores for reading performance dropped to 14th and 15th place from the 8th in 2000, and the scores for mathematics dropped to 6th and 4th place from 1st in 2000. The media reported the results as “the PISA shock,” and the public strongly demanded the “ Yutori Education” be abolished. The criticism was connected to Japan’s sluggish economy during the period called “the lost two decades” that came after the collapse of the “bubble economy” in the 1990s. In 2010, China’s GDP ranked 2nd and Japan’s GDP fell to 3rd place. With the rise of other emerging economies, the Japanese public was deeply concerned that Japan might be losing its global competitiveness. The criticism of “ Yutori Education” led to the revision of the Courses of Study in the 2010s and the introduction of the National Assessment of Academic Ability. Yet, this period did not set back the general direction towards twenty-first century education.

4.4.3 Reforms in the 2010s

Following the severe criticism of the National Curriculum Standards in the 2000s, MEXT made partial amendments in 2003. The partial amendments were mainly to allow textbooks to include content not stated in the Curriculum Standards Courses, since the content of textbooks had declined by 30% compared to the previous one. The full amendments were made in the 2010s.

The National Curriculum Standards were revised in the 2010s in accordance with reports by the Council for Education Rebuilding established in 2006 on the initiative of the Prime Minister and reports recommended by the Central Council for Education at MEXT based on the Education Rebuilding Council’s reports. The Education Rebuilding Council’s report in 2007 Footnote 3 stated that Japan’s school education faced extremely serious problems and that it was not an exaggeration to say that public education was in dysfunction. These problems included children’s declining academic ability, bullying, truancy, school violence, school education without leadership, and the lack of a sense of responsibility at schools and boards of education. The report also pointed out that since these problems had already been raised 20 years ago, school education was losing trust from children’s guardians and the public.

The Council’s report made the following proposals regarding the curricula: (a) Review Yutori Education to give priority to help children acquire a solid foundation of learning, including basic reading, writing and mathematical ability, especially in compulsory education, and increase the class hours by 10%. (b) Aim to help children learn to apply the knowledge they acquired. The Central Council for Education recommended detailed measures based on this report.

The report stated that it would always be important to help develop the basic foundations of learning for the twenty-first century and foster children’s qualities and abilities to find issues; learn and think on their own; use their initiative to make decisions and act based on the decisions; and find solutions. What was equally important for children was to develop a “a zest for life” which encompassed the ability to cooperate with others, empathy, a sense of true humanity, health and stamina. As for academic ability, the report emphasized the importance of helping children acquire all three elements of academic ability, namely knowledge and skills; the ability to think, judge and express; and motivation to learn. Japan’s education should overcome the conflict between “ yutori” (the twenty-first century education for knowledge application) and “rote learning” (the twentieth century education for memorization of knowledge). The discussion also referred to international education movements, including the key competencies the OECD put forward as qualities people need to develop in a “knowledge-based economy” and the idea of education suggested by the United Nations for sustainable development.

In 2008 and 2009, MEXT revised the National Curriculum Standards Footnote 4 on the basis of the report by the Central Council for Education to specify the following: (a) Aim to further foster “a zest for life” of children. Help them acquire and apply knowledge and skills and develop the ability to think, judge and express themselves independently (the twenty-first century academic proficiency); (b) Increase instructional hours at elementary and junior high school by 10 percent to expand teaching content; (c) Slightly decrease hours for the “Period of Integrated Study,” yet maintain it and develop it as a part of curriculum.

4.4.4 Reforms in the 2020s

The New National Curriculum Standards to be implemented from 2020 to 2022 were announced in 2017. The revisions made for the 2020s were based on the report by the Central Council for Education in December 2016. Footnote 5 The new National Curriculum Standards are the developed version of the curriculum reforms toward twenty-first century education which began in the 1990s. The revised National Curriculum Standards feature teaching methods as well as the goal of education and teaching content.

The Central Council for Education’s report stated that the National Curriculum Standards had always been focused mainly on “what teachers have to teach” and that this convention must be changed to specify “what students will be able to do and how can they learn.” To make the transformation, it is vital to adopt the perspective of “independent and interactive in-depth learning” and active learning. This will help children to develop a deep understanding of what they learned in connection with their life and how society works; acquire qualities and competencies which will be required in their future; and continue to learn throughout their lives. Footnote 6

Based on this recommendation, the new National Curriculum Standards Footnote 7 incorporated the following new features: (a) Descriptions of all subjects it specifies, with (i) Knowledge and skills to acquire, (ii) Skills to develop the ability to think, judge and express oneself, and (iii) Motivation to learn and the sense of humanity which should be fostered; (b) Provisions for the way classroom teaching should be improved from the perspective of independent and interactive in-depth learning and active learning as “learning methods” shared across all subjects.

While curriculum reforms in the 2000s and 2010s have been implemented, Japan improved its ranking in international academic ability assessments. For example, in PISA 2006, Japan ranked 12th, 10th and 6th in reading, mathematics and science, respectively. These rankings improved to 8th, 9th and 5th in 2009; 4th, 4th, and 4th in 2012; and 8th, 5th, and 2nd in 2015. This demonstrates that academic performance by children in Japan as measured by international standards is improving. When examining the overall results among OECD member states, Japan’s total score ranked 1st in 2012 and 2015.

4.4.5 Curriculum Reforms and Assessment

The curriculum reforms towards twenty-first century education began in the 1980s. From the beginning, however, educators as well as the public expressed concern that education focused on knowledge application might lower students’ levels of academic ability. Hence, MEXT needed to prove that the reforms would not lead to a decline in children’s academic ability. Especially after the curriculum reforms in the 2000s, they were severely criticized by the public for leading the “ Yutori Education” and were forced to examine children’s academic ability and measure improvements based on facts.

Another challenge was how to assess students’ ability to apply knowledge, rather than merely acquire knowledge. The OECD PISA survey played a significant role in Japan in regard to this challenge. The PISA survey aims to assess how capable children are in applying knowledge they have acquired to address different real-life issues. Educators in Japan considered the questions in the PISA 2000 survey to be a good model to assess this kind of ability.

Given this background, MEXT introduced the National Assessment of Academic Ability in 2007 to assess the outcomes and problems in the curriculum reforms.

4.5 The National Assessment of Academic Ability and Decentralization

The National Assessment of Academic Ability was launched in 2007. This was partly a response to the criticism to the revised National Curriculum Standards in the 2000s. It was also proposed as part of the structural reforms in the compulsory education system, which were triggered by the argument about the national government’s subsidy for compulsory education.

Japan’s compulsory education consisted of elementary and junior high school, and municipalities are responsible for establishing these schools. Public schools account for ninety-six percent of all elementary and junior high schools in Japan. This means that public schools play a major role in Japan’s compulsory education. The national government subsidizes compulsory education to ensure equal opportunities for compulsory education and maintain a high level of education nationwide. Under this system, the national government covered half the costs of salaries for teachers at elementary and junior high schools across Japan. This maintained high level of salaries for public elementary and junior high school teachers everywhere in the country, enabling schools to employ teachers with solid qualifications regardless of the municipalities’ financial conditions. In the 2000s, however, government-led reforms toward decentralization were in progress. The changes involved structural reforms in the national and local governments’ finances, which aimed to curtail the national government’s subsidies to local governments and transfer financial resources to local governments for the purpose of promoting their autonomy. Since the national government’s subsidy to compulsory education was huge, the subsidy was a primary target of the reform. As a result, the law was revised so that the national government would cover one-third of the costs of salaries for teachers at public elementary and junior high schools.

Along with discussion of the reform of the national subsidiary system, the Central Council for Education reviewed the relationship between MEXT and prefectural and municipal governments as well as subsidiary systems. In the report published in 2005, Footnote 8 they stated that the government should carry out the following structural reforms in Japan’s compulsory educational system: (a) The national government would take responsibility for setting goals of the compulsory education and providing infrastructure necessary to achieve the goals; (b) Municipalities and schools would have more autonomy and responsibility as a result of decentralization; and (c) The national government would take responsibility for reviewing the outcomes of school education to ensure the quality of compulsory education. In other words, the national government would be responsible for providing foundational educational inputs (e.g., covering one-third of the costs of salaries for teachers at public elementary and junior high schools, establishing the National Curriculum Standards, etc.), municipalities and schools would implement the process (e.g., classroom teaching), and the national government would review school outcomes in order to ensure the quality of compulsory education.

The National Assessment of Academic Ability was proposed as a tool to implement the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) cycle of the structural reforms of compulsory education. It also served to check the outcome of the curriculum reforms. Since the survey was introduced as part of the reforms in compulsory education, it was conducted as a national test for students in elementary and junior high schools.

MEXT conducted the National Assessment of Academic Ability for students in sixth and ninth grades. These assessments measure students’ achievements in mathematics and Japanese language. Each test consists of Sections A and B. Section A mainly asks questions designed to test students’ ability to acquire knowledge, while Section B tests students’ ability to apply knowledge. In 2015, the survey also began a triennial test in science. A triennial test in English will be started in 2019.

The National Assessment of Academic Ability covers all public elementary and junior high schools across Japan (there should have been a sampling survey from 2010 to 2013 but this was canceled in 2011 due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami). It has played a significant role in enabling the government to examine the progress of reforms in curricula and the compulsory education system. For example, the Central Council for Education, which proposed the revision to the Courses of Study for the 2020s, stated Footnote 9 that the results of the National Survey coupled with international tests including PISA showed a narrowing gap between underachieving prefectures’ scores and the national average. This indicates that academic achievement has improved nationwide under curriculum reforms and other efforts to improve the quality of education. This evidences strongly supports the direction of the curriculum reforms.

The National Survey also assesses educational conditions, teaching methods and students’ motivation for learning. Hence, it is used for analysis to improve many areas in education policy. Furthermore, questions in Section B, which was designed to assess the ability to apply knowledge, helped to improve the quality of classroom lessons to adapt to teach knowledge application.

Since 2019, the National Survey no longer has Sections A and B and gives integrated questions to assess the ability to acquire and apply knowledge. This change is based on the new National Curriculum Standards Footnote 10 which include three interrelated pillars: “skills and knowledge”, “the ability to think, judge and express oneself”, and “the motivation to learn and a sense of humanity”. Using the integrated questions to assess academic ability aims to help schools understand the idea of the National Curriculum Standards and the MEXT’s message about the curriculum reforms.

A survey of academic proficiency that covers senior high school students is set for 2019 as a “basic assessment of academic ability for senior high school students.” Unlike the National Survey for elementary and junior high school students, this survey will not be prepared and conducted by MEXT. The government will adopt tests produced by a private company that meets MEXT’s requirements, and schools will choose an academic ability assessment at their own discretion. This process is expected to enable the implementation of the PDCA cycle of reviewing the outcomes of the education reforms to make improvements in senior high school education.

4.6 Reforms in University Entrance Examinations

The curriculum reforms have been in progress to enable elementary and secondary school education to develop twenty-first century skills. However, it would be difficult to provide a twenty-first century education for senior high school students preparing for university entrance examinations, as the abilities required to pass the exams are those developed by conventional twentieth century education. The college enrollment rate in Japan is over fifty percent, which means university entrance examinations heavily influence senior high school education. Therefore, a wide range of changes have been made to the entrance examination to better assess the ability to apply knowledge. However, as noted by various national councils for reforms in university entrance examinations, these efforts have not worked well enough. Fundamental changes to the university entrance examinations are needed to better align with the reforms for twenty-first century learning at the elementary, junior and senior high school levels.

MEXT plans to introduce further changes in university entrance examinations 2021. These changes are part of reforms in high school and university education which address integrated change in senior high school education, the selection of university applicants and university education. What underlies these changes is the awareness that university examinations still focus too heavily on how much knowledge applicants have acquired and too little on how well they apply solutions. The transition of Japan’s education system to the twenty-first century will make little progress unless university entrance examinations also evolve. Footnote 11

In 1979, Japan introduced the common primary examination administered by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations. The new examination system had a massive impact on senior high school education, particularly on what students were required to learn to pass the exams, because all public universities adopted the new system. In the 1980s, the Ad Hoc Council on Education proposed changes in the common primary examination system. Based on the proposal, the system was replaced by the National Center Test for University Admissions in 1990, and private universities also adopted this new system. Before these systems were introduced, university entrance examinations included so-called “knotty” or “tricky” questions that had nothing to do with the teaching content of senior high school education. This made high school students’ exam preparation excessively difficult. The common primary examination and the National Center Test were introduced to address this overly demanding exam preparation process and to implement a system to select applicants who fulfilled the National Curriculum Standards for senior high school. Public universities, which hold two-stage selective examinations, have adopted the systems as their preliminary exams. Private universities have also adopted the National Center Test as their general entrance examinations. In 2015, 527 public and private universities (90% of all universities in Japan) used the National Center Test. As the number of applicants taking the Test has risen to 560,000 (about 80% of university applicants), the National Center Test has played an important role in the progress of reforms in university entrance examinations.

However, the National Center Test consists of fill-in-the-bubble exams to assess the knowledge and skills applicants have memorized. Hence, it will be reformed to be a “Standardized Test for University Admissions” scheduled to start in January 2021. The new standardized test is designed to evaluate applicants’ “knowledge and skills” and “ability to think, judge and express themselves.” While the National Center Test was a set of fill-in-the-bubble exams, the new test will also include short-answer questions. Moreover, fill-in-the-bubble exams will be designed to assess not only applicants’ memorized knowledge but also their ability to think and make decisions. The new standardized test in 2021 is expected to have a significant impact on senior high school education and promote the progress of twenty-first century education.

4.7 Decentralization of Education and Maintenance of Education Standards

A twenty-first century education should help students become individuals who view society and the world from a broad perspective and contribute to the improvement of society and the international community. Education should foster children’s qualities and abilities to face reality and become involved in society and the world. To implement education that meet this demand, it is vital for schools and boards of education to have autonomy and discipline within the framework of the school system. Autonomy and discipline will help schools and boards of education use their ingenuity to optimize their local school education.

The outline of Japanese educational system is as follows. MEXT regulates the educational system from childhood education to higher education and responsible for higher education institute. Municipal boards of education are responsible for public elementary and junior high schools, and prefectural boards of education are responsible for public senior high schools. School principals are responsible for curriculum planning and day-to-day educational activities, which provides schools with autonomy and discipline in a wide range of areas.

However, the prefectural boards of education have a strong influence on education at public elementary and junior high schools because prefectural governments cover all costs of salaries for teachers at municipal elementary and junior high schools, and they also have the authority to manage personnel affairs at municipal schools. Moreover, because the subsidies of the national government to compulsory education cover one-third of the personnel costs of teachers at public elementary and junior high schools (prefectural governments paid the remaining two-third), educators tend to adhere to the education standards set by the national government. In other words, educators were excessively conscious of the national policy and preferred to stick to it. In addition to this culture, many educators believed that following the state policy and standards would make it easier for them to ensure accountability to children’s guardians and avoid criticism.

The education reforms launched in the 1980s toward twenty-first century education also made changes to the education system in order to transfer authority and responsibility to schools. The transfer started from the national government to prefectural governments and then to municipalities and schools. However, these reforms also faced difficulties due to the attitudes deeply rooted in the educational world.

Further, allowing schools and local governments to have autonomy generated educational gaps between regions. Several systems were introduced to narrow these inter-regional gaps. The National Assessment of Academic Ability was launched as a system for reviewing the effects of education. Additionally, the School Management Council System (Community Schools) was designed to encourage local communities to participate in school management to ensure the quality of education in their region.

The school evaluation system was proposed by the Central Council for Education Footnote 12 in MEXT and the National Commission on Educational Reform Footnote 13 in the Cabinet Office. Since 2002, it has been a system for schools to ensure the quality of education to a variety of stakeholders. In 2006, provisions were added to the School Education Act to establish it as a legal system. The provisions specify the following: (a) Schools are required to self-evaluate their educational activities and school management and publish the results; and (b) Schools are required to make an effort to conduct a third-party evaluation by children’s guardians, local residents and other people related to schools and to publish the evaluation results. Active publication of the school information was also prescribed.

Schools are required to set their goals for education and launch educational activities aligned to the goals for twenty-first century education specified in the National Curriculum Standards. They also need to self-evaluate the progress of their efforts toward the goals and publish the evaluation results. Schools which adopt a third-party evaluation will have an extra evaluation to conduct, and the results must be published as well. The school evaluation system aims to help schools review their educational activities and management to guide improvements. It is also expected that schools, children’s guardians and local communities share the goals of education so that they will work together to enhance the quality of education.

The School Management Council is a system that provides children’s guardians and local residents an opportunity to become involved in the development of basic policies on school management and teacher personnel affairs. It was established as a legal system in 2004 on the basis of proposals by the Cabinet’s National Commission on Educational Reform Footnote 14 and MEXT’s Central Council for Education. Footnote 15 The system became a legal obligation in 2017. The School Management Council at each school consists of children’s guardians and local residents. The functions of the Council are: (a) To approve basic school management policies developed by the school principal; (b) To state their opinion about school management to the school principal and the board of education; and (c) To state its opinion about the assignment of teachers to the board of education.

The School Management Council is expected to make schools accessible to local communities so that school management incorporates the views and opinions of local communities. This will ensure reforms toward twenty-first century education garner support and help from local communities.

4.8 Education Reform in Japan Now and the Future

Japan has been working hard to transform its education from twentieth century education to twenty-first education in these 40 years. And its reforms have brought fruitful results.

For example, “Education Policy in Japan” of OECD (2018) highly evaluates Japanese education. It states “Compare to other OECD countries Japan’s education system is one of the top performers among both youth and adult population. Japanese students have among the best performance in scientific, mathematics and reading literacy in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). -- These excellent results are linked to an environment conductive to learning in schools and beyond, with a high quality of engagement by teachers and strong support from families for effective delivery of well-rounded (holistic) education.” Footnote 16

On the other hand, the OECD report also pointed out that “this transition may require adaptation of the curriculum, teaching and school practices and of student assessments, such as university entrance examination” Footnote 17 and recommends that to “Prioritize the curriculum reform through a strategy that sustain alignment across interdependent components and communicate its value to stakeholders. This includes adapting existing assessments to reflect the new curriculum and investing in teachers’ training and initial teacher education to reinforce their capacity to adapt their practices to the revised curriculum.” Footnote 18

It also recommends that to “Preserve the provision of well-rounded holistic education by enhancing school organization and school-community partnerships. Review the role and training of school leaders in light of 2030 objectives. Focus on management practices and partnerships with local communities on supporting the introduction of the new curriculum and alleviating teacher’s workload.” Footnote 19

I think these recommendations are to the point. Japanese education reform has been carried out as a part of social transition of Japanese society, from twentieth century-style society to twenty-first century-style society. That is the reason why its discussion has been involving not only education world people but also wide range of society including parents, local community, business and labor community. And to maintain and enhance school-community partnership and discussion among all stakeholders should be the 1st priority for the successful advancement of education reforms.

As for the individual school education, many Japanese schools are referred to as a model of twenty-first century education. For example, Andreas Schleicher features a lesson in Hiroshima Nagisa High School in Japan as a carefully designed creative leaning time. Footnote 20 He also describes Kosen School in Japan as a very successful case to develop cross-curricular capabilities through their unique blend of classroom-base and hands-on project-based learning. Footnote 21 N High School in japan was invited by OCCAM’s Infopoverty World Conference as a new school that uses ICTs to provide high quality education at a low cost and post-graduation opportunities. Footnote 22

On the other hand, the OECD report also pointed out that “The magnitude of the (curriculum) reform should not be minimized” “there are risks that proactive, interactive and authentic leaning may be adapted only as superficial change” Footnote 23 as a challenge of Japanese education reform. I think this is a very important point. Curriculum reform is a starting point. How to implement is a further important and difficult task. Schools and teachers are expected to play the leading part. Twenty-First century education expects students to attain competencies and skills to think, make judgement and act by themselves. Also, each school should be a twenty-first century education school. That is schools should recognize how they can cultivate competencies and skills of their students to lead better life and interact with society and the world. And based on their recognition, think, make judgement and express (implement twenty-first century education) by themselves. Education system should support efforts of each school and teacher to become a main player.

The reports of Ad Hoc Council of Education Reform are as follows.

Monbusho, (1985, June), The First Report on Education Reform, The monthly journal of Monbusho , p. 50–76.

Monbusho, (1986, April), The Second Report on Education Reform, The monthly journal of Monbusho , p. 27–129.

Monbusho, (1987, April), The Third Report on Education Reform, The monthly journal of Monbusho, p. 4–91.

Monbusho, (1987, September), The Forth Report of Education Reform (Final Report), The monthly report of Monbusho, p. 8–49.

See also, Monbusho, (1989), Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture 1989, http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpae198901/index.html

National Curriculum Standards Database (2014), National Institute for Educational Policy Research

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h01e/index.htm

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h01j/index.htm

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h01h/index.htm

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h10e/index.htm

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h10j/index.htm

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h10h/index.htm

Education Rebuilding Council (2007, January 24), Education Rebuilding by Society as a Whole-First Step toward Rebuilding the Public Education System,- First Report, Cabinet Secretariat. https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/kyouiku/houkoku/eibun0124h.pdf

National Curriculum Standard Database, National Institute for Educational Policy Research,

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h19e/index.htm

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h19j/index.htm

https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/h20h/index.htm

Central Council for Education (2016, December 21), Improvement of National Curriculum Standards for Kindergardens, Elementary Schools, Lower and Upper Secondary Schools, and Schools for Special Needs Education (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/1380731.htm

Central Council for Education (2016, December 21), ibid., Section 1, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2017–2018, March),

National Curriculum Standard for ElementarySchool, http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/09/26/1413522_001.pdf

National Curriculum Standard for Lower Secondary School, http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/09/26/1413522_002.pdf

National Curriculum Standard for Upper Secondary School, http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/09/26/1384661_6_1_2.pdf

Central Council for Education (2005, October 26), Creating Compulsory Education in New Era (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/1212703.htm

Central Council for Education (2016, December 21), Part 1 Section 1 of Improvement and Necessary Measures of National Curriculum Standards for Kindergardens, Elementary Schools, Lower and Upper Secondary Schools, and Scools for Special Needs Education, MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/1380731.htm

See, Council for Reform on the System of Articulation of High Schools and Universities (2016, March 31), The Final Report by the Council for Reform on the System of Articulation of High Schoolsand Universities, MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/06/02/1369232_01_2.pdf

Central Council for Education (1998, September 1), Local Education Administration in the Future (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2013/12/18/1342455_1.pdf

The National Commission on Educational Reform (2000, December 22), Report by the National Commishion on Educational Reform – 17 Proposals for Changing Education, Cabinet Secretariat. https://japan.kantei.go.jp/education/report/pdfs/report.pdf

The National Commission on Educational Reform (2000, December 22), Report by the National Commission on Educational Reform – 17 Proposals for Changing Education, Cabinet Secretariat. https://japan.kantei.go.jp/education/report/pdfs/report.pdf

Central Council for Education (2004, Narch 3), School Management in the Future (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/giji/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/03/19/1345472_001.pdf

OECD (2018), Education Policy in Japan: Building Bridges Towards 2030 , Reviews of National Policies for Education, OECD Publishing, Paris, p. 15. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264302402-en

OECD (2018), ibid. p. 16.

OECD (2018), ibid. p. 17.

Schleicher, A (2018), World Class: How to build a twenty-first-century school system, Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education, OECD Publishing, Paris. p. 103. https://doi.org/10.1787/4789264300002-en

Schleicher, A (2018), ibid., p. 242.

The Observatory on Digital Communication (OCCAM) (2019, April 12), XIX Infopoverty World Conference Final Declaration, OCCAM. http://www.occam.org/news/xix-iwc-final-declaration/

OECD (2018), Education Policy in Japan: Building Bridges Towards 2030 , Reviews of National Policies for Education, OECD Publishing, Paris, p. 157. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264302402-en

Ad Hoc Council on Education. (1985, June). The first report on education reform. The Monthly Journal of Monbusho . pp. 50–76.

Google Scholar  

Ad Hoc Council on Education. (1986, April). The second report on education reform. The Monthly Journal of Monbusho . pp. 27–129.

Ad Hoc Council on Education. (1987a, April). The third report on education reform. The Monthly Journal of Monbusho. pp. 4–91.

Ad Hoc Council on Education. (1987b, September). The forth report of education reform (Final report). The Monthly Journal of Monbusho . pp. 8–49.

Central Council for Education. (1998, September 1). Local Education Administration in the Future (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2013/12/18/1342455_1.pdf .

Central Council for Education. (2004, March 3). School Management in the Future (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/giji/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/03/19/1345472_001.pdf .

Central Council for Education. (2005, October 26). Creating Compulsory Education in New Era (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/1212703.htm .

Central Council for Education. (2008, January 17). Improvement of National Curriculum Standards for Kindergartens, Elementary Schools, Lower and Upper Secondary Schools, and Schools for Special Needs Education (Recommendation), MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/1380731.htm.

Central Council for Education. (2016, December 21). Part 1 Section 1 of Improvement and Necessary Measures of National Curriculum Standards for Kindergardens, Elementary Schools, Lower and Upper Secondary Schools, and Schools for Special Needs Education, MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/1380731.htm.

Council for Reform on the System of Articulation of High Schools and Universities. (2016, March 31). The Final Report by the Council for Reform on the System of Articulation of High Schools and Universities, MEXT. http://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/06/02/1369232_01_2.pdf .

Education Rebuilding Council. (2007, January 24). Education Rebuilding by Society as a Whole-First Step toward Rebuilding the Public Education System,- First Report, Cabinet Secretariat https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/kyouiku/houkoku/eibun0124h.pdf .

Kariya, Takehiko. (2018 December). ‘Daigaku seiakusetu’ niyoru monndaisettei to iu to <mondai> (<Problem> of Problen Setting as “ Belief in university as fundamentaly evil”) (2018 December), Chapter 2 of Part 1 of “50 nennme no ‘Daigaku kaikai’ 20 nenngono daigakusaisei (50th year of University dismantling, University reborn in 20”, Edited by Ikuya Sato, Kyoto University Press.

MEXT. (2017–2018, March). National Curriculum Standard for Elementary School, Lower Secondary School, Upper Secondary School. http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/09/26/1413522_001.pdf , http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/09/26/1413522_002.pdf , http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/09/26/1384661_6_1_2.pdf .

MEXT, National Curriculum Standards Database. (1947–2017). National Institute for Educational Policy Research https://www.nier.go.jp/guideline/ .

Monbusho. (1992). Gakusei Hyakuniju nenshi (One hundred and twenty years history of Japanese education). Tokyo: Gyousei. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/others/detail/1318221.htm .

Monbusho (Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture). (1989). Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture 1989. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpae198901/index.html .

OECD. (2018). Education policy in Japan: Building bridges towards 2030 (Reviews of National Policies for Education). Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264302402-en .

Book   Google Scholar  

Schleicher, A. (2018). World class: How to build a 21st-century school system. Strong performers and successful reformers in education . Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/4789264300002-en .

The National Commission on Educational Reform. (2000, December 22). Report by the National Commission on Educational Reform – 17 Proposals for Changing Education, Cabinet Secretariat. https://japan.kantei.go.jp/education/report/pdfs/report.pdf .

The Observatory on Digital Communication (OCCAM). (2019, April 12). XIX Infopoverty World Conference Final Declaration, OCCAM. http://www.occam.org/news/xix-iwc-final-declaration/ .

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

KADOKAWA DWANGO Education Institute, Tokyo, Japan

Shinichi Yamanaka

University of Tokyo and Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

Kan Hiroshi Suzuki

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shinichi Yamanaka .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Fernando M. Reimers

Rights and permissions

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Yamanaka, S., Suzuki, K.H. (2020). Japanese Education Reform Towards Twenty-First Century Education. In: Reimers, F.M. (eds) Audacious Education Purposes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41882-3_4

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41882-3_4

Published : 24 April 2020

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-41881-6

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-41882-3

eBook Packages : Education Education (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Education Policy in Japan: Building Bridges towards 2030

Education in japan: strengths and challenges.

• KU Libraries
• Subject & Course Guides
• Resource Guide for Japanese Language Students

Resource Guide for Japanese Language Students: Essays

• Short Stories
• Translated Foreign Literature
• Japanese and English
• Comics with Furigana
• Comics with no Furigana
• Picture Books
• Online Reading Materials
• Apps, Sites, Extensions, and Podcasts
• For Listening Practice: Read Aloud Picture Books
• For Listening Practice: Children's Literature
• For Listening Practice: Young Adults
• Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)
• Japanese Research & Bibliographic Methods for Undergraduates
• Japan Studies This link opens in a new window
• Guidebooks for Academic and Business Writing

About This Page

This page introduces the variety of essays written by popular contemporary authors. Unless noted, all are in Japanese.

The author, さくらももこ, is known for writing a comic titled 『 ちびまる子ちゃん 』. The comic is based on her own childhood experiences and depicts the everyday life of a girl with a nickname of Chibi Maruko-chan. The author has been constantly writing casual and humorous essays, often recollecting her childhood memories. We have both the『 ちびまる子ちゃん 』 comic series and other essays by the author. 

To see a sample text in a new tab, please  click on the cover image or the title .

中島らも(1952-2004) started his career as a copyrigher but changed his path to become a prolific writer, publishing novels, essays, drama scripts and rakugo stories. He became popular with his "twisted sense of humour."  He is also active in the music industry when he formed his own band. He received the 13th Eiji Yoshikawa New Author Prize with his 『今夜、すべてのバーで』 and Mystery Writers of Japan Aaward with 『 ガダラの豚 』.

東海林（しょうじ）さだお

東海林さだお(1937-) is a well-known cartoonist, but he is also famous for his essays on food. His writing style is light and humorous and tends to pay particular attention toward regular food, such as bananas, miso soup, and eggd in udon noodles, rather than talk about gourmet meals. (added 5/2/2014)

Collection of Essays: 天声人語 = Vox Populi, Vox Deli (Bilingual)

A collection of essays which appear on the front page of Asahi Shinbun . Each essay is approx. 600 words. KU has collections published around 2000. Seach KU Online catalog with call number AC145 .T46 for more details. 

To see a sample text, please click on the cover image or the title .

Other Essays

Online Essay

• 村上さんのところ "Mr. Murakami's Place" -- Haruki Murakami's Advice Column Part of Haruki Murakami's official site. He answers questions sent to this site. He will also take questions in English. Questions will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2015.

Search from KU Collection

If you are looking for essays in Japanese available at KU, use this search box. If you know the author, search by last name, then first name, such as "Sakura, Momoko." Make sure to select "Author" in the search field option.:

• << Previous: Level 4
• Next: Short Stories >>
• Last Updated: Feb 1, 2024 11:08 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.ku.edu/c.php?g=95189

• AsianStudies.org
• Annual Conference
• EAA Articles
• 2025 Annual Conference March 13-16, 2025
• AAS Community Forum Log In and Participate

Education About Asia: Online Archives

Leading a short-term study trip for students in japan.

The best way for students to study the history, culture, and livelihoods of another country is through an organized in-country experience. There are various benefits that can accrue through such an endeavor. One can learn about a part of the world away from home while at the same time gaining a deeper appreciation of one’s own culture by looking at it from the outside. Ideally, a student will spend a full semester or year studying abroad, but that is a luxury that many cannot afford in terms of time or money. Another possibility is a carefully orchestrated group trip of ten to fifteen college-age students who travel with an informed instructor to a specific locale for two or three weeks of intensive study. The instruction should include the study of the host nation’s history, culture, and contemporary institutions and population. Efforts must be made to visit important historical or cultural sites, and to mingle with and especially have the chance for conversations with residents of the country. A short visit of two to three weeks can produce a fairly superficial view of another people and their culture, but even a brief encounter can give students a greater appreciation of the world around them.

Taking student groups abroad for short study courses was the most satisfying experience in my almost four decades of teaching at Mary Baldwin University (MBU) in Virginia. MBU has a short three-week “May term” every spring where it is possible for professors to take small groups of students abroad for mini-study tours. Over the years, I took students to Japan, China, Korea, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, Israel–Palestine, and all over Europe, including Switzerland, Italy, and Croatia. Because I am a Japan specialist who lived, worked, and studied in that country for several years as a student and young scholar, my most effective study abroad courses involved a dozen or more experiences in Japan from the early 1980s through 2015. The major goal of the essay that follows is to provide a nonspecialist undergraduate or high school instructor who might have the opportunity to take students to Japan (or visit Japan alone or with a partner) with what I believe to be an optimal Japan experience given limited time.

Developing a Brief Study Visit to Japan

A meaningful study trip to Japan must incorporate three elements: introducing the student to the natural beauty of the land, visiting important historical and cultural sites, and encountering modern institutions such as schools and government buildings. My colleagues and I also included visits to various businesses to allow students to see Japanese at work. Such visits included a stop at the news office of a major television station where students could watch a full noon news broadcast. We also included visits to a major Tokyo newspaper, department stores, and a recruiting office for Japanese students who wish to study in the United States.

Planning a study tour involves visits to many sites of interest, but there is also a realization that the students need at least two or three free days spread out throughout the trip to allow them to rest or go out on their own individually crafted experiences. Japan, with its justly deserved reputation as a safe place to travel and urban areas that consistently provide English-language signs for public transport and tourist attractions, is particularly appropriate for student-generated side trips. Students looked forward to these days off and found their own way to such places as Tokyo Disneyland, the Ghibli Art Museum in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka to study Japanese animation, and Tokyo’s early morning fish market.

Each of these Japan study tours was listed in my college’s catalog as a three-credit-hour May term course titled Introduction to Asia. Students had to register for the course and subsequent trip by the beginning of February. The faculty included myself and another colleague who went on all Japan study tours with me. We met with our ten to fourteen students for six two-hour sessions during the spring semester, where we got to know each other as a group and we familiarized the students with the dynamics of the trip. Students received a brief overview of traditional and modern Japanese history, religion, and aspects of modern culture, including the role of education, the changing status of women, and modern Japanese pop culture. Students gained a lot by viewing the 2005 movie Nana about contemporary pop stars in Japan. Given the continued popularity of Japanese popular culture, more recent movies might be substituted for the one we used. We always invited exchange students from Japan to visit the class to talk about youth culture in Japan.

We also assigned students various readings on Japanese history and culture, and required a series of essays responding to questions concerning the readings. Students read Christopher Goto’s excellent 2009 book Modern Japan: A Very Short Introduction , my own 2001 book Under the Gaijin Gaze about education and the changing status of women, and selected articles on Japanese culture from past issues of Education About Asia . We developed essay questions asking students to discuss various Japan topics such as the role of Shinto as a religion of thanksgiving, who the students felt was responsible for Pearl Harbor, and to compare and contrast the worldviews of young women in Japan and the United States. Since the course was open to all Mary Baldwin students, including those who had never taken a course in Asian studies, this preparatory work meant that every participant had some background understanding of Japan before going there.

Another advantage of our six meetings before the actual trip was that we got to know each other as a group. We spent a lot of time with group discussions and listening to student questions, which always created a greater sense of group cohesion, which is vital for the success of the trip. By the end of this preparatory class, everybody knew each other’s names and personalities, which allowed us to work more as a cohesive group when in Japan.

Travel and Lodging

Taking off from Dulles International Airport was always an exciting time, especially for those two or three students who had never flown before and who, when they arrived in Japan, were riding trains for the first time. There were always students who had never really been away from Virginia but who were on their way to Tokyo. We always tried to travel on a Japanese airline, where our students could become acquainted with Japanese service and watch select Japanese movies en route.

When we began making these study trips to Japan in the mid-1980s, we found that it was most economical in terms of cost and time to choose one base of operations rather than moving students from one hotel to another. This led to our decision to focus our trips on Tokyo, which offered, along with some day trips, all the sites that we wanted students to experience while in Japan: nearby historical sites such as Kamakura, Hakone, and Nikkō would give students a sense of Japan’s heritage and natural beauty, while Tokyo itself would provide opportunities to visit museums, a couple of schools, the National Diet (parliament), and various Tokyo-area businesses.

There are many fine, efficient hotels in central Tokyo that cater to foreign student groups. We always chose the Hotel Asia Center of Japan ( Ajia Kaikan ) in Akasaka, very close to the Roppongi area of central Tokyo. The Hotel Asia Center of Japan still caters to foreign study tour groups with inexpensive but clean rooms and individual baths. We got double and triple rooms at very reasonable rates, which included a sumptuous breakfast that always included fresh fruit and some of the best croissants I have ever eaten. The center was very near several major subway lines that could take us anywhere we wished to travel in the city. Students soon became quite adept at using the Tokyo subways and made full use of them on their own during their free days.

We always timed our trips for May just after the crush of the national holiday Golden Week (late April and early May) and before the dreary and muggy monsoon rainy season that makes portions of summers so wet and miserable in Japan. May in Japan offers cool, sunny days and the glory of beautiful gardens in full bloom.

Historic and Scenic Sites Relatively Near Tokyo

The Tokyo area is blessed with a number of important cultural and historic sites that were not destroyed during the Pacific War. The most important of these places is the coastal city of Kamakura, which from 1185 to 1333 was the shogunal capital of Japan. Visitors to Kamakura, only about an hour from Tokyo station by train, can see a great number of stunning Buddhist temples and shrines that rival many of those found in Nara and Kyoto. I always took my students to the Hase temple complex, which includes caves, beautiful gardens, historic temples, and stunning mountain views of Kamakura’s beaches and harbor. We also visited the big Buddha (daibutsu) and Hachimangu Shrine, and hiked across the island of Enoshima to enjoy the caves, rocky coastline, and crashing waves on the far side of the island. Enoshima is connected to the mainland by a short causeway and is located just west of Kamakura, a few minutes by train from Kamakura station.

Another historic site that all visitors to Japan should visit is Nikko National Park deep in the mountains of central Japan but only two hours one way from downtown Tokyo. There is a large temple and Shinto shrine complex that honors the Tokugawa shoguns, as well as spectacular natural scenery, including Lake Chuzenji with its famous waterfall, which enthralled each of my student groups.

Students always got a thrill when we traveled from Tokyo to nearby Fuji Hakone National Park, roughly ninety minutes, and about fifty miles west by train from Shinjuku station in Tokyo. The trip includes a good haul on the Hakone Tozan railway, several cable car rides, and a lengthy boat ride across Lake Ashinoko with spectacular views of Mount Fuji. This trip also includes a visit to various thermal hot springs, where tourists can experience the beauty of Japan’s mountain scenery.

Opportunities in Tokyo

Tokyo is a vast, very modern city with a virtually infinite number of interesting opportunities to pursue. In order to deepen historical understanding of the city, I always took my students first to the outer moat and views of the Imperial Palace (once the residence of the Tokugawa Era shoguns from 1600 to 1868), which are spectacular. Another must-visit is the Meiji Shrine in the Harajuku section of Tokyo. Students always took a special liking for the Inner Garden, with its beautiful iris garden that was always in full bloom when we visited. I always took the students to the huge Edo Museum, which gives a very colorful and comprehensive view of Tokyo history from the Edo period (1600–1868) to the Pacific War bombing and rebirth of Tokyo after the war.

Some students always asked me to take them to the Yasukuni War Memorial Shrine and associated war museum. Before visiting Yasukuni Shrine, I explained that it was a memorial to honor Japanese war dead and that several of Japan’s notorious wartime leaders were honored there. The adjoining museum’s focus is Japan’s modern military history and includes a brief movie honoring Japan’s war dead.

When I was a full-time faculty member, Mary Baldwin College had two sister school relationships with a small college outside of Tokyo and with Soka University in Hachioji, a Tokyo suburb. Instructors and students on a study tour of Japan should make every effort to visit one or more Japanese schools. We spent a full day visiting the Soka primary, middle, and high schools in Tokyo, which gave my students ample time to meet and mingle with Japanese students of all ages. There was also a visit with students at our other sister school.

Another must-visit is the National Diet in Tokyo. I had long ago befriended a leading member of the Diet, who always met with our students and personally guided them through some of the inner sanctums of Japan’s parliament. This is not a likely one-to-one relationship many study tour leaders might have, but there are also public tours that foreigners are welcome to join. Lunch in the parliamentary dining room is also highly recommended.

Nara and Kyoto

As described earlier, because of severe time limits and the abundance of things to see and do in Tokyo, we made the Tokyo (Kantō) region the hub of our activities. However, I offered an optional one-day trip to Nara and Kyoto for those students interested in getting a glimpse of these historic cities. We left on the first morning shinkansen (bullet train) headed to Kyoto from Tokyo Station, arrived at 8:30 a.m. We spent a full morning in Nara visiting Tōdaiji temple and associated temples and shrines in the morning, as well as a variety of temples and Nijo Palace in the afternoon, in Kyoto, we paid a courtesy visit to our sister college in Kyoto, Doshisha Women’s College. We caught the last train back to Tokyo after dinner.

Our students got a very good taste of Japan in two and a half weeks and were always reluctant to leave. It was fascinating to learn what they had done on their free days. A number always made the trek to Tokyo Disneyland or went with me to see a Japanese baseball game at the Tokyo Dome or at Meiji Jingu Stadium near our hotel. Others found their way to the morning fish market, and all of them spent countless hours in various large department stores in Shinjuku and Harajuku and at various youth hangouts in Shibuya. I was always amazed at how adept even the shiest student became at mastering the maze of Tokyo subways.

Students were obliged to keep a detailed journal of their impressions of Japanese life, which also became the basis of their final grade for the Introduction to Asia course.

Two to three weeks is a very short time to visit another country, but it was a very welcome opportunity for students with limited time and budgets. They always commented that their own culture was in itself unique, and they expressed greater respect and tolerance for people from other places. A number of these students later returned to Japan to spend a full semester at one of our sister schools in Japan. Many became teachers in Japan’s JET Program, and even today, years after my retirement from full- time teaching, there are a half-dozen or more former students who have made Japan their permanent homes.

Mary Baldwin’s unique relationship with Japanese schools has brought dozens of Japanese students to study at our Virginia campus for a semester or a full year. We also receive students from India, Taiwan, China, and Korea, which allows American students to encounter young Asians on their own turf. I am grateful to have been part of the international exchanges that have occurred because of the college.

I also hope this essay is helpful to those instructors and students who wish to maximize their opportunities in Japan given limited time.

Share this:

• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Latest News
• Join or Renew
• Education About Asia
• Education About Asia Articles
• Asia Shorts Book Series
• Asia Past & Present
• Key Issues in Asian Studies
• Journal of Asian Studies
• The Bibliography of Asian Studies
• AAS-Gale Fellowship
• Council Grants
• Book Prizes
• Graduate Student Paper Prizes
• Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies Award
• First Book Subvention Program
• External Grants & Fellowships
• AAS Career Center
• Asian Studies Programs & Centers
• Study Abroad Programs
• Language Database
• Conferences & Events
• #AsiaNow Blog

• TOPICS  
• VIDEOS  

• ARCHIVES  
• Arts & Culture
• Education & Study Abroad
• Science & Technology
• Social Issues
• U.S.-Japan Relations

• Event Videos
• Interview Videos
• Study Abroad Videos

650 Words. Limitless Topics. Your Chance to Stand Out from the Rest.

By Yuki Kondo-Shah, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate Fukuoka

The essay is the single most important part of your college application, because it's the one part that you can truly control at this moment. The grades on your transcript reflect the last three years of hard work in various courses. Your standardized test scores are a snapshot of your test taking ability on one weekend morning. Teacher recommendation letters are their perspectives about you compared to your classmates.

The essay, on the other hand, will reflect how much effort you put into it right now. You should start the draft early, make edits and rewrite it multiple times, and share it with friends and mentors that you trust. While there may be other students who have great grades, test scores, resumes, and letters, there should be only one personal statement that sounds like you wrote it, and that’s the key to a successful application essay. It's perfectly fine to write it first in Japanese and then translate it into English!

In my experience evaluating Japanese student essays in admissions applications, too many students simply answer the essay question being asked. That seems counterintuitive, I know, but the point of the essay questions is to function as a prompt, a starting off point, from which you can explore your background, history, intellectual interests, and future plans. The goal is to have the admissions officer come away after reading your essay knowing you better as an individual, why you are motivated, and why you would be a great addition to the classroom and campus life at their school.

My specific advice to Japanese students would be to NOT be humble, but to think BIG. This is not a time to be shy, as you are competing with American students who have been educated to express their dreams and articulate their plans in their applications. Ask yourself what is motivating you to study in America, and what you think an education there would allow you to do that you cannot achieve if you were to stay in Japan. If you want to read some sample essays, the New York Times does a series every year on essays that move their editors .

Let's look at a short essay question from my alma mater, Dartmouth College, on this year's application: "In the aftermath of World War II, Dartmouth President John Sloane Dickey, Class of 1929, proclaimed, ‘The world's troubles are your troubles…and there is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix.’ Which of the world's ‘troubles’ inspires you to act? How might your course of study at Dartmouth prepare to you to address it?”

There are many inspirational young people setting great examples these days by tackling challenges like climate change or bullying. In writing your 650 words, think about the impact you want to have on the world. What makes you stand out from the rest?

Read the other articles in the series:

• American Universities Want YOU!
• Extracurricular Activities: What You Do Outside School Matters
• Six Tips for Getting Strong Recommendation Letters
• Dos and Don'ts for Writing Teacher Recommendation Letters

Click here for more information on studying in the U.S. and EducationUSA programs throughout Japan.

• Study Abroad

Check Out 5 Patents Developed at U.S. Universities

How u.s. philanthropy benefits the world, how king’s words brought america closer to its best, 5 symbols of ukrainian independence.

[…] ・650語のエッセイで差をつけよう！ […]

LEAVE A COMMENT

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Top page -->>
• Japan Guide & Information -->>

• Learning -->>

How to improve your writing skills in Japanese

UPDATE | October 1, 2022

The ability to write Japanese, which is necessary for living in Japan. Here are four recommended ways to do just that.

• Copying example sentences from Japanese textbooks and reference books
• Write a 3-line diary in Japanese
• Decide on a theme and write a short essay.
• Post to SNS. write a comment. send a message.

In order to go on to higher education or find a job in Japan, you need to be able to write in Japanese. What kind of training do you do to improve your writing skills in Japanese? What should I do to improve my writing ability?

In this column, I will introduce four ways to improve your writing skills in Japanese!

1. Copy the example sentences from Japanese textbooks and reference books

Do you have any Japanese textbooks or reference books? The book can be used not only for reading, but also for improving your writing skills. It's easy to do. Just write an example sentence. You can write the example sentences in a notebook, or you can write them using computer software.

This method is very easy, but it can be a little boring. However, the example sentences in recent textbooks are created by Japanese teachers considering whether they will really use them in their daily lives. Therefore, if you write down the example sentences and memorize them as they are, they will be useful in your daily life.

If you write example sentences properly, you will be able to memorize grammar and words at the same time. If you think writing example sentences is too easy, start from the last page of your textbook. Many people haven't read the last page (maybe for the first time!), so it's a great practice.

2. Write a 3-line diary in Japanese

The next method is to write a diary in Japanese. Don't you think you have to write long sentences in your diary? But short sentences are fine. Write a lot of short sentences, until you have three lines. It can be a little tough at first.

When writing a diary, you don't have to write "I'm amazing". Rather than that, let's honestly write "bad self". "I couldn't study today," "I couldn't do the laundry even though the weather was nice," or "I slept until noon."

After I write about myself, I write about what happened today and what I noticed. "I took a walk and the wind felt good," "It seems that the neighborhood bakery is closed today," and "It's nice weather." If you write every day, you will get used to "writing".

3. Decide on a theme and try to write a mini composition.

A third way is to write an essay. Think writing is difficult? Actually, it's the same as a diary, and you should keep writing down what you're thinking. This composition is to improve your writing skills, so you don't have to show it to anyone. So feel free to get started.

It may be difficult to decide on a theme for writing, so I prepared a few themes. From the themes below, choose one that you think you can write, and try to write it in 200 to 400 characters. Even if it's not the theme below, you can write what you want to write.

"self-introduction" "Things I want to do in Japan" "My favorite 〇〇" "How to study Japanese" "How to spend your day off" "Friend 〇〇" "Let me introduce you to my family." "Recommended shop" "How to cook national dishes" "What I want to study more"

4. Post to SNS. write a comment. send a message.

Have you ever sent a message in Japanese on SNS (LINE, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)? You can improve your Japanese writing skills by using Japanese on SNS and messaging apps. However, the thing to be careful about with SNS is that there are people who read it.

Send messages with the other person in mind so that the person reading the message doesn't feel bad. The same is true when posting on SNS or writing comments.

And Japanese on SNS and messaging apps often uses "spoken language" rather than "written language". It's a different style of word than the Japanese used for higher education or job hunting, so be careful when using it properly. SNS is fun, so I want to make good use of it to improve my Japanese writing skills.

This time, I introduced four ways to improve your writing skills in Japanese. Please feel free to challenge yourself in whatever way you like. See you in the next column!

I teach Japanese at Japanese language schools and universities in Kyushu. I love games and manga. I also work as a coordinator and web writer to create a local Japanese language class for those who are studying Japanese.

September 20, 2022

【International Student Interview】 Meiji University (MEIJI UNIVERSITY)

June 15, 2022

【International Student Interview】Kanagawa University

August 19, 2021

February 01, 2022

[For Japanese language schools] Why don't you teach Japanese through manga at "Trial Manga Library"?

May 27, 2022

What is a famous school-oriented cram school?

Recommended articles.

April 1, 2024

3 reasons why you should start a "school search" right now

“Scholarship” guide for international students

Three points to find a “school that suits you”

“How to Gather Japanese School Information” Guide for International Students

Useful tips.

Read Real Japanese: Essays and Fiction

• READ REAL JAPANESE: ESSAYS AND FICTION

Read Real Japanese is a book series with both essays and short stories for Japanese language learners. Read Real Japanese: Contemporary Writings by Popular Authors contains eight essays by current, popular Japanese authors. Read Real Japanese: Short Stories by Contemporary Writers on the other hand contains six short stories by another set of current authors. In terms of layout, Japanese is on one side (vertical) and English is on the other (horizontal). However, the English included in this text are not direct translations, per se. Rather, they communicate the overall meaning of the corresponding sentence or phrase, so one could call them a gloss of the Japanese. Other useful features in these books include the following:

• Detailed translator notes
• Glossary of all used terms
• Accompanying audio by a professional voice actress
• Furigana to aid in reading kanji words

While aimed at intermediate-level students, the stories in these books are actually quite difficult and should more likely be categorized as advanced . You can read more about these books in the full review here .

Start Learning Japanese in the next 30 Seconds with a Free Lifetime Account

Learn Japanese - JapanesePod101.com

Skip to content

• Board index Japanese Language - Learn Japanese Learn All About Japanese

SHORT Japanese essay

Moderators: Moderator Team , Admin Team

Post by yamiisan93_509416 » December 12th, 2015 10:24 pm

Re: SHORT Japanese essay

Post by community.japanese » December 21st, 2015 2:35 pm

Return to “Learn All About Japanese”

• General Information
•     Learn Japanese Forum Help and Posting Guidelines
•     Tech Updates
• Japanese Language - Learn Japanese
•     Learn All About Japanese
•     Japanese Resources & Reviews
•     JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) - 日本語能力試験
•     Practice Japanese - 日本語を練習しましょう
• Japanese Culture
•     General Japanese Culture
•     Japanese Anime & Manga
•     Japanese History & Tradition
•     Japanese Food & Entertainment
• Travel Japan - Life in Japan
•     Visiting Japan
•     Working & Studying in Japan
• Everything Else Japan Related
•     JapanesePod101 Listener's Lounge
• Feedback & Support
•     Feature Requests
•     Japanese Lesson Suggestions
•     Technical Support
•     Moderator Corner

Get the Reddit app

Welcome to r/LearnJapanese, *the* hub on Reddit for learners of the Japanese Language.

Japanese teacher looking for learners to write 4 short essays in exchange for a few classes.

"intake" closed

Wow, such a great response! Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply.

We're going to have to put a pause on taking any more learners, as we've had quite a few replies over the last 12 hours or so, and she is now sorting through the various learners. I believe I have contacted everyone via PM who has put their name down, so you should be receiving an email shortly with some more info.

Thanks again.

My wife is completing her Masters of Japanese education. She needs to write a thesis/research paper as part of the final assessment which includes the need to assess short essays of multiple distance learners.

What you would need to do

She is looking to find approximately 10 intermediate students (around N3 to N2) to write 4 short (400 Japanese characters) essays about their week, complete one short survey and complete one short voice interview. This will take place over the course of 8 weeks starting next week, with each essay being submitted every two weeks.

A one page info pack will be provided.

What you get out this

In exchange for the time spent (writing the 4 essays, 1 survey, and 1 short interview), you will get:

she will provide 2 x 1 hour blocks of 1 on 1 teaching via Google hangouts (or Skype). She has been teaching on italki (with a consistent 5 star rating) for about 2 years now, prior to that she also taught professionally. She will work hard to get all the free classes done as soon as possible, but it might not be immediate.

each essay you will submit will be reviewed and you will be given feedback on improvements

Requirements

The requirements are pretty basic:

Japanese learner

Distance learner (you aren't living in Japan)

Prefer N3 or higher, but optional

Be able to write 4 essays at a 2 week interval (the timings are a bit strict because it needs to fit into a larger scope of work)

Thanks for taking the time to read this. It feels a tad spammy, but I checked with the mods first and they're cool. PM's are preferred, but feel free to ask questions in here if I have missed anything (I wouldn't be surprised if I had!)

Edit Sorry, seems I can't articulate the plan very well, and have confused a few people in pm's. The 4 essays would be spread out like the following: