EDUCATION IN JAPAN

Education in Japan:

Higher Education:

Japan has already begun to experience a population decline, with the result that many universities are already having difficulty maintaining their student populations, although entry into top ranks of the universities remains hugely competitive. The emerging and foreseeable trend is that many universities will have to try to attract large numbers of foreigners or diversify or face closure. It is also now said that a university education in Japan is within easier reach of students today, but that the quality of that higher education is now in question despite the many educational reforms  that have been set in motion.


In his book challenges to Higher Education: University in Crisis Professor Ikuo Amano noted that the critical public is far from being satisfied with these series of reforms. The reason is that the selection process of old for entry to the so-called 'first-tier universities' remains fundamentally unchanged. That is, there has been nothing done to ameliorate the entrance war for entry into these most notoriously difficult to enter institutions that are at the nucleus of an examination based on numerous subjects.

Furthermore, in a society that places more importance on 'credentialization' or labelization or branding of the name of the school from which one graduates, than on simply possessing a university education, no matter how much the selection process of the university applicants is reformed, students will continue to strive to enter a small number of 'top-tier' or 'brand-name' universities and the severe examination war will not disappear. In this sense, the university entrance reforms is a permanent issue for Japanese universities.

Each academic year begins in April and comprises of two semesters. Basic general degrees are four-year degrees, a feature adapted from the American system. Undergraduate students receive instruction via the lecture and seminar group method. The general degree may be followed by two-year Master' degrees and then a three year Doctorate where these are offered.

Japan has about three million students enrolled in 1,200 universities and junior colleges and consequently the second largest higher educational system in the developed world. Japan also has one of the largest systems of private higher education in the world. The 710 odd universities in Japan can be separated into 3 categories: highly competitive, mildly competitive and non-competitive. Public universities are generally more prestigious than their private ones with only 25 percent of all university-bound students being admitted to public universities.


Top ten Universities in Japan:

  1. The University of Tokyo
  2. Kyoto University
  3. Osaka University
  4. Tokyo Institute of technology 
  5. Nagoya University
  6. Tohoku University
  7. Keio University
  8. Waseda University
  9. Kyushu University
  10. Hokkaido University

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