Education
In Japan the typical schooling years are 6 years in elementary school, 3 years in middle school, 3 years in high school, and 4 years at a university (EDUCATION IN JAPAN). But as of 2005 the government has announced that it is intending to merge elementary school and middle school together to let the elementary school and middle school share their resources (EDUCATION IN JAPAN). In Japan the curriculum is created by the Japanese Ministry of Education and thus is a national curriculum so every student receives the exact same education (Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences). Japanese students are in school 240 days a year which is 60 more days than American schools (Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences). This is due to the fact that Japanese schools only have Sunday off so they are in school 6 days a week but Saturday is a half day (Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences). The school year is divided up into 3 terms with no breaks in-between so they aren’t able to lose their academics over a long period of time (Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences). Over 90 percent of students in Japan graduate from high school and 40 percent from college (EDUCATION IN JAPAN). Japan is also noted as to have 100 percent in literacy and the highest literacy in the world (EDUCATION IN JAPAN). Japan’s educational system has been regarded as highly successful in other countries and is often studied for its secret to success (EDUCATION IN JAPAN).
Although Japan is doing great in its academics it’s educational system is still very much flawed. Japanese schools have trouble with moral values starting from younger students (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). There seems to be a decline in a sense of right and wrong with students. A survey was done at a junior high school and it showed that 14.2 percent of children did not see stealing comic books to be wrong and the percentage increased as the grade gets higher. In the survey about 55 percent of students witnessed bullying and pretended to not notice showing that students are refraining from doing what they felt was right (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). Another issue that Japan has is bullying. In 1994, 11 suicide cases was reported over a 18 month period and saw 55,066 incidents of bullying reported (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). The statistics of the amount of students being bullied is 12 percent and 17 percent being the bully (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). To make matters worse Japanese students are less likely to intervene when they witness bullying than other countries such as American with 19.7 percent of Japanese intervening versus 39.1 percent of American students (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). As the grades move up the bullying goes from exclusion to violence and bullying escalades as the grade level goes up which is the opposite of what happens in other countries (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). The students who are bullied in school often come to hate school and refuse to attend classes becoming school refusers which are also a problem in Japan (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). School refusers are often found not in class but at home or often in the nurse’s office hiding from classes (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). It seems that the cause of school refusers is lack of sociability, individual problems, or family problems (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES).
All of the issues in Japan’s education system seem to deal with the social aspect of schools rather than the academics since Japan is already successful in their academics. It seems that Japanese schools focus so much on academics they left out the need to look out for their student’s social well beings which cause all of these issues to arise. I think it is great that Japanese schools are working very hard to provide great academics to their students but they should also take into consideration that school is not only for students to grow academically but socially as well.
Work Cited
"CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES." CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://www.education-in-japan.info/sub110.html>.
"EDUCATION IN JAPAN." EDUCATION IN JAPAN. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://www.education-in-japan.info/sub1.html>.
"Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences." Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://sitemaker.umich.edu/arun.356/structural_differences>.
Although Japan is doing great in its academics it’s educational system is still very much flawed. Japanese schools have trouble with moral values starting from younger students (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). There seems to be a decline in a sense of right and wrong with students. A survey was done at a junior high school and it showed that 14.2 percent of children did not see stealing comic books to be wrong and the percentage increased as the grade gets higher. In the survey about 55 percent of students witnessed bullying and pretended to not notice showing that students are refraining from doing what they felt was right (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). Another issue that Japan has is bullying. In 1994, 11 suicide cases was reported over a 18 month period and saw 55,066 incidents of bullying reported (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). The statistics of the amount of students being bullied is 12 percent and 17 percent being the bully (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). To make matters worse Japanese students are less likely to intervene when they witness bullying than other countries such as American with 19.7 percent of Japanese intervening versus 39.1 percent of American students (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). As the grades move up the bullying goes from exclusion to violence and bullying escalades as the grade level goes up which is the opposite of what happens in other countries (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). The students who are bullied in school often come to hate school and refuse to attend classes becoming school refusers which are also a problem in Japan (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). School refusers are often found not in class but at home or often in the nurse’s office hiding from classes (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES). It seems that the cause of school refusers is lack of sociability, individual problems, or family problems (CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES).
All of the issues in Japan’s education system seem to deal with the social aspect of schools rather than the academics since Japan is already successful in their academics. It seems that Japanese schools focus so much on academics they left out the need to look out for their student’s social well beings which cause all of these issues to arise. I think it is great that Japanese schools are working very hard to provide great academics to their students but they should also take into consideration that school is not only for students to grow academically but socially as well.
Work Cited
"CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES." CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://www.education-in-japan.info/sub110.html>.
"EDUCATION IN JAPAN." EDUCATION IN JAPAN. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://www.education-in-japan.info/sub1.html>.
"Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences." Educational Systems of Japan and the US: Structural Differences. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://sitemaker.umich.edu/arun.356/structural_differences>.
This graph shows the school enrollment in Japan which is over 100%.
Source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.ENRR/countries/JP--XS?display=graph
Source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.ENRR/countries/JP--XS?display=graph
This chart shows Japan's reading scores compared to the other top ten countries.
Source: http://rankingamerica.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/chart-of-reading-scores-male.jpg
Source: http://rankingamerica.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/chart-of-reading-scores-male.jpg
Government
Oil
1. Record:
Oil Production: 135.51 thousand barrels per day
Oil Consumption: 4726.35 thousand barrels per day
2. Summarize: Write a short paragraph explaining the information you discovered and conclusions you can draw. How does this information help you develop a sense of place for the country -- living conditions, social development, use of land or other resources, etc.?
I discovered that Japan uses more oil than it produced. That means that Japan is probably getting most of it's oil from other countries. Japan uses quite a bit of oil making me think that it is a very developed country. Because Japan in on an island it makes sense that it would not have much oil since the country has a finite area to mine for oil and is surrounded by ocean. Other resources Japan has would probably be fishing and agriculture.
3. Contemplate:
What questions does the information raise in your mind. Write down two questions you have based on what you have discovered.
Where does Japan get the rest of it's oil?
What other energy resources does Japan use?
Oil Production: 135.51 thousand barrels per day
Oil Consumption: 4726.35 thousand barrels per day
2. Summarize: Write a short paragraph explaining the information you discovered and conclusions you can draw. How does this information help you develop a sense of place for the country -- living conditions, social development, use of land or other resources, etc.?
I discovered that Japan uses more oil than it produced. That means that Japan is probably getting most of it's oil from other countries. Japan uses quite a bit of oil making me think that it is a very developed country. Because Japan in on an island it makes sense that it would not have much oil since the country has a finite area to mine for oil and is surrounded by ocean. Other resources Japan has would probably be fishing and agriculture.
3. Contemplate:
What questions does the information raise in your mind. Write down two questions you have based on what you have discovered.
Where does Japan get the rest of it's oil?
What other energy resources does Japan use?
Economic
Write a brief summary of the economic system of the country:
After WWII Japan has developed a technologically advanced economy. Japan is dependent of raw material and fuels. Even though Japan has a crop yield that is highest in the world there is still a 60% food import. There has been modest economic growth but has had 3 recessions since 2008. The economy improved but contracted again during the massive earthquake in 2011. The economy has largely improved within 2 years of the disaster.
Select three key economic indicators such as poverty rates, labor distribution, use of resources, etc. and analyze what this information says about the country, how does it compare to other countries, change over time, etc.
Poverty: 16%
Labor force
Agriculture: 3.9%
Industry: 26.2
Services: 69.8
Unemployment rate: 4.1%
Japan seems to have a low unemployment rate while the poverty is at 16% of the population. This shows that there are some people in Japan with jobs but are making very few money to be in the line of poverty and most of the population is in the service industry of the labor force. Compared to the United States there is a higher unemployment rate and lower population in poverty which shows the US has better paying jobs than Japan however Japan has more jobs available.
Identify the GDP - per capita for the country.
$37,100
After WWII Japan has developed a technologically advanced economy. Japan is dependent of raw material and fuels. Even though Japan has a crop yield that is highest in the world there is still a 60% food import. There has been modest economic growth but has had 3 recessions since 2008. The economy improved but contracted again during the massive earthquake in 2011. The economy has largely improved within 2 years of the disaster.
Select three key economic indicators such as poverty rates, labor distribution, use of resources, etc. and analyze what this information says about the country, how does it compare to other countries, change over time, etc.
Poverty: 16%
Labor force
Agriculture: 3.9%
Industry: 26.2
Services: 69.8
Unemployment rate: 4.1%
Japan seems to have a low unemployment rate while the poverty is at 16% of the population. This shows that there are some people in Japan with jobs but are making very few money to be in the line of poverty and most of the population is in the service industry of the labor force. Compared to the United States there is a higher unemployment rate and lower population in poverty which shows the US has better paying jobs than Japan however Japan has more jobs available.
Identify the GDP - per capita for the country.
$37,100