Note* Where asterisked, to read a pdf document online may entail using the Ctrl Click function
The Educational System in Japan: Case Study Findings (from the ed.gov site)
History of Japanese Education from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Japan Fact Sheet
History of Education in Japan (Wikipedia)
A Comparative Study Between Instruction in International Schools and Japanese School Teachers
Critical Thinking Faces the Challenge of Japan
In Japan Even Tots Must Make the Grade
Teaching is a Cultural Activity by James Stigler & James Hiebert
Tips for Finding an International School Tips for Finding an International School by Japan Inc
Full copies of the international and national PISA reports are available on the SEC website . International studies provide comparable data to the participating countries highlighting their education systems position at the global level, and identifying the weaknesses and strengths. This allows the participating countries to build on the shortcomings and hence building world-class education systems.
A World Apart, Metropolis magazine is a Jan 8, 2004 article that looks at a new type of Tokyo goverment schools that cater to parents of the international community, featuring the Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School and the now recently Tokyo Metropolitan Government Kitatama Kokusai High School.
Transnational Learning: the Integration Jugyo Kenkyuu into Iranian Teacher Training *
Japan At School :Education’s Superpower
Foreign Students in the Japanese University Scroll down this pdf document to read the article at page 6.
MEXT’s efforts in improving Science & Technology literacy in schools detailed here* (including the designation of 167 Super Science High Schools (SSHs) which receive the support of the JST to conduct R&D into curriculums. The schools are able to offer advanced scientific coursework and labs with sophisticated equipment with the funding support of JST.
Help Teachers Hone Skills From the Start
Basic information on education and studying in Japan at Japan Guide.com
“Japan’s Education at a Glance 2005”, statistics available here.
If you download the first section, “School Education”, it has official
figures and tables for the following, with figures from 1980s to 2005:
1. Trends in Occurrence of Acts of Violence in Schools
2. Trends in Bullying Cases
3. Trends in Number of Students Who Refuse to Attend Schools
4. Trends in Number of Upper Secondary School Dropouts
Also info on freeters, number of foreign students, etc. Also note that more specific figures relating to the tables are given at the back of the ‘book’, in the ‘References’ section if you download the whole thing.
At the Child Research.net website may be found a number of monograph reports examining educational issues of current concern to Japan today:
Also see the figures for “children of compulsory age not attending school” (tables for those permitted exemption and for those counted as ‘long absentees’) going back to 1950s.
Wandering Education, The Waseda Guardian, 2005 on elite education and the failure of yutori education.
Music and the Mind Read about the connection between music and academic achievement and the similarities in the music curriculum of Hungary, Netherlands and Japan in public schools.
See this page for a simple table of ‘number of students refusing to attend school F.Y 1991-2004″ (note that the figs are for kids absent for 50 or more days until 1991, then they changed the definition to kids absent for 30 or more days.
The problems of pyramid-shaped University Ranking System
Is Japan Getting Bored with English? Let’s hope so! 2006 marks the 4th straight decline in the number of foreign English teachers brought in by the program after a peak in 2002.
Educational Perspectives. Japanese Education
Commentary on Current Events in Education
Views of Japanese Ethnic Identity Amongst Undergraduates in Hokkaido
Kids Web Japan one of the coolest websites for kids on Japan.
Elementary and Secondary Education: International Perspectives at pp.99 & 100 are some surprising comparisons and observations the relatively more challenging lessons and active teaching methods used in Japan (and Germany) are responsible for the good TIMSS showing.
Japanese Historical Text Initiative
Activist-groups where your views on education, among other issues, can sometimes be made heard include:
United for a Multicultural Japan
Arudou Debito/Dave Aldwinckle’s webpage – the guy who legally challenged an onsen’s right to exclude foreigners. See in particular Debito’s Blog on Education
Japanese Schools in Five Years
Anyone Can Learn About RAMI High School, a free school
Japanese Educational System is a Failure Say Some Japanese
School Achievement and Socialization in Japan: Implications for Educators
Accepting Diversity in Both Background and Ability: A Comparative Study of Finland and Japan
Societal Responses to Stratification Societal Responses to Stratification
Bilingual Child Code-Switching in suru compounds
Cultural Influences in the Construction of Knowledge in Japanese Higher Education
Putting Their Money Where Their Mouths Are About English eikaiwa
Common Sense Education About Kyoto International School’s philosophy
HIM From the Village About Yamazato no terakoya / School of the Mountain Village’s programme
European School aka German School
No Need For Change: Japan Has a Perfectly God Language of Its Own
Foreign Influence About the use of loanwords in the Japanese language
121Sensei.com a website for English teachers for private students, gives the history of English teaching in Japan.
Kevin’s English Schools English site and Kevin’s blog, Japan Living, learn all about living and working in Japan from those that do!
Gaijinpot.com has a page detailing briefly the schooling options for a newly arrived family.
Teaching Superstars about super teachers at jukus
Education in Japan A thesis on the topic
Lessons From Abroad Lessons From Abroad explains the differences between the amount of core academic instruction that goes on between the US, Germany and Japan and mentioning the consequences of jukus on performance
Japanese Schools: Exam Ordeal Rules Each Student’s Destiny
Brianmicklethwait on Education
Japanese Education the Wrong Answer, The Economist
Creative Children: Japanese High School Girls’ Narratives of Life
New Style English Primary School for Fukuoka it’s called Linden Hall
All English School A Hit Ota International Academy
Numerical Targets set by public schools
NHK educational channel: NHK provides an educational channel which is used by 85 percent of elementary schools in Japan. Our tour guide explained that NHK works with the Japanese Education Ministry to “see what we can provide to support the curriculum.” Our tour guide estimated that NHK’s education channel is viewed between 10 and 15 minutes per class on average. Japanese aged 7 years and older watch, on average, 4 hours of television every day (according to the NHK study) – “Television in Japan” by Ron Kaufman
「デイリー読売（03/11/28）Daily Yomiuri: THE LANGUAGE CONNECTION Raising tots to be multilingual」 (English) 
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Sogoteki na Gakushuu The Integrated Curriculum Educational Reform in Japan
Socialization, community support needed for kidsChild’s Interest Comes First
Sense of Community as a Mediating Factor in Promoting Children’s Social and Ethical Development
The Juku Phenomenon: An Exploratory Essay
HOSA Homeschool Support of Association
New Day Language School offers great ESL links.
Japan Guide’s Japan Guide’s information page on Education in Japan
Researching the Educational System of Shizuoka
Kids on Campus – an Optimal Japanese Concept. About developing “deep knowledge” through optimal learning activities and environments, eg. IT classes, in various Japanese schools and afterschools.
Education & Social Science Library’s College & University Rankings Website http://www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/rankgen.htm
List of private universities at this link.
Japan Yellow Pages Universities and Colleges (Local) and Foreign Universities link.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Institute of Higher Education’s ranking of the world’s top 500 universities. Their findings are published at their rankings page.
“Mass education was always conducted by private schools, but with time, some governmental institutes enrolled gifted ordinary people. In Japan it can be said that private schools have always led the way in improving the social status of the ordinary population.” – Wataru Hasegawa in Japan’s System of Post-Secondary Institutions explains the history of universities and other post-secondary institutions in Japan.
Designing Learning Environments for Meaningful Creativity *
Readings on Moral Education in Japan
EDUCATION IN JAPAN COMMUNITY Blog 
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