Japanese Culture and Society Essay

Japan is country having a strong economic power, and good income levels and the citizen’s standard of living are one of the highest in the world. Japan’s fruitful economy is a result of fine consumer goods exports which were developed with the latest technologies that Japan has to offer. Another factor which made Japan rise would be its well-rounded culture. One of the noticeable factors of Japan’s culture would be its education. Education is a stabilizing factor in a person’s life and a country. Education is one important factor in creating a strong country. The adult literacy rate in Japan is exceeding 99 percent which makes Japan to be one of the top nations in the whole world in terms of educational achievement. School education in Japan begins before grade one in preschool. It is free and a compulsory need for elementary and junior high school education. In Japan, more than 99 percent of elementary school-aged children are going to their respective school which is an astonishing statistic for a nation. Their high school are composed of two divisions which are junior and senior high school which is composed of three years each. An estimate of one third of the senior high school students continues their education to college. Their admission to different high schools and university are based on difficult entrance exams. There is much competition in getting a high position in the entrance exams because most of Japan’s well paying jobs admit employees of the graduates of high quality universities. Approximately, 1 percent of elementary schools and 5 percent of junior high schools are private establishments or are not owned by the government. An estimated of 25 percent of high schools are privately owned. There are no biases between public and private schools in Japan, entrances to elite universities are not based on the status of a student’s school. In the year 1998, it was evident that there were 604 four-year college universities and 588 two-year junior colleges were in Japan. Some of the elite and prominent universities in Japan include the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Keio University in Tokyo. The early beginnings of education in Japan were sourced in the ideas and teachings from ancient China. In the 16th and 17th centuries, European travellers also affected the Japanese school education. From the years1640 to 1868, during Japan’s era of separation under the Tokugawa shoguns, Buddhist temple called terakoya served as the schools of the country. The temples took accountability for the country’s education and made astounding developments in raising the literacy levels among the population of the country. In the year 1867, it was assumed that there were more than 14,000 temple schools all over Japan. In the year 1872, the new Meiji regime created a ministry of education and a thorough educational code that integrated widespread primary education. During this period, Japan looked at other nations such as Europe and North America for effective educational models. As the Japanese regime expanded during the late 1930s and early 1940s, education of the country became a factor for nationalistic and militaristic needs. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the educational system of the country was refurbished because of some concerns. Changes incorporated the current grade structure that states that the elementary school is six years and junior and senior high school are composed of 3 years each; there was also the implementation of a guarantee of equal access to free, public education. The changes included a finish to the teaching of nationalistic ideology. Reforms also sought to encourage students’ self-expression and increase flexibility in curriculum and classroom procedures. Nonetheless some critics still deem that education in Japan is extensively rigorous, preferring memorization of facts at the outlay of imaginative expression, and geared to encouraging social conventionality. Education in Japan is taken seriously and is a big attribute to the development of the country. Education is shown as factor in a youth’s life, it a vital block to a Japanese citizen’s structure and identity. Japan, as of any country, has its own social problems, this includes youth deviance. In Japan, there are also youth problems such as young people smoking, drinking alcohol, reading pornographic magazines and staying out late. These activities in some other countries are now accepted as ordinary youth culture. But one of the data radically shows that youths that participate in these appalling youth culture are mostly participated by lower high school students. (Yoder) The higher high school students do not involve themselves in these said youth culture unlike the lower high school students. (Yoder) Higher high school students spend most of their time in schooling. There are more occupied with academic and non academic matters such as aiming for high grades to get to an elite university and honing their skills in different sports and talents. It is a fact that when a Japanese student gets older, he becomes more mature and focuses his priorities more in his education than in awful youth activities. Education in Japan offers a complete picture of young people and a reasonable understanding of their lives. Most of the labelled delinquents in the youth of Japan are those who do not participate much in school or are not guided by their parents and guardians. (Yoder) Japan has made schooling as guidance for its youth. The country has successfully installed the importance of education to their youth and the youth responds accordingly to it. If it weren’t for their proper education, Japan’s youth wouldn’t have anything to guide it. The effect of education to the youth in Japan is great because the country focused a great deal on education and allocated much funds for it. Even though most of Japan is comprised of public schools, the public schools still have the same quality of education as of other private schools in other countries. (Yoder) This wonderful trait makes Japan’s education a wonderful asset to a Japanese person. Another evidence on how much education affects Japan would be the effect of deaf education. Until the mid-1970s, deaf citizens of Japan receive few legal privileges and little social acknowledgment. (Nakamura) By the law, they were categorized as minors or as mentally deficient, not capable of acquiring a driver’s licenses or even sign contracts and wills. Many deaf people in the country worked at establishments that offer basic tasks or were frequently unemployed, and schools for the deaf initiate a complicated regimen of speech reading and oral speech approaches rather than signing. (Nakamura) After several decades, activism became the ears of deaf men and women which are now essentially acknowledged within mainstream of Japanese society.