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The Roots of Education in Japan - Part 2


to compete for social status and economic opportunity”(Hall,1965,p.386).

In the course of that competition, Japan has led the world in educating its people. The statistics are awe-inspiring. 99% of Japanese children attend primary school and the national literacy rate is a little over 98%. Rates for students going on to attend college are rising. These figures help explain why so many students undergo the pressure of “examination hell.”

Although liberals and conservatives have debated the merits of the current educational system, the wisdom of such intense examinations and the importance placed upon them, the realities of the value of the outcome make it unlikely that things will change. From the Meiji Era to the present, there has always been competition to get into the best schools and universities. As more students desire a college education, the competition grows fiercer. The perception that a degree from one of the “best” schools will lead to a good job at one of the “best” corporations remains, and the idea fostered in the Meiji Era that education is the path to the goal also remains. While the “goal” may have changed somewhat from the Meiji Era to the American Occupation to the present, “examination hell” exists as the culmination of the continuing Japanese belief in the value of education.

References

Boyle, John Hunter, (1993). Modern Japan: The American Nexus. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace.

Hall, John Whitney & Beardsley, Richard K. (1965). Twelve Doors to Japan. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lehman, Jean-Pierre. (1982). The Roots of Modern Japan. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Reischauer, Edwin O. (1977). The Japanese. Cambridge, MA: Belknapp Press of Harvard University Press.

Sanson, G.B. (1962). The Western World and Japan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

The copyright of the article The Roots of Education in Japan - Part 2 in Asian History is owned by Maria Christensen. Permission to republish The Roots of Education in Japan - Part 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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