Japan

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Education

The educational system of Japan is highly developed. The literacy rate, consequently, is 99 per cent for the entire nation. English, as a chief language for foreign contacts, is a required course of study in secondary schools.

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1

History

The early history of Japanese education was profoundly affected by the Chinese. From the Chinese, the Japanese acquired new crafts and, most important, a system of writing. The acquisition of writing cannot be precisely dated, but by about ad 400 Korean scribes were using Chinese ideographs for official records at the Japanese imperial courts. Education in ancient Japan, however, was more aristocratic than in the Chinese system, with noble families maintaining their own private schooling facilities. During the medieval military-feudal period, Buddhist temples assumed much responsibility for education. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, which dominated the country from 1600, educational facilities spread to create one of the most literate of all pre-modern societies.

With the onset of the rule of Emperor Meiji and the so-called Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan underwent a radical transformation in education as well as in social and economic matters. A ministry of education was created in 1872, and in the same year a comprehensive educational code that included universal primary education was formulated. The government sent educational missions to Europe and America to learn new educational approaches; it also invited foreign educators to carry on educational programmes and initiate changes in Japanese schools. In 1877, during this period of innovation, the University of Tokyo was founded. As a result of these reforms, Japan emerged as a modern nation with a full educational system that was in line with much of Western practice.

The defeat of Japan in World War II resulted in educational changes, many of which were recommended in 1946 by a US educational mission; some of these changes were discontinued when Japan regained sovereign status as a nation in 1952. The teaching of nationalistic ideology was banned, greater emphasis was placed on social studies, and classroom procedures were redesigned to encourage self-expression.

Education in Japan is centralized under the Ministry of Education. Its school system operates under the Fundamental Law of Education of 1947 and subsequent legislation and enables all students to compete for admission to institutions of higher education. One of the continuing problems facing Japanese educators is the teaching of the complex Japanese language, which combines several scripts. In 1995, 4.7 per cent of the state budget was spent on education.

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Elementary and Secondary Schools

Education is free and compulsory for nine years—that is, six of elementary school and three of junior high school. Beyond the junior high school level, education is optional, and a small tuition fee is charged, even in public senior high schools and public institutions of higher learning. In 1997–1998 Japan had about 24,376 primary schools attended by some 7.39 million pupils and, in 1995, about 16,775 secondary schools with about 9.3 million pupils. Primary school teachers numbered about 362,605 (1996), and there were some 552,137 (1995) secondary school teachers. Technical, commercial, and vocational schools are also maintained, as are schools for the physically disabled. Private tutorial colleges are a widespread and popular adjunct to the fiercely competitive educational system.

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Universities and Colleges

Japan has about 60 national (formerly called imperial) universities and many private universities. Among the biggest national universities are Chiba University (1949); Hiroshima University (1949); Hokkaido University (1876) at Sapporo; Kōbe University (1949); Kyoto University (1897); Kyushu University (1911) at Fukuoka; Nagoya University (1939); Okayama University (1949); Osaka University (1931); Tohoku University (1907) at Sendai; the University of Tokyo (1877); and the University of Tsukuba (1973). Major private institutions include Hosei University (1880), Nihon University (1889), and Waseda University (1882), in Tokyo; Doshisha University (1875) in Kyoto; Fukuoka University (1934); and Kansai University (1886) in Osaka. In 1995, institutions of higher education in Japan had a combined enrolment of over 2.5 million students.

G

Culture

Japanese culture derives from the early contacts of the islands with the civilizations of China and Korea. Classic influences of ancient China are found pre-eminently in the Japanese language, which makes considerable use of Chinese characters and loanwords, but also in Japanese literature, Japanese art, and Japanese music. Religion, especially Buddhism, has played an important role in the cultural life of Japan, especially in early Japanese drama. Western influences, which began in earnest during the 19th century, exist side by side and often intermingle with the traditions and stylized forms of Japanese culture.

Tokyo outranks all other Japanese cities in the number of its important libraries. Among the most important are the National Diet Library, an international book exchange and information centre of Japan. It has seven departments, and its combined collection exceeds 9.4 million volumes. The Cabinet Library in Tokyo contains about 549,000 volumes. Among the important university collections in Tokyo are those at the University of Tokyo Library with more than 6 million volumes, Meiji University Library with about 1.1 million volumes, and Nihon University Library with some 4.2 million volumes. Major collections are also housed in the libraries of the provinces. The Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library contains more than 838,000 volumes, and Kōbe City Library has more than 240,000 volumes. Important university libraries are located throughout the country.

The museums of Japan, with the exception of several modern galleries in the large cities, represent treasure halls, usually found in temples and shrines, or private family and company collections. Among the most famous of these is the Myohoin Temple in Kyoto. Tokyo contains several important museums and art galleries. The largest art museum in Japan is the Tokyo National Museum. Major specialized collections in Tokyo are in the Calligraphy Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, the Meiji Shrine Treasure Museum, and the Japanese Folk Art Museum. Important museum collections are found in virtually every major city.