History of Japan Ancient Japan to 1185

Japanese Educational System

In Japan, higher education starts upon the completion of 12 years of education: elementary education (6 years of elementary school) and secondary education (3 years of lower secondary school and 3 years of upper secondary school). There are 5 types of higher education institutions that international students can be admitted to, which are 1) colleges of technology, 2) vocational schools (postsecondary course of specialized training colleges), 3) junior colleges, 4) universities (undergraduate) and 5) graduate schools. Depending on the founding bodies, these higher education institutions are categorized into three types: national, local public and private

Educational System

*After completing your major at a junior college or college of technology recognized by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE), you can obtain your bachelor's degree if you pass the examination set by the NIAD-UE. Please check for further details from the school you are applying to.

Education in Japan

February 1
Sophia Chawala, Knowledge Analyst, WES

Japan’s economy was once the envy of the world. From the ashes of World War II rose a nation that, in a little over two decades, became the world’s second-largest economy. The Japanese Miracle, a period of rapid economic growth lasting from the post-World War II era to the end of the Cold War, made Japan the global model to emulate in industrial policy, management techniques, and product engineering. The postwar period left no room for the country’s continued reliance on military-industrial production and development. To effect a rapid transformation, Japan had to reimagine and redefine its national image beyond its militaristic and industrial past, which for centuries had been the cornerstone of its economy and national identity.
But by the 1990s, Japan found itself beleaguered, stuck in its worst recession since World War II. Years of rapid economic growth had given way to decline and eventually stagnation. While Japan’s economy has improved marginally since that “Lost Decade,” many of the conditions underlying that decline remain. Others, most notably the growing economic and military threat from China and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, have only grown.
Many analysts attribute Japan’s recent problems, particularly its slowing economy, to the country’s declining birthrates. In the 1970s, with the hyperactive economy causing the cost of living to rise and encouraging young men, and increasingly, women, to focus on their careers, birthrates began to fall. As a result, population growth slowed and eventually declined. According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2019 marked the ninth year in a row of population decline. The population fell that year to 126.2 million, a decrease of 276,000 (0.22 percent) from the previous year. At the same time, improved health care caused life expectancy to rise—Japan’s population today enjoys one of the longest life expectancies in the world—and Japan’s elderly population numbers to swell. Around 28 percent of Japan’s population is over the age of 65, the highest proportion of that age cohort of all the countries in the world.