Japan’s College Entrance Exams
Bryan Ding
Carnegie Mellon University - Japanese Studies
Abstract: In Japan, the journey to admission at most universities require entrance exams for each particular institution. Unlike the use of grade point averages and test scores used in Western countries as a measure of eligibility, Japan focuses heavily on entrance exams to determine their enrollment rates. This essay explores the Japanese mindset of these exams and how much they prepare for them. As well, interviews with Japanese people regarding Japan's education system are explored to determine whether or not the Japanese are satisfied with this system. By weaving these two areas together, traditional cultural values and beliefs in Japan are finally explored to determine the presence of recent social changes within the country.
I. Introduction
In Japan, the journey to admission at most universities require entrance exams for each particular institution. Unlike the usage of grade point averages and test scores used in Western countries as a measure of eligibility, Japan focuses heavily on entrance exams to determine their enrollment rates. However, how much do these entrance exams truly weigh on these students? As someone who was born and raised in the United States, I certainly felt the pressure to succeed academically, but because Japan follows a different system, I am very interested in seeing their mindsets toward education and universities.
The annual university entrance examination season is one of the most stressful seasons for students. During this time, examinees compete against one another to get into the best schools to ensure the best career opportunities. In fact, this period is often known as “examination hell” to many people (Kamiya. S. (2009)). Entrance exams for most universities receive the most attention, but for those who wish to win a place at one of the top tier institutions, like the University of Tokyo or Kyoto University, it is better to attend a high school known for preparing students successfully for these exams. This means passing a competitive high school entrance exam. Furthermore, at the compulsory education stage covering the first nine grades, some students may even take examinations to enter private junior high schools rather than receive public education free of charge. Given the importance of the tests, many students attend “cram schools” for extra study in addition to doing their usual schoolwork. With classes beginning in the afternoon after school lets out and continuing late into the evening, these schools provide additional instruction to give learners an edge in the exams they face.
Throughout this project, I want to research the importance of these entrance exams and how they shape students in Japan. My working hypothesis is that due to the rigorous nature of the Japanese entrance exams, Japanese people are considered to be more hardworking than Americans and are more committed to their roles in society.
II. Method
One source of method I used was using the results of Japanese interviews on YouTube. In a street interview with Japanese students and young adults, many were asked about their study habits and their own entrance exams. This video was published on September 17th, 2016, making it fairly relevant. Another source I used was the YouTube video, “Is The Japanese Education System Failing? | ASIAN BOSS”, which is similar to the first video, but instead surveys Japanese people on their current thoughts on the Japanese education system. This video was published on May 24th, 2017, making it fairly relevant as well.
From the YouTube video, “How HARD do Japanese REALLY study?! Ask Japanese about their entrance exams”, 9 people were street interviewed about how many hours they would study for high school/university entrance exams. Some were asked about how they felt about Japan’s education. I then analyzed the data by recording how many hours each respondent said they spent while studying for the entrance exams, as well as whether or not they reported going to cram school. From this, I was able to deduce the average number of hours that Japanese students seem to be spending while preparing for these entrance exams, as well as their perspectives on cram school (Ask Japanese, 2016).
From the YouTube video, “Is The Japanese Education System Failing? | ASIAN BOSS”, Japanese citizens were interviewed on their current perspectives on the education system and whether or not they were happy with this system. I reviewed each question asked by the interviewer and at the responses made by the people to see if there were any common sentiments shared via respondents. This video was instrumental in my data analysis because it highlights how ordinary Japanese people feel about the Japanese education system, and what are the common struggles that they shared since primary school. I believe it is this common upbringing that is shared across Japanese people that ultimately contributes to their mindset towards entrance exams (Asian Boss, 2017).
III. Results
From the YouTube video, “How HARD do Japanese REALLY study?! Ask Japanese about their entrance exams”, I was able to collect a range of responses from people regarding how much they studied for entrance exams. Of the 9 respondents, 4 specifically stated that they attended cram school, with 2 of them spending over 10 hours studying right before an entrance exam. Other responses varied from 2-3 hours a day to as far as 12 hours a day. The results were fruitful for some: the student who studied for 10 hours a day with cram school managed to get into his top choices for his high school and his university. This highlights the key question that I asked before, which is “how much do these entrance exams truly weigh on these students?” We can see that most students spend a lot of time preparing, with many going to cram school to excel ahead. This shows that to the average Japanese, these entrance exams still weigh heavily on their minds.
From the YouTube video, “Is The Japanese Education System Failing? | ASIAN BOSS”, a series of questions were asked to several Japanese citizens. When asked “What was Japanese primary school like?”, one person responded, “You had to follow the rules, no matter how you felt about them. For example, we couldn't ever use sharp pens. Not even the teacher knew when I asked them, but we had to follow it because it was the rule. That’s how even if we found a particular rule strange, we wouldn’t question it.” Another question asked was, “Originally, ‘Relaxed Education (yutori kyōiku) had a lot of commonalities to the Finnish system. But in Japan, this initiative resulted in the lowering of academic scores. Why did Japan fail whereas Finnish succeeded?”, to which a respondent said “Parents were worried that public schools wouldn’t provide enough study time, so they would put their kids into private schools that made them study more. This meant the gap between private and public schools grew wider.” Finally, one person asked, “Do Japanese parents think it is important for their kids to be happy at school?”, and one person responded with, “In Asia, even in Japan, parents often tell their children that, ‘You’re not good enough.’ Many parents think like this when talking to their children. For example, ‘Why did you get only 90 out of 100?’ I always hear that. If I were to get 99 out of 100, it would be about why I didn’t get the last mark.”
From the results, we see that there is fairly common mindset among Japanese people. Many would adhere to rules and regulations without questions and many would agree that their parents strong value education to the point where they are less likely to congratulate their children on their success and instead focus in on where they are lacking. Furthermore, as asked by one of the interviewers, the concept of yutori kyōiku in Japan is very similar to the system in Finnish schools. However, Japan could not achieve the same level of academic success that Finland could due to their differing philosophies and mindsets regarding education. The Japanese education system exacts a large amount of dedication and studying from the students, so having a “relaxed” education system serves as the antithesis to traditional Japanese values. Furthermore, we can see that most Japanese students abide closely to this standard, without ever questioning the rules. I would conclude that Japanese people thus follow a stricter education system than the United States does.
IV. Discussions
There are many traditional values and beliefs reflected via Japan’s entrance exams. Two of the most important ones are that of bun and role perfection. Japanese people value the idea of bun because they see it as their role and way of contributing to society. Furthermore, their quality of work reflects on their bun and everyone else who shares that title. This drives each one of them to succeed individually so that they not only achieve success for themselves, but also for other students. This ties in with the idea of role perfection, because within your bun you want to do the best possible job you can. You want to maintain status and not bring shame to your group.
My findings reflect recent social changes, such as the norm of going to cram schools and the discarded mindset of yutori kyōiku. Students in Japan are becoming more self-driven to succeed and as a result, cram school has become the norm for many. These students wish to please not only their parents, but themselves, as well as everyone else who shares their same status as students. This reflects the idea of bun in society. Furthermore, many people now reject the idea of a relaxed education system because they see it insufficient to provide them the resources needed to succeed.
References
Kamiya. S. (2009) 'Exam hell' now not so hot. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/01/20/reference/exam-hell-now-not-so-hot/#.XGrtLM9Kg1I
Ask Japanese. (2016) “How HARD do Japanese REALLY study?! Ask Japanese about their entrance exams”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULqsj4_5syI
Asian Boss. (2017) “Is The Japanese Education System Failing? | ASIAN BOSS” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npiFxpML4Zo