Japan's high schools

Center for Japanese Studies, UC Berkeley

by Thomas P. Rohlen

Looks at five high schools in Japan, analyzes their organization, politics, and instruction techniques, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese educational system.

Genres: Japan, Education, Nonfiction

363 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Mauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this three stars because, despite my urges to go find the author and shake him until his ears rang, it was extremely informative and I hard time putting it down. That said, reader beware: the author seems to go into researching this book with the knowledge that Japanese high school students were out-performing Americans in math and science and hoping to find that American schools were in fact "better," despite this statistic.

In my mind, American schools are typically bad at producing what they want: informed thinkers with a passion for democracy and the greater good. On the other hand, Japanese schools are excellent at producing what they want: adults who are going to go out into the world and serve their purpose. The rub lies in the fact that Americans think that the Japanese crush their childrens' souls in the process and the Japanese laugh at what some of our high schools call "math."

My original intent was to shake the author into a coma, but he mostly redeemed himself with this line, near the end of the book: "If the Japanese suffer from too much standardization and routine, American high schools suffer from lack of focus."

Of course, then his appendix dips into comparing suicide rates with the flux of the school year, so...

[Concrastinator7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author compares American and Japanese high school. It becomes clear that grade school in Japan covers more material than k-16 in America, so that the creme of the American college graduate crop is about the same as the average Japanese high school student. The American summer vacation and a number of other cultural differences are used to explain this, with a succinct gem of a quote mentioned in passing:

"If the Japanese suffer from too much standardization and routine, American high schools suffer from lack of focus."

That this was written almost 30 years ago is frightening given the widespread impression that the case has not changed much.

[Brent Newhall]

You've gotta love a book with a title that perfectly describes its contents.

The author, an American, spent 6-8 weeks each in 5 Japanese high schools that represent a spectrum of academic success, from a top college prep school to a struggling night school. He also handed out surveys to the students and interviewed teachers extensively.

The result is a well-researched examination of the Japanese high school system, both from the inside and outside. It describe the history of the Japanese school system, the perennial struggles between the leftist teachers' union and the conservative Board of Education, and above all, the towering importance of the college entrance exams which shape everything.

Even better, it's written in a comfortable, straightforward style that avoids the extremes of either academic blandness or too-comfortable chattiness.

Fair warning: It's based on a trip in the 1970's and my edition was updated in the early 1980's. Naturally, some of its information is out-of-date, but from what I've read things haven't changed that much.

I also disagree with the author's conclusion, and am disappointed that he swept Japan's teen suicide issue into an appendix where his analysis of the problem was a bit too light to my taste.

That said, the majority of the book is fascinating and provokes thought about different approaches to education.