It is always the case in public schools and universities. Students have to take entrance examination for junior high school, high school and university, if they change institution. These are Japanese language, social studies, arithmetic, science, life and environmental studies, music, arts and handicrafts, homemaking, and physical education. There are 9 regular subjects in Japanese elementary schools. There are officially 35 weeks of schooling a year. Pupils go go school on Saturday mornings till 12:30 twice a month. From junior high school, lessons last 50min. In elementary schoolessons last 45min with a 10min break between them. School usually starts at 8:30am and finishes at 3:50pm. These 'academic juku' are further divided in 'review juku' ('hoshuu juku' 補習塾) and 'advancement juku' ('shingaku juku' 進学塾), the latter preparing for the entrance exams (see below).

These are divided in 'enrichment juku', attended by over 75% of elementary school and 25% of junior high school students, and 'academic juku' teaching the same curriculum as ordinary schools. The most famous are the 'juku' or cram schools. Japan also has a 'shadow education' which consist of home-tutors, 'juku', prep schools, correspondence courses, etc. In 2002, private school attendance was 79% for kindergartens, 0,9% for elementary schools, 4% for junior high schools, 29% for highschools, 91% for junior colleges and 76% for universities ( click here for detailed figures). Most elementary and junior high schools in Japan are public, while most kindergartens, colleges and universities are private. None of them are free, but public schools are considerably cheaper than private ones. Japan has both private and public schools and universities. The proportion of male students is higher at universities, while the opposite is true of junior colleges. It consists of 6 years of elementary school ('shougakkou' 小学校), 3 years of junior high school ('chugakkou' 中学校), 3 years of high school ('koukou' 高校), and either 2 years of junior college ('tankadaigaku' 単科大学 or 'karejji' カレッジ) or 4 years of university ('daigaku' 大学).Įducation is compulsory until 15, but 90% of the people complete high school and 40% graduate from university or college. The Japanese education system has it exist now was established by the Americans, based on their own system, after WWII. Women were granted access to private and public universities. More universities were founded and the name 'Imperial' removed from existing elitist ones such as Tokyo (Imperial) University and Kyōto (Imperial) University. Japanese people now had to go to school until the age of 15 (end of middle school), which hasn't changed to this day. In 1947, added 3 years to compulsory education. The American occupation forces made the Japanese authorities change the textbooks promoting nationalism, loyalty to the emperor as well as war propaganda, by teachings of peace and democracy. and adapted the curriculum to emphasize the importance of the emperor and nationalism.

In 1907, the Ministry of Education extended compulsory education to 6 years instead of 4. A portrait of the emperor was also to be enshrined in every school in Japan. In 1890, the Imperial Rescript on Education formalised these conservative values. The curriculum had a moralistic approach and promoted Confucian ideals of loyalty to the state, filial piety, obedience and friendship. The Meiji education system quickly became state-centered. Nevertheless, in 1899, the government required all prefectures to have at least one high school for girls. Only a small minority made it as far as high school. In 1905, school attendance for school-age children had reached 98% boys 93% for girls, and about 10% of the eligible population continued to middle school. However, school attendance did not exceed 25 to 50% in the first decade of the new system. In the same year, the authorities declared 4 years of elementary education to be compulsory for all boys and girls, nationwide. Primary, secondary schools and universities were established in 1872.

The Meiji government immediately instituted a new education system based on the French, German and American models. Prior to the Meiji era (1868-1912), education was the prerogative of the rich and was not regulated by the government. The second reason is that the United States imposed its own education system on Japan during the post-war occupation. The first one is that in the late 19th century Japan completely re-modelled its education system on that of Western powers as part of the radical reforms brought by the Meiji Restoration. The present Japanese education system is very similar to that of Western countries for two reasons.

Japan schooling system