Study Abroad in Japan
Japan is an archipelago of islands covering over
200,000 square miles. The largest island is Japan, followed
by Hokkaido in the North, then Kysuhu and Shikoku,
with many smaller islands making up the country. The
climate varies from subtropical in the south, to cold and
snowy in the north.
Tokyo is the capital and is a large, bustling city of
contrasts, where you can find skyscrapers next to
traditional shrines. The famous Senso-ji Temple is here if
you want to sample some of Japan’s Buddhist tradition,
but you can also visit the main entertainment district
Shinjuku and a variety of museums
japanese are proud of their four seasons (and a
surprising number believe the phenomenon is unique to
Japan), but the discerning tourist should try to aim for two
of them.
Spring is probably the best time of year to be in
Japan. The temperatures are warm but not hot, there's not
too much rain, and March-April brings the justly
famous cherry blossoms and is a time of revelry and
festivals. Just watch out for Golden Week (April 27 to May
6), the longest holiday of the year, when everybody
travels and everything is booked full.
Summer starts with a dreary rainy season in June and
turns into a steam bath in July-August, with extreme
humidity and the temperature heading as high as 40°C.
O-Bon (mid-August), when everybody is on the road again,
is probably the worst possible time to visit. Avoid,
or do as the Japanese do and head to northern Hokkaido
or the mountains of Chubu and Tohoku to escape.
Autumn - Fall, starting in September, is a close
second to spring. Temperatures become more tolerable, fair
days are common and fall colors can be just as
impressive as cherry blossoms.
Winter is a good time to go skiing or hot-spring
hopping, but as the Japanese have yet to figure out the
wonders of central heating, it's often miserably cold
indoors. Heading south to Okinawa provides some relief.
Also watch out for New Years (December 29 to January
3), the only days of the year when everything in the
country shuts down.
Economy
Japan has become a recognized leader in high
technology electronics. Japan is a major producer of computers,
televisions, cameras and audio equipment. Japan is
also well known for its electronic semiconductors.
Japan does have some farming, particularly rice. Japan
also has a large fishing fleet. Fish and rice are two
major foods eaten by the Japanese.
cities
Here are the important cities of japan along with
their respective population.
Tokyo 8.0 million
Yokohama 3.4 million
Osaka 2.5 million
Nagoya 2.1 million
Sapporo 1.8 million
Kobe 1.5 million
Kyoto 1.4 million
Fukuoka 1.3 million
Kawasaki 1.2 million
Hiroshima 1.1 million
Saitama 1.0 million
Kitakyushu 1.0 million
Sendai 1.0 million
currency
There is no limit on the amount of any currency that
may be brought into or taken out of Japan. However, if
you transport (any currencies, checks, securities or
other monies.) exceeding 1,000,000 yen worth in
Japanese currency into or out of the country then you must
complete a customs declaration
Japanese currency is called Yen (¥). Banknotes come in
denominations of ¥1000, ¥2000, ¥5000 and ¥10,000
(¥2000 notes are very rarely seen).
Coins come in denominations of ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100
and ¥500.
The ¥1.00 coin is an aluminium lightweight coin, the
¥5.00 and ¥50.00 coins have a punched hole in the
middle (the former is coloured bronze and the latter
silver).
Note that some vending machines do not accept older
¥500 coins
Education system
Understanding the Japanese people and culture requires
understanding the factors that mold them. Particularly
important are those components which influence them in
their formative years. The Japanese education system
is one of the most influential agents molding Japanese
youth. Given the large amount of time that Japanese
students spend in schools, it is little wonder that the
education system plays a tremendous role in
determining the fabric of Japanese society. An examination of
the "typical" high school experience illuminates the
function of the education system in Japanese society.
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.
In Japan, education is free and compulsory for
children from 6 to 15 years of age, meaning a student can
leave school legally basically around the start of upper
secondary school. Even with that freedom, though, some
97% of all students go on to enter upper secondary
school, with 45% of the students going on to a university
education. By comparison nationally some 40% of
American students drop out of high school before graduation;
thus, the actual U.S. percentage going on to college
is much, much smaller.
Over 99% of students attend elementary school,
entering at the age of six. Classes are large with around 31
students per class as an average. Students are
organized into small work groups for academic and
disciplinary purposes.
The standard curriculum includes Japanese language,
social studies, math and science along with art, music,
home economics., physical education and moral
education, the most emphasis being given to learning the
Japanese language.
There are lunches in the elementary schools but few
schools have their own cafeterias. Students will usually
eat lunch in the room with their teacher (which can
also be used by the teacher for instructing students in
proper nutrition and group behavior.)
Lower-secondary schools cover grades seven, eight and
nine (similar to the old-style "junior high" in the
U.S.). Men compose two-thirds of the teachers at this
level, and some 99% of the principals are also men.
Class size averages 38, and the periods are fifty minutes
long.
The upper-secondary schools are ranked based on their
success in placing graduating students into
prestigious universities which then causes parents to want their
children to attend these "better" schools. This leads
to the pressure to do well on each series of placement
tests that the students have to take to determine just
what school they will be attending.
The upper-secondary schools offer academic, technical
and vocational programs. The first-year courses will
include Japanese language, English, math and science.
Vocational courses can include information processing,
navigation, fish farming, ceramics and business
English.
There are also schools for handicapped students.
"Mainstreaming" is not like in the U.S. schools where
students with various mental and/or physical handicaps are
placed into standard classes. Handicapped Japanese
students tend to go to schools specifically for students
with special needs.
Women form 20% of the teaching force in the
upper-secondary schools and only hold 2.5 percent of the
principal jobs.
Then there are, of course, the various universities
that the students can attend. Private institutions make
up 80% of university enrollments although the public
schools have the most prestige.
To get into a university (there are over 500 in Japan)
the student must take two exams; the first one is a
national achievement test, and the second will be one
given by the university itself. The competition is quite
fierce, and some students who fail a test will take
another year to study and prepare to take the test
again. The term ronin us used for these students; the word
originally referred to samurai whose lord had been
killed, leaving them with a job, basically.
Ronin make up about 40% of the entrants into four-year
colleges (although only 14% of this group are female.)
There is also a University of the Air which makes
higher education available via radio and television
broadcasts.
60% of the universities have graduate schools, but
only about 7% of the university graduates go on to obtain
master's degrees. It is also dominated by males, with
women at the master's level concentrated in the
humanities, social sciences and education, while the men are
often in engineering programs. (2% of the women are in
these programs.)
At the doctorate level, women form 13% of doctoral
enrollments and are concentrated in medical programs and
the humanities.
There is also a series of junior colleges. Over 90% of
the students attending these are women. These schools
tend to stress home economics, nursing, teaching, the
humanities and social sciences.
Japanese is the most important and m ost widely used
language in japan although english is also well
understood .here are some words along with their english
meaning :-
Hello. Konnichiwa.
Good Morning. Ohayou.
Ohayou-gozaimasu. (Polite)
How are you? Ogenki desu-ka.
I'm fine. Genki-desu.
And you? Anata wa?
I'm fine, too. Watashi-mo genki-desu.
Thank you. Arigatou.
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