Anew government team formed by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry is planning to request that businesses delay the start of job-hunting activities for university students until April of their senior year. This would constitute an important educational reform. However, it is only a baby step in the right direction. Students need to study for a full four years before embarking on the time-intensive undertaking of finding a job.
The conflict between studying and job-hunting has a long history. In the past, businesses maintained a general agreement not to start recruiting until students were in their fourth year of university. That agreement was abolished in 1997 when some companies started making job offers long before the agreed period. The start of recruitment then gradually shifted to the summer of the third year and finally to the beginning of the third year.
As a result, as every university teacher in Japan knows, third- and fourth-year students have a ready excuse for not turning in homework, submitting reports or showing up for class — job hunting! The interruption to university students' studies is a national tragedy.