Chapter 16 Education and Culture (PDF:261KB)

1. School-Based Education

Japan's primary and secondary education is based on a 6-3-3 system: 6 years in elementary school, 3 years in lower secondary school, and 3 years in upper secondary school. The period of compulsory schooling is the 9 years at elementary and lower secondary schools. Higher education institutions are universities, junior colleges, and colleges of technology. Other education establishments include kindergartens, which provide pre-school education, and special education schools for mentally and/or physically challenged children. There are also specialized training colleges and miscellaneous schools for a wide range of vocational and other practical skills learning. Given the nearly 100-percent upper secondary school entrance rate, the School Education Law was amended in 1998 to authorize combined lower and upper secondary schooling, which began at some lower and upper secondary schools in 1999. On an additional note, school years in Japan start in April and end in March.

 

 

 

Of the March 2011 upper secondary school graduates, 53.9 percent went straight on to enter a university or junior college. The ratio of upper secondary school graduates who entered a university, junior college, etc. in 2011 was 56.7 percent (57.2 percent of male and 56.1 percent of female graduates), including graduates from previous years.

 

 

 

Fiscal 2009 public expenditure on education in Japan was 23.5 trillion yen, which was equivalent to 14.1 percent of the net expenditure of national and local governments. Fiscal 2010 school expenditure by households with children attending public school averaged 54,929 yen per elementary school pupil, 131,501 yen per lower-secondary school student and 237,669 yen per upper-secondary school student.

 

 

As of May 1, 2011, a total of 110,477 foreign students were enrolled in Japanese junior colleges, universities, and graduate schools. Of the total foreign students, 92.4 percent were from Asia, including 69,934 from China, 14,440 from the Republic of Korea and 3,023 from Taiwan.

 

2. Lifelong Learning

In recent years, people's demands for learning are increasing and the contents are becoming more diverse and advenced. This has raised more and more expectations over the realization of a "Lifelong Learning Society" in which people are able to utilize their learning outcomes.

 

Today, efforts are being made to link school education, social education, cultural activities, sports activities, recreational activities, volunteer activities, and corporate in-house education, in order to develop a society where people have the freedom to continue learning throughout their lives. In providing places and opportunities for such lifelong learning, educational institutions, social education facilities (public halls, libraries, museums, etc.) and sports facilities play a vital role. Staff members of these institutions and facilities regularly consult and exchange views with prefectural boards of education, private education organizations, NPOs and business groups.

 

3. Leisure Activities

The results of the 2006 Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities conducted with people aged 10 and over show that the per-day average amount of free time was 6 hours and 23 minutes, which is the time remaining after activities that are physiologically necessary (sleeping, eating, etc.) and societally essential (work, housework, etc.). It was found that 1 hour and 17 minutes of free time was spent for hobbies, sports, studies, volunteer activities, etc.

 

 

The participation rate (percentage of people who engaged in the activity within the past 12 months) for "sports" was 65.3 percent. The most popular sport for both genders was "walking and light exercise" (men: 30.6 percent; women: 39.0 percent). Other popular sports for men were "bowling" (21.0 percent) and "fishing" (16.0 percent). For women, such sports were "bowling" (16.3 percent) and "swimming" (12.8 percent). The participation rate for "studies and researches (excluding school and professional activities)" was 35.2 percent. Men preferred "information processing using PCs and other related technologies" (14.6 percent) and "commercial skills and other business-related topics" (11.1 percent), while women preferred "cooking, sewing and other household management-related topics" (13.8 percent), as well as "arts and culture" (13.3 percent).

 

 

4. Publishing and Mass Media

The total number of books and magazines published in Japan during 2010 was 1.36 billion and 3.36 billion, respectively, of which 2.07 billion were monthlies and 1.29 billion were weeklies.

A total of 77,773 new book titles were released in 2010. The number of magazine titles published was 4,056 (including 2,320 monthlies and 108 weeklies) in 2010.

A total of 119 daily newspapers were in circulation, and the penetration was 0.9 newspapers per household as of October 2011.

 

 

 

 

Japan has a public broadcasting network (NHK: Nippon Hoso Kyokai, or Japan Broadcasting Corporation), as well as commercial networks. NHK was the pioneer broadcasting station, and has been funded through fees paid by subscribers.

Major broadcasting services can be divided roughly into three categories: terrestrial, satellite, and cable television. Terrestrial digital broadcasting was launched in some areas of the Kanto, Kinki and Chukyo regions in December 2003 and then also in other areas, including all prefectural capitals, in December 2006. As of March 31, 2012, analog broadcasting ended and was completely replaced with terrestrial digital broadcasting in all parts of Japan. Satellite broadcasters offer an increasing number of channels through, for example, new digital broadcasting which began in March 2002.

 

 

Subscribers of cable television services (self-originating broadcasting using licensed facilities) have steadily increased to 26.6 million households, or 49.6 percent of all households in March 2012.

In 2011, advertising expenditures on the four major media types in Japan (newspapers, magazines, radio and television) totaled 2.7 trillion yen, dipping below those in the previous year for the seventh consecutive year. This accounted for 47.3 percent of total 2011 advertising expenditures, which were 5.7 trillion yen. Internet advertising expenditure made up 14.1 percent, up 4.1 percent from the previous year.

 

 

5. Cultural Assets

As a country with a long history, Japan has been endowed with an abundance of valuable cultural assets, including works of art, historic landmarks, and many natural monuments. To pass on this cultural heritage to future generations, the Japanese government has accorded many of the most important assets as national treasures, designated important cultural properties, historic sites, places of scenic beauty, or natural monuments, based on the Cultural Assets Preservation Law. The government has also been engaged in efforts to preserve and repair existing cultural assets, search for and recover other buried artifacts and restore historic landmarks.

 

 

As of May 1, 2012, 12,816 items were assigned as designated important cultural properties, of which 1,082 were classified as national treasures. In addition, the government has provided support for such activities as theatrical performances, music, handicrafts and other important intangible cultural properties. It also has worked to preserve important folk-cultural properties such as annual cultural events and folk performing arts, as well as to train people to carry on such traditions.

Japan ratified the UNESCO World Heritage Convention (the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage) in 1992. In June 2011, Ogasawara Islands, Tokyo, was inscribed as the 15th World Heritage Site in Japan. Located approximately 1,000 kilometers south of the heart of Tokyo, Ogasawara Islands comprise a group of approximately 30 islands that vary in size. Every one of those islands is an oceanic island that has never been connected to any continent since its formation and is, therefore, the habitat of a great number of living creatures native to it, a fact that gave the islands the nickname "Galapagos of the Orient."

This was then followed by "Hiraizumi - Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land" being named as the 16th World Heritage Site. It consists of temples, former temple sites, gardens and other sites. All those temples were built with the involvement of the Oshu Fujiwara clan, which flourished in the Tohoku region in the 12th century throughout four generations.

In 2006, the UNESCO Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage entered into force. As of November 2011, Japan has 20 entries on its list, including: noh theater, ningyo johruri bunraku puppet theater and kabuki theater (the kind of kabuki performed by a traditional method of acting and directing).