This document provides information about the education system in Japan. It discusses the history of education in Japan from the introduction of Chinese learning in the 6th century through periods of influence from China and Europe. It also describes the current K-12 system with 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of junior high, and 3 years of high school. The administration of schools is outlined from the national Ministry of Education down to local boards. Requirements for teacher certification and types of certificates are presented. Finally, some issues with the system are raised such as lack of competition and individual differences.

2. Important
Facts
Japan
 日本国
 Nippon-koku
 Nihon-koku
Anthem:
 "Kimigayo"
 "君が代"
MENU
0:00
Capital
Tokyo
35°41′N 139°46′
E
Official
languages
None[1]
Recognised
Regional
languages
 Aynu itak
 Ryukyuan
languages
 Eastern
Japanese
 Western
Japanese
 several
other Japanese
dialects
National
language
Japanese
Ethnic group
s(2011[2])
 98.5% Ja
panese
Religion
 Shinto
 Buddhism
 Minor religion
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Sikhism
Japan Population 2014
126,757,591
Land Area
378, 000 square km

3. Basic History of
EducationThe history of education in Japan dates back at
least to the sixth century, when Chinese learning was
introduced at theYamato court. Foreign civilizations
have often provided new ideas for the development of
Japan's own culture. Chinese teachings and ideas flowed
into Japan from the sixth to the ninth century. Along
with the introduction of Buddhism came the Chinese
system of writing and itsliterary tradition,
and Confucianism.

4. Basic History of
EducationIn the Edo period, the Yushima Seidō in Edo was
the chief educational institution of the state; and at its
head was theDaigaku-no-kami, a title which identified
the leader of the Tokugawa training school for
shogunate bureaucrats.
Under the Tokugawa shogunate,
the daimyō vied for power in the largely pacified
country. Since their influence could not be raised
through war, they competed on the economic field.

5. Basic History of
EducationTheir warrior-turned-bureaucrat
Samurai elite had to be educated not only in
military strategy and the martial arts, but
also agriculture and accounting. Likewise,
the wealthy merchant class needed
education for their daily business, and their
wealth allowed them to be patrons of arts
and science.

6. Basic History of
EducationBut temple schools (terakoya) educated peasants
too, and it is estimated that at the end of the Edo
period 50% of the male and 20% of the female
population possessed some degree of literacy.
Even though contact with foreign countries was
restricted, books from China and Europe were
eagerly imported and Rangaku ("Dutch studies")
became a popular area of scholarly interest.

7. Basic History of
EducationMeiji Restoration
After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the methods and
structures of Western learning were adopted as a means to
make Japan a strong, modern nation. Students and even high-
ranking government officials were sent abroad to study, such as
the Iwakura mission. Foreign scholars, the so-called o-yatoi
gaikokujin, were invited to teach at newly founded universities
and military academies. Compulsory education was introduced,
mainly after the Prussian model. By 1890, only 20 years after the
resumption of full international relations, Japan discontinued
employment of the foreign consultants.

8. Basic History of
EducationPost-WWII
After the defeat in World War II, the allied
occupation government set an education reform as one of its
primary goals, to eradicate militarist teachings and "democratize"
Japan. The education system was rebuilt after the American model.
The end of the 1960s was a time of student protests around the
world, and also in Japan. The main subject of protest was the Japan-
U.S. security treaty. A number of reforms were carried out in the
post-war period until today. They aimed at easing the burden of
entrance examinations, promoting internationalisation and
information technologies, diversifying education and supporting
lifelong learning.

9. Basic History of
EducationPost-WWII
In successive international tests of
mathematics, Japanese children consistently rank
at or near the top (see TIMSS).[6] The Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology (MEXT) is responsible for educational
administration. Students' academic skills, however,
may have declined since the mid-1990s

10. Educational
Ladder
The school year in Japan begins in April
and classes are held from Monday to either
Friday or Saturday, depending on the school.
The school year consists of two or three
terms, which are separated by short holidays
in spring and winter, and a six week long
summer break.

11. Educational
Ladder
• 6-3-3-4 system:
•6 years of elementary school
•3 years of junior high school
•3 years of senior high school
•4 years at the university
•Japan has 0% literacy
•It is based on age, grade and available educational
facilities.

12. Educational
LadderAge Grade Educational establishments
3–4
Pre - school/Kindergarten
Special
school
4–5
5–6
6–7 1
Elementary school
Compulsory Education
7–8 2
8–9 3
9–10 4
10–11 5
11–12 6

13. Educational
LadderAge Grade Educational establishments
12–13 7 Junior high school / Lower secondary
school
Compulsory Education
13–14 8
14–15 9
15–16 10
High school / Upper
secondary school
College
of
technol
ogy
16–17 11
17–18 12

14. Age Grade Educational establishments
18–19
University: U
ndergraduat
e
National
Academy
Medical
School
Veterinary
school
Dentistry
School
Pharmaceutic
al School
National
Defense
Medical
College
Community
College
Vocational
School
Educational
Ladder
19–20 Associate
20–21
21–22 Bachelor

15. 22–23
Gradua
te
School:
Master
National
Academ
y:
Master
23–24 Master
24–25
Gradu
ate
School
: Ph.D
National
Defense
Academy
: Ph.D
)
Medical
School: Ph.D
Veterinary
School: Ph.D
Dentistry
School: Ph.D
Pharmaceuti
cal School:
Ph.D
25–26
26–27 Ph.D
27–28 Ph.D
Age Grade Educational establishments
Educational
Ladder

16. Administration of the School
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology (often shortened to Ministry of Education,
MEXT) represents the central educational authority in Japan.
It is headed by the minister of education, who is appointed
by the prime minister and serves on the prime minister's
cabinet. The Ministry oversees many national institutions
such as universities, museums, research institutes, and youth
centers. It gives assistance to all levels of education
throughout the country, especially at the municipal and
prefecture level. Following are some of the specific
responsibilities of the Ministry:

17. Administration of the School
· Plans and coordinates educational projects at all levels
· Provides advice upon request from educational units
around the country
· Gives financial assistance to enhance education
· Operates many educational institutions including
universities, junior colleges, and technical colleges
· Gives final approval for establishing public and private
higher education institutions
· Promotes lifelong learning throughout the country, because
Japan has been making the cultural shift to this sort of
system.

18. Administration of the School
· Requires heads of municipal and prefecture
governments to submit reports about their
organizations, as deemed necessary
· Orders local authorities to make adjustments in
policies, procedures, or situations that may be in
violation of regulations or laws
· Oversees the curricula
· Coordinates the selection of textbooks
· Controls the programs for the training of teachers
· Establishes standards for various types of equipment used
in the schools

19. Administration of the School
Japan is composed of 47 prefectures. Every prefecture has a
board of education that coordinates education in that
geographic unit. Each board comprises five members who
are appointed by that prefecture's governor, approved by
the legislative assembly, and serve for a four-year term.
Some of the main responsibilities of the board are as
follows:
Manage the wide variety of educational units in the
prefecture, from secondary schools and schools for the
handicapped to museums and public libraries

20. Administration of the School
Promote events and activities related to physical
education and the social education of youth
Provide advice and financial assistance to the
mayors and municipal boards within the
prefecture
Establish or close down kindergartens, upper
secondary schools, special education schools,
special training schools, and miscellaneous
schools
Issue certificates to teachers

21. Administration of the School
Education administration at the municipal level is handled by a
municipal board of education. Each board includes five members
selected by the mayor of the municipality with the agreement of
the elected assembly. Holding office for four years, these board
members have the following responsibilities: selecting a
municipal superintendent of education from among its own
membership, managing a variety of educational institutions in the
municipality, promoting cultural activities, and selecting textbooks
for elementary and middle schools. Then the municipal mayor has
the responsibility to oversee the municipal universities and junior
colleges and the process of preparing educational budgets.

22. Administration of the School
Finance
Three main entities share financial
responsibility for supporting public
education: the national, prefectural, and
municipal governments. Through the use of
taxes and other means of acquiring income,
each of these units funds a diverse array of
educational programs at its level

23. Administration of the School
At the national level, the Ministry for Education funds two
main units:
1. national educational establishments, such as
universities
2. various public and private educational institutions
at the prefecture and municipal level.
Significant level of financial support - provided to private
institutions by the national government

24. Teacher
PreparationTeachers for kindergarten schools are always
trained in the teacher training Institutions while the
secondary school teachers are also trained in the
Universities. In the same vein, teachers for the
Japanese higher institutions are equally trained in the
Universities. It should be noted that before a person
can be appointed to teach in any public tertiary
institution, such a person is expected to have a
minimum of Masters degree in the area where he
wants to teach.

25. Teacher
PreparationA different teaching certificate earned through
these university and college training courses is
required for teaching at each level of schooling, such
as kindergarten, primary school, lower secondary
school, upper secondary school, and special needs
education Laws and regulations have established the
minimum number of credits that a person must
acquire in the teacher training courses at universities,
graduate schools, and junior colleges.

26. Teacher
Preparation
Three Types of Teaching
Certificate
Regular Teaching Certificate
Special Teaching Certificate
Temporary Teaching Certificate

27. Programs & Projects
to Education
Building International Research Networks
・Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits Program for
Accelerating Brain Circulation
This program works to foster excellent young Japanese researchers who
will become the nucleus of scientific networks that transcend
conventional brain gain and drain in circulating talent internationally. It
does this by supporting activities carried out by Japanese universities to
dispatched, as part of a strategy to internationalize their research
organizations, young researchers engaged in world-level international
joint research, expanding their opportunities to challenge diverse issues.
（As a rule, research dispatches are for one year or longer.）

28. Programs & Projects
to Education
Teaching East Asia: Japan has been providing
services to K-12 teachers and schools since
1985 through its summer institutes, study
tours, one-day workshops, and special
projects.

29. Programs & Projects
to Education
STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Connect with fellow students and future
leaders from the United States and Japan Ten
selected high school students live with a host family
and attend a high school in the Tokyo metropolitan
area for approximately three weeks. Junior Fellows
are selected based on their future leadership
potential and demonstrated qualities necessary to a
successful exchange

30. Programs & Projects
to Education
Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for ESD
Jointly funded by the governments of Japan and the
United States, this program is designed to introduce
innovative Japanese and U.S. K-12 educators to each others
cultures and education systems and to enhance ESD-related
curricula in both countries. The program aims to raise
awareness of ESD-oriented school programs and deepen a
sense of global interconnectedness between teachers in
Japan and the U.S. in four vital areas of ESD focus: food and
sustainable nutrition; environment; energy and resources;
and international understanding and cooperation.

31. Programs & Projects
to Education
Educational Grants
- supports teachers training curriculum
development and community outreach
program efforts addressing the needs of K –
12 students, teachers and the larger
community.

32. Issues and Problems
1. The lack of competition among educational suppliers
Students have different characters, and
accordingly, educational theories must be diverse.
Therefore, many educational curricula should be
tried in a competitive manner. However, there is no
such thing in Japan. The diversity of school books
and other materials is limited, and there is little
room for developing new educational materials and
methods. Japanese education is far from vital.

33. Issues and Problems
2. The risk of the nationally unified education
Since a government agency decides
educational content, if the agency makes a
mistake, all schools are forced to go along with it.
Such a risk can be avoided if the power to decide
educational content is transferred to local
governments or private schools. A new
education system can be tried locally and then
spread, before the Ministry of Education makes a
nationwide decision. This would be both more
natural and desirable.

34. Issues and Problems
3. Japanese education rejects individual differences
The students who achieved excellent results in
a subject can frequently progress faster or proceed to
the next grade in the United States. The absence of a
national curriculum allows such flexibility. In situation
such as in Japan where educational curricula are fixed
by a national curriculum, a student permitted to
proceed faster must be considered as favorable
discrimination. No educational theory nor
educational psychology argues that every child at
each grade develops at the same speed.

35. Issues and Problems
4. The contradiction that any educational efforts not approved by the Ministry
of Education are essentially useless
The Ministry of Education decides educational content in Japan. In other words,
any educational efforts not approved by the Ministry are essentially useless. In
the current system, doing only what is approved by the Ministry and cutting out
(as much as possible) what is not approved is the most effective way to enter a
famous university. Community and volunteer activities, home education, and
learning styles are all useless. This is the largest contradiction in Japanese
education. The definition of education is wider in the United States because the
federal government does not decide the content of education. Experience in the
real world, such as part-time jobs and social activities, are included in education.
American high schools permit part-time jobs, while many Japanese high schools
do not. Such differences result from the different definitions of education.
It is a considerable problem that the Ministry of Education has the power to
develop or eliminate specific sets of values.

36. Thank You...