Editorials Mar 28, 2015
The report that high school English-proficiency scores have fallen far short of government goals is additional evidence that the English education system in Japan is still in desperate need of reform.
Commentary / Japan | SENTAKU MAGAZINE Mar 23, 2015
More University of Tokyo graduates with high academic records appear headed these days for graduate law schools or are taking jobs in the private sector rather than joining the Japanese bureaucracy.
Commentary / Japan Mar 23, 2015
Supplementary aids place teachers on thin ice
by Walt Gardner
Teachers in Japan, as in the U.S., may find themselves without legal cover if they choose to use supplementary classroom materials that they've picked out themselves.
Editorials Mar 14, 2015
For the first time in 40 years, the education ministry has advised teachers to be careful about using "inappropriate" supplementary materials in the classroom.
Editorials Feb 28, 2015
At least 11 prefectures and three cities have banned middle and high school teachers from all communication with students by email, messaging apps or phone after local boards of education found that 205 teachers instigated obscene acts with students in 2013.
Commentary / World Feb 12, 2015
Preparing students for the global economy
by Walt Gardner
It's not uncommon for teachers in Japan to teach a subject well enough but for their stale techniques to teach students to hate the subject for life. That's why it's so important for Japan to move away from its obsession with testing.
Commentary / Japan Feb 1, 2015
Japanese and U.S. law schools at a crossroads
by Walt Gardner
Law schools in Japan and the U.S. find themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place as the number of applicants continues to shrink in the face of a bleak legal job market.
Commentary / Japan Jan 8, 2015
College entrance exams fail to make the grade
by Walt Gardner
Before Japan's Central Council for Education undertakes the formidable task of revising Japan's university entrance exam, it needs to understand why such exams, both here and in the U.S., fail to make the grade.
Editorials Nov 8, 2014
Japan's Finance Ministry has asked the education ministry to increase the number of grade school students per class, reversing a decision from 2011 to reduce class size.
Editorials Nov 8, 2014
The central government has announced additional funding for 37 leading public and private universities as a way to increase their global ranking and competitiveness. No mention was made of the other 67 schools that applied.
Editorials Oct 26, 2014
An advisory body to Japan's education minister calls for upgrading grade school "moral education" — which deals with children's way of thinking and their attitude toward life — to an official subject on a par with mathematics and science.
Editorials Oct 25, 2014
Bullying and violence increased in Japanese schools, particularly for younger students, in fiscal 2013, although better reporting of incidents explains some of the increase over the previous year.