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We will be covering topics about Japanese education. Our research topics will focus on the Japanese education system, cram schools, entrance examinations, and the steady decline in children which affect Japanese society.

Anki’s Topic:

In this group research, our main topic is Japanese education. I will be focusing on the entrance exams as well known as Nyugaku Shiken regarding group research in Japanese education. Entrance exams play an important role in Japanese students’ lives. From kindergarten to university, entrance exams are always necessary especially the entrance exam to university. The university entrance exam is a life-impacting event. From Japanese classes, I have been taught that after high school, all students will take entrance exams to apply to the universities which they desire to go. Not only the role of entrance exams, the rules of taking one entrance exam are also very strict comparing to Canadian education.

Cindy’s Topic:

My research topic is about job hunting in Japan. I would like to learn about the differences between job hunting in Canada and Japan, so I will be comparing and contrasting the job hunting procedures between the two countries. Finding a job is arguably easier in Canada than it is in Japan. As Canada is a multicultural country, resumes do not require (and it is advised not to include) any sort of personal information besides contact information. In Japan, there are restrictions on age and a set time frame in which people, mainly university students, are able to job search. These are just a couple of the many differences between job hunting in Canada and Japan.

Fernando’s Topic:

My research topic will be about the Japanese Education System. I will be talking about some of the main similarities and differences between the Japanese System and the Western System. For example, one of the similarities between the two systems is how the school year structure is similar at face value. That is due to the fact that during the allied occupation, the American government set to reform the old education system in japan to be more similar to their own. While one of the differences between the two systems is the Japanese education system offers a little bit more variation. One of which is the ability to choose between advancing to high school or go to special tech institutes after junior high. These institutes are called College of technology, or “kōtō-senmon-gakkō”  and put more focus on the technological programs such as engineering and can span 5 years rather than the typical 3 years in high school and then 4 years in a university. Graduates are awarded with an associate’s credential which they can use to find careers or, if they wish, study further in another post-secondary institution.

Mickie’s Topic:

Japanese cram schools, also known as “Juku” (塾), are specialized schools that offers supplementary educational classes to train students in bettering their grades, or to pass entrance examinations of high schools or universities. Cram schools also provides an extra space for students to study in case they do not have access to that kind of study environment, or have difficulty studying at home. They provide extra help and resources for students with their homework, or questions about their examinations.

Although some might think crams schools are not the type of after-school activity one might voluntarily want to participate in, others have quite a positive opinion about them. Cram schools can be a more relaxed environment to focus on your school work instead of the tense classroom environment during regular school hours so students do not feel the added pressure or stress. They can also make new friends from other schools and socialize which can add encouragement to their studying seeing that everyone is in on this for the better.

We will be progressing with our research over the course of the next month, so please look forward to our posts!