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The Japanese preschool, which as recently as 20 years ago played no significant role in the care and socialization of children, has become a core institution in contemporary Japan, enrolling over 95 percent of Japanese children in yochien or hoikuen before they enter the first grade (Tobin, Wu, and Davidson 1989). Both yochien and hoikusho are structured to develop the social skills of the children while teaching the importance of group identity and group skills. The two institutions are similar with respect to physical facilities, curricula, teaching styles, and classroom activities (USED 1987). There are a number of variations, however, that characterize these two pre-elementary institutions.

All children in Japan are required to attend elementary school, either a public school in their residential district or a private or national school that may be outside their district. In 1992 Japanese elementary schools, of which 99 percent were public, had an enrollment of 8,947,000 students (49 percent female). The percentages of students graduating from elementary school was 99.99 percent (Monbusho 1993b), which included children attending all types of Japanese elementary schools, such as private schools, schools for children with disabilities, and so forth.



Curriculum
The elementary school curriculum is divided into three major categories:


Regular, which contains nine subjects: Japanese language, social studies, arithmetic, science, life environment studies, music, arts and handicrafts, homemaking, and physical education;

Moral education, which focuses on specific topics at different levels of a student''''s elementary education. Subjects include health and safety, disciplined life, courtesy, understanding and confidence, public manners, and environmental awareness. In private schools religion may be substituted for part or whole; and

Special activities in four areas: class activities, students'''' association activities, club activities (organized mainly by fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students), and school events (ceremonies, cultural performances, athletic meetings, and field trips).



Schedule
The school year for elementary students lasts 35 weeks or more (34 weeks or more for first-grade students). The school calendar for elementary schools, as well as that for secondary schools and universities, begins officially on April 1 (although in actuality usually not until the end of the first week of April) and ends on March 31 of the following year. The school year for elementary schools and secondary schools typically consists of three terms: April 1 to August 31, September 1 to December 31, and January 1 to March 31.

Schools are not in session on Sundays, national holidays, or the second and fourth Saturday of each month. Other vacations include the summer vacation, typically from mid-July to the end of August; winter break, typically from December 25 to January 7; and spring break, typically from March 21 to March 31. For each individual school, these vacations may vary slightly in length or commencing and ending dates. The principal of the school can also determine specific holidays (up to a period of 15 days). For instance, in some regions a holiday may be created during the busiest farming period. National and private elementary schools follow similar schedules (Jichi Sogo Center 1991).

The minimum required number of school hours, one school hour being 45 minutes, varies for the different grades, increasing as the student advances grade levels. The breakdown of the hours spent on each curriculum category also varies among grades. For example, first- through third-grade students have 850, 910, and 980 school hours, respectively, of which approximately 70 hours are equally divided between special activities and moral education. For fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders, the required number of school hours is 1,015, of which 35 are set aside for moral education and 70 for special activities. These listed school hours were instituted in April 1992 by Monbusho.

Though the minimum required number of school hours varies for different grade levels, Monbusho requires a minimum of 210 days of instruction, including a half-day on Saturdays which is counted as a full day for all elementary and secondary school students. However, local school boards, which can add more days to the school calendar at their discretion, typically specify 240 school days per year, including Saturdays, to permit time for nonacademic studies and activities. The "extra" 30 days that are reported allow school time to be used for various activities such as field trips, sports day, cultural festivals, and graduation ceremonies (Ichikawa 198 cool .

The starting and ending time for elementary school is determined by the school principal. A typical school day lasts from 8:30 a.m. until approximately 3:50 p.m., with academic classes in the morning and music, art, physical education, and a study period in the afternoon. A daily schedule from a 1983 school handbook (Sendai Shiritsu Tashiro Shogakko 1983) reveals the following schedule for elementary students:


Before the first morning class, 10 minutes are allocated for student preparation, except on Monday, when there is a 25-minute school assembly;

After each of the first three morning classes, students have a 10- or 15-minute break;

After the fourth morning class, students have 45 minutes for lunch;

After lunch, students have 30 minutes for cleaning followed by one regular class period; and

The balance of the afternoon varies depending on the day of the week, with either student meetings, another regular class period, or club activities.
The half-day of school on Saturday follows the same morning schedule as noted above, except the typical 30-minute cleaning period follows the third regular class, with a final 20-minute recess before school is dismissed at 12:30 p.m. This schedule coincides with the standard number of school hours in the Course of Study for Elementary Schools, which was implemented in April, 1992 (Jichi Sogo Center 1991).

High school is not compulsory in Japan; therefore, entrance to high school is not automatic. To be admitted, students must successfully complete junior high school and pass a high school entrance examination.

High schools offer three types of enrollment: full time, part time, and correspondence courses. The length of schooling for a full-time student is 3 years, while a part-time student or correspondence student attends high school for 4 or more years. The part-time students can take either day or night courses, the latter being more prevalent. A high school diploma is awarded for completion of any one of these three different courses.



Curriculum
The high school curriculum may be classified into two main categories with regard to content?academic courses (futsuka) and vocational courses (shokugyoka)?and two minor categories?a technical course (senkoka) and a special course (bekka). Academic courses provide general education for students who either wish to continue to university after graduation or who may pursue specific vocational programs after graduation. The academic classes can be separated into two main categories: regular classes and special activities; specific time is not set aside for moral education in high school because it is believed to be incorporated throughout the other courses. The academic student faces a demanding schedule of required core courses of Japanese language, mathematics, science, English, and social studies. Elective courses are limited to two courses per year and are usually chosen to assist in preparing for a particular university's entrance examination (USED 1987).

Vocational courses prepare students for specific trades or occupations by offering training and other professional education. The major fields of study are commerce, industry, agriculture, home economics, nursing, marine studies, and art. The vocational curriculum is oriented to preparing students for careers, but it is not specific to particular jobs. When compared with academic students, vocational students spend less class time studying academic subjects. The incentive to study is not so strong among these students, because there are no university entrance examinations to prepare for, and future employers of vocational school graduates do not base employment decisions solely on academic records.

There are also two other courses offered to high school students, a technical course (senkoka) and a special course (bekka). These courses enroll less than 0.2 percent of the high school students and do not award degrees after completion of one or more years of schooling.

Of the 5,501 high schools, 51 percent offered only regular courses; 18 percent offered only vocational courses; and 31 percent of the schools were comprehensive, offering both general and vocational courses (Monbusho 1993b). Classifying the schools by their funding, 70.6 percent were public, 29.2 percent were private, and 0.2 percent were national high schools (Monbusho 1993b).

In 1992 there were more than 5,218,000 high school students in Japan (49.7 percent female); of these, 74.0 percent were enrolled in the regular academic program courses and 25.9 percent were enrolled in vocational programs. More than 1,807,000 high school students were graduated in 1992. Of these, 32.7 percent continued to a university or a junior college, 30.2 percent went to a special school, 32.3 percent obtained employment, and 4.7 percent were unemployed (Monbusho 1993b). 2.1 percent of students drop out during their high school years. In 1992 part-time students represented the largest percentage of dropouts: 14.6 percent. In comparison, much lower percentages of full-time high school students in both the academic and vocational course curricula dropped out: 1.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively (Monbusho 1993b). Their reasons for not continuing greatly varied, but the primary reasons were "inability to adjust to the high school environment and studies" (27 percent), "seeking employment" (26 percent), and "deficient ability" (10.3 percent) (Monbusho 1993b).



Schedule
As in junior high school, 1 school hour equals 50 minutes, but the standard number of school hours is 1,190 hours per year. The length of the school year is 35 weeks, with 5 to 6 school hours on weekdays and 4 school hours on Saturdays. A typical school day during the week may start at 8:35 a.m. and end at approximately 3:30 p.m.; school on Saturday typically runs from 8:35 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Junior colleges teach and conduct research in specialized academic subjects pertaining to vocations such as teacher education, engineering, and agriculture; or general education, including humanities, social science, and general culture. Some of the more popular fields of study are home economics, teacher education, and humanities. Students who have completed upper secondary education are eligible to enter a junior college. Degrees are awarded after the required 2 or 3 years of schooling, depending on the field. Junior college graduates may choose to apply for admission to a university.

In 1992 most students attending junior colleges were female (91.7 percent). In that year 524,538 students attended 591 junior colleges, 84.3 percent of which were private institutions (Monbusho 1993a).

Of the 226,432 junior college graduates in 1992, 85.7 percent obtained employment, 4.2 percent continued to higher education, and 7.4 percent went to special training schools, miscellaneous schools, job training schools, or were unemployed. Over one-third of those obtaining employment entered the service industry, 20 percent entered manufacturing, 17 percent entered retail or wholesale business, and 16 percent obtained employment with banking or insurance companies (Monbusho 1993a).

Getting to School

Japanese high school students do not drive cars. Many either walk or ride bicycles if the distance is not too great. In other cases, students must take public buses and trains, often changing lines several times in order to reach their destinations. It is not uncommon for students to spend two or more hours each day on public transportation. After junior high school, students attend schools based on standardized high school entrance examination scores. As a result, some students travel a great distance to attend the school determined by their test scores. The school day begins at 8:30, so students may leave home as early as 6:30. While some students sleep or study during their long commute, public transportation also provides a chance for socializing with peers. Student behavior on the way to school is regulated by school policies. These policies may prohibit certain activities in public--chewing gum, consuming snacks, reading books while walking--anything that might reflect badly on the reputation of the school. Each school has a unique uniform that makes its students easily identifiable to the public. School policies often require students to stand on buses and trains, leaving seats open for other passengers in order to demonstrate consideration. In practice, however, the behavior of students tends to relax as they move farther away from school.

Extracurricular Activities

Club activities take place after school every day. Teachers are assigned as sponsors, but often the students themselves determine the club's daily activities. Students can join only one club, and they rarely change clubs from year to year. In most schools, clubs can be divided into two types: sports clubs (baseball, soccer, judo, kendo, track, tennis, swimming, softball, volleyball, rugby) and culture clubs (English, broadcasting, calligraphy, science, mathematics, yearbook). New students usually are encouraged to select a club shortly after the school year begins in April. Clubs meet for two hours after school each day and many clubs continue to meet during school vacations. Club activities provide one of the primary opportunities for peer group socialization. Most college bound students withdraw from club activities during their senior year to devote more time to preparation for university entrance examinations. Although visible in the general high school experience, it is in the clubs that the fundamental relationships of senpai (senior) and kohai (junior) are established most solidly. It is the responsibility of the senpai to teach, initiate, and take care of the kohai. It is the duty of the kohai to serve and defer to the senpai. For example, kohai students in the tennis club might spend one year chasing tennis balls while the upperclassmen practice. Only after the upperclassmen have finished may the underclassmen use the courts. The kohai are expected to serve their senpai and to learn from them by observing and modeling their behavior. This fundamental relationship can be seen throughout Japanese society, in business, politics, and social dealings.

Entrance Examinations

In addition to university admission, entrance to high school also is determined by examination, and the subjects tested are Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, and English. Private high schools create their own examinations, while those for public high schools are standardized within each prefecture. Students (and their parents) consider each school's college placement record when deciding which examinations to take. Success or failure on an entrance examination can influence a student's entire future, since the prospect of finding a good job depends on the school attended. Thus, students experience the pressure of this examination system at a relatively early age. But, practice tests at school and juku help teachers to direct students toward institutions whose examinations they are most likely to pass.

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