A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Chapter 1 - Introduction
(Part 3 of 3)

The Field Sites

The field sites for the case studies were selected in order to capture as wide a range as possible of the regional, class, and ethnic diversity of Japanese society.

Naka City

Our primary site, Naka City, is one of the largest cities in Japan. As with most Japanese urban centers, the city is well-connected to the rest of the nation via its port and airport, as well as by private and national railway lines. While Naka City is generally prosperous, some wards of the city have high concentrations of low-income families as well as burakumin. No one industry predominates: shipping, textiles, electronics, and automotive factories all play a major role in an economy where 24 percent of the labor force is employed in manufacturing and 23 percent in the service industries. The unemployment rate in 1992 was a little over three percent, and the median household yearly income was around $95,000 dollars (where 100 yen = 1 dollar). To help protect the identity of participants in this study, citations to literature which specify the locale or otherwise might aid in the identification of participants and schools, are not provided in this report.

Naka is an international city. Exhibits from the United States, China, and other countries are on tour in local museums and in the galleries sponsored by large department stores. Consumers can avail themselves of products from countries as diverse as Germany and the Philippines. Yet in the cramped streets of the residential areas, a tiny family restaurant with only two booths and three stools might offer its customers bowls of the local noodle specialty. Like many Japanese cities, the foreign population is not readily evident outside of the central shopping areas or universities. In some parts of the city near the outer perimeter, small tracts of land are still under cultivation. In the city center, space is at a premium and tiny, ancient shrines can be found that are surrounded on three sides by massive skyscrapers.

Naka City is home to roughly 150,000 pupils enrolled at the elementary level, 75,000 at the junior high school level, and 90,000 at the high school level. The student population at the high school level is nearly equally divided between private and public high schools which makes the number of students attending private high schools in Naka city higher than the national average. Over 30 percent of high school students are enrolled in non-academic courses, somewhat higher than the national average of about 25 percent (Monbusho, 1996). Official statistics show that at the elementary and junior high school levels there were approximately 20 pupils per teacher in 1992. In reality, junior high school classes range from the midthirties to over 40 students per class. Most schools, particularly those in the older sections of the city have very little physical space. Per pupil funding for the city as a whole in 1992 was about $5,500 per child per year for both elementary and junior high schools. Because the city is essentially one school district, there is no difference in per child allocations between more and less affluent sectors of the city.

Kita City

Both of the secondary field sites, Kita City and Minami City, are regional hubs and the major cities in their respective prefectures. Kita City lies far in the north and is home to world-class skiing while Minami City has a climate that residents of the U.S. Deep South would find familiar. Both are connected by rail and air to the rest of the nation. While most young Japanese speak only standard Japanese, older residents of Kita City speak a distinctive dialect quite distinct from standard Japanese.

Kita city is home to less than 300,000 people compared with Naka City's millions. This gives Kita a more relaxed and open feeling. Large, covered avenues hold a wide range of shops, and the central part of town can be traversed by foot in less than an hour. Parks are abundant and offer spectacular views of the adjacent, snow-covered mountains. No one industry dominates Kita's labor market. Unemployment data were unavailable. The per capita income in 1991 was about $30,000. Many family farms still exist, and there is considerable emphasis in the winter months on tourism.

The official student-teacher ratio in Kita is similar to Naka: about 20 to 1 at the elementary and junior high school level. Although classes tend to be larger than this, they are not as crowded as in Naka's schools. For Japan, the population density is quite low — only 600 people per square kilometer. Because land is not at a premium, schools tend to have large playgrounds and activity areas. There were about 20,000 students at the elementary level, 10,000 at the junior high school level, and over 15,000 at the high school level in 1992. Per pupil funding in 1992 was about $7,000 per year for both elementary and junior high school students.

Minami City

Minami City has a long history as a prosperous port city with a large fishing industry. Seven percent of the total population works in manufacturing. The unemployment rate at the time of this study was just over 2 percent. Per capita income in 1990 was about $30,000 and the median household income around $75,000. The population density of Minami (around 3,500 people per square kilometer) is less than half that of Naka's over 6,000 people per square kilometer.

There were over 90,000 students in Minami's elementary schools and nearly 50,000 in its junior high schools. In 1993 the high school enrollment was over 60,000. The student-teacher ratio is similar to Naka and Kita, but the per pupil spending was somewhat lower: about $4,800 at the elementary and $5,500 at the junior high school level. Minami is home to several universities and junior colleges.

The Schools

Given this general description of the system of education and the field sites, we now turn to the schools themselves. In Table 3, the schools and their relative academic standing are listed. The determination of the schools' academic level was made by Professors Nagano and Sawada based on data collected on schools in Japan by the National Institute for Educational Research. The academic standing of schools, particularly at the junior high and high school level, is primarily derived from an analysis of students' high school and college entrance exam scores at each school. So for example, those schools which ultimately send the largest percentage of their student body to top ranked universities are the most highly ranked schools in Japan.

Table 3 — Sample schools and academic level

SOURCE: Third International Mathematics and Science Study, Case Study Project, 1994-95.

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Japanese schools present a rather austere facade to the U.S. eye. The vast majority of schools are three-story ferro-concrete structures with little or no external decoration. At most schools, the office is located near the main entrance which is marked by a sliding iron gate. Figure 1 shows a copy of the floor plan of one of the high schools that we visited. This school, located in one of the secondary sites, is also equipped with two gymnasiums, a martial arts practice hall, and a pool. The rooms marked "3-1 HR" and so forth are the students' homerooms where they spend most of their day. As is typical in most Japanese high schools, the third-year students all have their homerooms on the top floor and the first-year students on the bottom floor. Special purpose rooms, such as the language laboratory, are located in a separate wing connected by a hallway.

In large, sprawling schools like Naka Vocational, the gym and various classroom buildings are connected by long hallways. As is the custom in Japanese homes, street shoes are not worn in Japanese schools. Students and teachers have separate entrances which are equipped with shoe boxes to store street wear and school slippers. Students must purchase a specific kind of slipper — usually blue, green, or brown and made of tough plastic.

Day-to-day cleaning and maintenance of the schools and grounds are done by students and teachers, although most schools employ one or two workers as custodians. Since many Japanese schools do not have central heating or cooling, classrooms are heated by kerosene stoves. A few students from each class are responsible for making sure that the daily supply of kerosene is delivered and the classroom stove is filled. There is also a daily cleaning period when students and teachers sweep the floors, empty waste baskets, and dust the shelves. Once a month or so, the teachers organize a larger cleaning period. At these times students may wax the hallway floors, clean out mud from the gutters around the edges of the buildings, or pull up weeds and grass that have encroached on the large, sand-covered playing fields.

In most Japanese schools there is usually a large outdoor recreation area in front of or behind the school where students play baseball, tennis, soccer, and other outdoor sports. In the rural areas and smaller cities where land is less expensive, separate fields for soccer and baseball as well as tennis courts can be found. All of the schools we visited had playing fields of various sizes. At elementary schools this area often is equipped with brightly-colored playground equipment for the benefit of the smaller children. Students often use this equipment after school and on weekends.

Contrary to images common in western media, most Japanese students enjoy going to school, because it is a place for them to meet friends and participate in extra-curricular activities. In sharp contrast to the often somber buildings, Japanese classrooms are animated, lively places when students are relaxing between classes during their five or ten minute breaks. The rhythm of life in Japanese schools is one where study time is punctuated with ample opportunities for socializing.

The schools in our sample are typical of public schools in Japanese urban and suburban areas. The schools run the gamut from very old schools with long traditions to very new ones equipped with the latest conveniences. None of the schools seemed extraordinary compared to the schools that we had visited on previous research projects.

Kita City Schools

Kita Elementary, with a student population of over 500, was tucked into a quiet neighborhood at the edge of the city, while Kita Junior High School, which enrolled roughly 550 students, was more centrally located. Both of these schools have been around for a long time: Kita Elementary has been preparing children for roughly a century and is one of the most respected schools in the city.

The three schools in Kita City appear to be either average or outstanding in terms of the academic ability of their students. In sharp contrast to the elementary and junior high school, Kita High School, with over a thousand students, is rather new and is located in the recent suburban developments on the far outskirts of the city. As Kita is an advancement school, most of the students hoped to attend 4-year colleges upon graduation. In the last 5 years, Kita High School has placed nearly 800 of its graduates in national 4-year colleges and well over 1,000 graduates in private 4-year colleges.

Minami City Schools

Minami Elementary and Minami Junior High School lie on the outskirts of the city in a mixture of farmland and suburbia where new apartment complexes and green rice fields exist side-by-side. There were about 600 students enrolled in Minami Elementary and about 730 in Minami Junior High School. Minami High School, on the other hand, is a large school with nearly 1300 students located in a more developed portion of the city. It is one of the most prestigious schools in the area, and each year many graduates go on to enter elite universities.

Naka City Schools

High schools. Naka Vocational High School is a large ferro-concrete, three-story school just across the street from a commuter railway line. The students are divided into several courses or lanes: mechanical, electrical/information (computer), and chemical engineering. Of the school's nearly 850 students, fewer than 10 are female. Over 50 staff members are listed as instructors in the school guide. The school also houses a night school which starts around 6 p.m. From 1994 on, the two schools were given separate staff and administrators, although the same principal was in charge of both. We did not interview students or staff at the night school.

In comparison with Naka's dilapidated exterior, Arata High School seemed to be an extension of the brand new sports facility near the school. Arata is also a ferro-concrete structure, but has more amenities: there is a two-tiered gym which houses a martial arts hall below and basketball courts above. Whereas the families of Naka Vocational could best be described as "working class," Arata's parents seemed to be mainly from the middle class of store owners, clerical workers, and white-collar workers (sarariiman). Over half of the 1,200 students at Arata are female. Nearly 60 staff members are listed as "instructors," and the school offers a wide variety of clubs. Arata is generally considered a middle-ranked school, which means that although most of its graduates go on to college, few are aiming for the best national or private universities.

Meiji High School is the oldest high school of the three. It boasts a long and venerated tradition of promoting students' individual interests along with academic success. Last year, Meiji made the list of the top ten high schools in Naka City in terms of sending students on to Tokyo, Kyoto, or other top-ranked universities. About 50 percent of third-year students go to juku.  Parental levels of income at Meiji seemed higher than at Arata, with more families at the professional-managerial level. There are 40-44 students in a class, 10 classes per grade. Like Arata, the school is divided into two sections, literature and science. Over 400 students enter each year from nearly 120 junior high schools: about one in 10 junior high school applicants are admitted. Nearly 100 percent of Meiji graduates go on to some type of four-year college.

Junior high schools. Like high schools, Japanese junior high schools can seem rather austere. In the vast majority of schools, one side of the classroom has large clear windows facing outside while the other has opaque glass windows which face the corridor. There are no lockers, and students store their belongings either on hooks in the corridor outside the classroom, in their desks, or in small cubbyholes built into the back of the room. In many schools there are little or no decorations in the halls. Classroom walls tend to be taken up with chalkboards in the front and back; schedules and school announcements are tacked up on the cork message boards. There is usually a class motto (e.g., Independent Spirit! or Never Give Up!) written in calligraphy above the front of the class, and occasionally one sees certificates that class members or teams of members have won in local contests.

Chuo Junior High School, at 30 years of age, enrolls over 350 boys and girls. The family economic background of the students seemed quite high, with many families owning their own businesses in the multi-storied buildings of the surrounding neighborhood. Shimogawa Junior High School is located in a much less prosperous part of town than Chuo. Like Naka Vocational High School, Shimogawa is located in an area of older homes and working-class families. The school is a large one, with over 800 boys and girls. Because of its 40-year history and large enrollment, the grounds are somewhat cramped. Midori is the smallest of the three Naka junior high schools. The families seem to be somewhat more affluent overall than at Shimogawa, and the houses in this area are larger than in Shimogawa and the gardens better developed. The school is nearly 50 years old and is experiencing declining enrollments.

Elementary schools. Similar associations between economic circumstance and school atmosphere were evident at the elementary school level. Parents of Hasu Elementary students appeared to have the lowest level of income and most parents work in small shops, factories, and the entertainment industry. In contrast, Matsu Elementary is located in an affluent neighborhood near a major university. Tancho Elementary School's students come from a neighborhood of prosperous shops and fine homes. These differences in neighborhoods have a relatively greater impact on the lives of children than on adolescents, because children do not have the freedom to travel so far from home. Consequently, the students at Matsu and Tancho played in quiet neighborhoods with numerous small, curving streets that reduced traffic hazards, whereas the children at Hasu played in neighborhoods that were semi-industrialized.

Hasu is located near Naka's harbor in a working-class neighborhood. Many of Hasu's children come from single-parent homes. Matsu Elementary is at the other end of the economic spectrum from Hasu. Located in a neighborhood of large private homes with meticulously sculpted shrubs, students at Matsu enjoy a very high standard of living. The neighborhood is also within walking distance of buses, the subway line, a university, and an upscale shopping district with fine restaurants. The students at Tancho Elementary also come from well-to-do homes. This is, again, a prosperous neighborhood, and teachers noted that there were few student problems.

School Summary

The fifteen schools in Kita, Minami, and Naka Cities are representative of the differences found within the Japanese public school system. While the national and local governments make great efforts to ensure that the curricula offered in elementary and junior high schools are the same across the region and neighborhood, the neighborhoods are important in determining the kinds of academic and cultural opportunities children have outside of school. Smaller cities like Kita lack the large juku, which offer the best college preparatory courses. The children of affluent neighborhoods like those around Chuo Junior High School and Matsu Elementary have more money to spend on sports equipment and access to better parks and recreational facilities. The students at Hasu Elementary do not have the luxury of trying to catch minnows in the irrigation canals that flood the rice fields around schools like Minami Elementary.

At the high school level, the effects of neighborhood become less significant. Students compete inside large school districts for entrance into high school. Any school with a good reputation will draw students even if, as is the case with Meiji High School, the school is not located near train or subway lines. Students at a given high school tend to come from the same family backgrounds — not because students all come from the same neighborhood, but because the entrance exams and school hierarchy function to stream students with similar academic abilities and backgrounds together. Regional effects are still strong because high school students in small cities do not have access to large juku or to the many cultural and athletic facilities available in large urban areas like Naka City.

The Current Climate in Education

Reforms in education generate enormous debate in Japanese society. In the recent past, the Ministry of Education's reintroduction of moral education created a national controversy. Attempts to reintroduce symbols or materials that had connections with the war-time government, such as the national anthem and saluting of the national flag, met with stiff opposition in the schools. The question of what should be taught in social studies and moral education courses remains a source of significant discontent among many Japanese. Parents and teachers alike are critical of the examination system, the juku, and the perceived lack of individuality in the classroom.

Most educators are keenly aware of the fact that around the world Japanese students are regarded as good at taking tests in math and science but unable to apply their knowledge creatively to new situations. There is significant discontent among the population in general with the lack of creativity in the schools and the difficulty that individuals have in expressing their own ideas given the pressure of studying for the entrance exams. To provide students with more time to call their own, the Ministry of Education has asked schools to foster individual differences (kosei kyo iku) and has begun reducing the number of days per week that students go to school. Currently, students get two Saturdays off each month with the long-term goal of no-school on Saturday to be implemented at an unspecified future date. But because of the complexity of Japan's education system, even such straightforward measures as reducing the number of school days in order to give students more free time can have paradoxical effects. While many parents are dissatisfied with the lack of time for individual expression in schools, they also want teachers to assure their sons' and daughters' success on the entrance exams. Teachers are now caught in a bind — they must reduce the school week, but they must still cover the same amount of material. In many schools, the result has been for teachers to propose eliminating club activities or "free periods" (yutori jikan) from the school week, an action most teachers recognize as having a negative effect on their ability to foster individual expression and creativity in school.

Outline of This Volume

Interviews and observations conducted at these 15 schools provide the core of the data used in this volume. The chapters are arranged by topic, and each author focuses on different details or aspects of the education process of education.

Douglas Trelfa discusses the effects of national standards on education at the primary and secondary level. Some of the central questions addressed in this chapter are: How are standards understood within the culture? How are standards implemented and who is responsible for this implementation? What is the effect of standards on the science and math curriculum.

Hidetada Shimizu probes the topic of individual differences, addressing how Japanese schools deal with each individual learner. This chapter also deals with the broader issues of tracking and individual inclusion in classrooms. Shimizu discusses how individuality and creativity are constructed in significantly different ways in Japan using examples from classrooms to illustrate these points.

Gerald LeTendre examines adolescent lives, focusing on the intricate relations between peer groups, the family, and life inside and outside of school. He addresses how adolescence is conceptualized in Japan and the role school plays in the lives of young Japanese. In this chapter, the stresses and problems of students are discussed as well as how students view math and science.

Finally, Carol Kinney looks at the day-to-day lives of teachers and analyzes how Japanese views of work and professionalism affect teaching. She details the day-to-day work of teachers, their working conditions and discusses their status in society. She also looks at teacher training and investigates how, and in what way, teachers learn their profession.

[Chapter 1 - Introduction (Part 2 of 3)]

[Chapter 2 - The Development and Implementation of Education Standards in Japan (Part 1 of 5)]