Education In Japan Compared To Education In America

Education is the foundation of a strong and productive individual as well as being the foundation for a strong and productive country. Any country that keeps its' people uneducated or does not help to educate them cannot hold them entirely responsible for their actions that result from their lack of education. The United States and Japan both feel very strongly about education and that they need to have well educated people. Both of these countries have educational systems that are similar in some ways and yet very different in other ways. Both the similarities and the differences of these two systems give light to how each of these countries go about educating its' people and how much each of these countries value education.


The educational system in Japan has not always been the way it is today. In fact it went through the very drastic changes in the end of the eighteen hundreds and then again in middle of the nineteen hundreds; right after World War II. The Meiji government was the first imperial government and it came into power in 1868. This government had a relatively nonrestrictive textbook policy. Then in 1872 it passed the School System Law, but it still did not include a Textbook Compilation Bureau. In the 1880's, there was a surging of nationalistic sentiment among Confucian scholars and this group was led by Motoda (1818-91). Due to this feeling sweeping the country, Mori Arinori (1847-89) became Education Minister and under his leadership state control on what was taught and what was in textbooks tightened. Then there was the Imperial Rescript on Education of 1890. This document had three themes: that the foundation of the nation is Confucian Values, that the role of education is perfecting "˜moral powers', and that the duty of the subjects is to respect the national polity headed by the emperor. In 1903 the government instated the national textbook system which compiled all pre-collegiate textbooks. The history books made during this period were super nationalistic and described the imperial family as direct descendants of God.

During the pre-war education period, the curriculums showed how nationalistic one country's schools could become. In addition, the fact that during the pre-war period elementary school (grades 1-6) was the only compulsory and free schooling in Japan. This shows that at the time school was not there for the purpose of enlightenment, but for creating machines. The curriculum for elementary school consisted of citizenship (morals, Japanese language, Japanese history and geography), science (science and arithmetic), physical training (physical education and the martial sports of Judo and Kendo) and the arts (drawing, calligraphy and handicrafts). During the higher levels of elementary school, domestic science was added for girls.

After a child goes through this level of education, it was very difficult to move on in school, especially for girls because they were rarely let into male middle schools. Another thing that hindered children making it further in school was that it was no longer free at the middle school level. In fact, only about ten percent of the males that graduated elementary school made it into middle school (grades 7-11) and only eight percent of girls went on. Most of those that did not pass the exam to get into middle school were sent to technical school. The curriculum at the male middle schools furthered the mind bending and machine making. The curriculum extended all things that were studied in elementary school and added Chinese Classics, practical work (woodworking, gardening, etc.) and above all; military training. This military training included drills, target practice, how to handle grenades, and machine gun usage. The military training received in school is similar to a washed down version of American boot camp. The female middle school was there for the purpose of "necessary and cultural education for girls, with special emphasis on national morality."-A, p.47. The middle school that girls attended seems to be very similar to the finishing school that a girl can attend in America. These schools were very demanding and pushed the children very hard. Along with the help of parents, who generally pushed their children harder than the schools, many kids buckled under the pressure, some even committed suicide. Past these middle schools were Universities. These Universities were even more selective than the middle schools. Although they were all private the government still wrote all textbooks and lesson plans.

When one looks back at the late eighteen hundreds to the mid nineteen hundreds of education in America one finds that there is really blemish after blemish. Americans were not educating to make machines like the Japanese, but we were educating only those who we felt deserved an education. The Japanese did not discriminate by skin color like was done in the Americas. The Japanese system was actually fixed before the system in the Americas, where minorities didn't even get the chance for a good education until 1954 with the court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. There was one thing that was done in America that is much better than was done in Japan during the period. All school through the twelfth grade in the Americas was compulsory and free. The curriculum was much the same without the morals courses, and specialized gym and art classes. The same goes for the higher level classes. The other major thing that will change in the educational system in America is that in this pre-war era the teachers were allowed to discipline the children to point. This declined some and was almost gone by the end of the era, but not completely.

The post-war era in Japan brought about a lot of changes, most of which were at first pusher upon them by the Americans that were now occupying the country. There was a series of legislation that was put into effect to help to rectify the nationalistic feelings that ran through all textbooks and teachings. The first of these was ""¦ American-imposed, liberal constitution, which, promulgated on November 3, 1946 and taking force on May 3, 1947, established a democratic system of government of the ruins of a failed militarism. Unlike the American Constitution, there are specific references to education in the Japanese document. Fr example, all forms of discrimination- including gender discrimination- are outlawed and academic freedom is guaranteed." (B, p.119) The second piece of legislation governing postwar education was the School Education Law. This law was passed on March 29, 1947 and set up a 6-3-3-4 education ladder; six years in elementary, three years in lower secondary, three years in higher secondary, and four years in a university. Also it raised the age of compulsory attendance from twelve to fifteen years old to ensure at least finishing lower secondary. Then there was a third piece of legislation called the Fundamental Law of Education, which passed on March 31, 1947. This law said "Education shall aim at the full development of personality, striving for the rearing f the people, sound in mind and body, who shall love truth and justice, esteem individual value, respect labor and have a deep sense of responsibility, and be imbued with the independent spirit, as builders of a peaceful state and society." (B, p. 119-120) These laws that passed went along with more provisions and provided for 9 years of free compulsory schooling, a respect for academic freedom and equal opportunity for all. Also the promotion of a broad social education by the establishment of libraries, museums, etc. and partisan political activity and the teaching of religion in publicly supported schools is prohibited.

All of this legislation led to a new kind of teaching, a new kind of learning, and a new kind of citizen. This new kind of education system included many new things and abolished some of the old traditions, like military training in school. This is when kindergartens started popping up and used by many citizens. The kindergartens in Japan are non-compulsory and not free, but the amount paid is determined by income of the family. The funding for the rest of the schooling of a child depends on the grade at which that child is. Elementary school and lower secondary is funded by the national government. The other schools that are national get some funding from the national government and private institutions at the higher levels do not get any funding from government. There are also school boards now that asses the schools and help to pick curriculum that is now taught.

The education system as it sits today in America is adequate at best. In some areas of the country education is better than it has ever been and then in other areas it is fading into the recesses of peoples' minds. The classes are overflowing just as they do in Japan. There is one thing that Japan really does have working for them though. In Japan, the same things are taught to the students at the same time all across the country. This seems to make it easier to test the children and see where improvement is needed. The funding of the schools in America works much like the system set up in Japan. The differences are in how much of the schooling is funded by the government. In America much of the funding for schools comes from the states, just like it comes from the national government in Japan. Nevertheless, as we all know, there is much more schooling that is compulsory and free here in America. Private schools in America, like in Japan, receive no public funding.

Although there are many similarities and differences between the educational systems of Japan and America, it is hard to declare that one is better than the other. The Japanese put the children on a path that seems to fit their abilities, Americans let the children and their parents decide what is the best path. Both of these things are good and bad. The system that is used in America shows that in America a well-rounded person with a well-rounded education is what is desired. While in Japan it still appears that they are trying to educate their people into machines of a skill. Both countries put much value in education and have just decided to educate their people in different ways; ways that pander to the results they want.