Just 50 years ago, Japanese watches were sold 'by weight' due to their phenomenally low quality, but today Japan has become a leader in the production of robots, computers, and various clever devices packed with electronics. Now almost every Japanese apartment has an iRobot vacuum cleaner robot, everyone has the latest gadgets, and the most advanced order talking mechanical friends for themselves.
Through the circles of 'exam hell'
Perhaps the whole thing is that Japanese people love and know how to study. The education system in the Land of the Rising Sun is structured quite rigidly. Japanese children undergo a rigorous selection process to identify the smartest, most talented, and hardest-working among them. The time when school graduates take entrance exams for higher education institutions is called 'exam hell' in Japan. Because future employment depends on which institution one enters. The 'lifetime employment' system provides Japanese people with jobs until retirement, but what kind of job it will be and how one's career unfolds often depends on which educational institution the graduate completed. For example, students at the University of Tokyo know in advance that they will work at the most prestigious firms and banks in Japan.
For a foreign student, Japan is attractive not only for the unique opportunity to study the life and customs of the Japanese 'from the inside', but also because they will not have to wander through the circles of 'exam hell'. Of course, to enter any Japanese university, a certificate of Japanese language proficiency is required, but you must agree, learning Japanese is much easier than taking all sorts of tests and exams that poor Japanese people have to take! After all, preparation for university admission there begins long before school. A little Japanese child must pass the first exams to get into a prestigious kindergarten. Then elementary school, lower and upper secondary school, numerous private 'juku' schools where applicants are prepared for exams like kamikaze pilots for a flight. And finally, 'exam hell' on entrance exams for higher education institutions. Compared to these trials, Japanese language courses are as simple as a light warm-up compared to a real battle. Especially since the Japanese language is becoming more popular every year. And indeed, everything Japanese is in fashion now. And if you like to visit Japanese restaurants and can tell sushi from haiku, then why not try to enroll, for example, in the University of Tokyo – one of the oldest and most respected educational institutions in the Land of the Rising Sun.
First in Japan
It originates from the Institute for the Study of Chinese Civilization, founded in 1789, when Japanese rulers decided to bring the country out of voluntary isolation. This institute was merged with two others, and as a result, on April 12, 1877, the establishment of the National University in Tokyo was officially announced.
Initially it included four departments: law, natural sciences, humanities, and medicine. In 1890, the departments were transformed into colleges and supplemented by two more divisions: engineering and agriculture. Gradually expanding, the university incorporated more and more structures: an observatory, the Earthquake Research Institute, the Institute of Radiation, etc.
The defeat in World War II only contributed to the growth of the university. As a result of radical reform, the Imperial University was merged with it, and on this basis a general education college, a pedagogical faculty, the Institute of Technology, and the Institute of Journalism and Communication were opened. In July 1949, the first ceremony of initiation of newly admitted applicants into students of the structurally renewed University of Tokyo took place.
Since then, much water has flowed under the bridge, scientific and technological progress has led to the opening of new departments, but fundamentally nothing has changed. Gradually, university graduates, strengthening its prestige, seized more and more seats in the management of Japanese corporations, became famous political figures and scientists. Two graduates of the literature department – writers Yasunari Kawabata and Kenzaburo Oe – were awarded the Nobel Prize.
Now the University of Tokyo is a veritable 'city within a city', consisting of two 'quarters' – the Komaba and Hongo campuses. In total they cover an area of about 40 hectares. They contain academic buildings, research centers and laboratories – including such exotic facilities as a botanical garden or an experimental landscape design station.
The university's structure includes the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as nine faculties (Law, Medicine, Engineering, Humanities, Sciences, Agriculture, Economics, Education, and Pharmaceutical Sciences) and 11 graduate schools. Students can obtain Japanese degrees equivalent to bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in a wide range of disciplines. For example, master's training alone is conducted in 104 fields.
The university has 11 research institutes. They conduct scientific research in fields such as Oriental culture, molecular and cell biology, cosmic radiation, etc. Some of the university's research units – for example, the Atmospheric Research Center, the International Center for Elementary Particle Physics, the Center for Computer Design – are open to all scientists in Japan.
Bachelor's degree studies at the University of Tokyo last 4–6 years depending on the faculty and are divided into two stages: general education and professional. The first two years all students study at the College of Arts and Sciences, where they take general education courses and are introduced to introductory courses in their specialized disciplines.
The academic year at the University of Tokyo begins on April 1 and ends on March 31 of the following year. Applicants must submit a document of completion of full secondary school (for foreigners – a secondary education certificate, i.e., completion of an 11–12 year full cycle of study). For example, the International Baccalaureate diploma is acceptable. The applicant must be at least 18 years old. All applicants are required to pass the first level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Level 1), which is administered by the Association of International Education (Japan) and the Japan Foundation. Another mandatory exam is the General Examination for Foreign Students, administered by the same Association. You will also be asked to write a short essay and undergo an oral exam. And after that, you can finally feel like a real Japanese student.
Visiting the "Asian Tiger"
If the Japanese prefer to study in their homeland or in European countries and the United States, South Korean students can be found in almost any domestic university. They are characterized by diligence, neatness, and perseverance.
But if they are so drawn to us, then why not take a look at them? The Koreans, who are called the "Jews of the Far East," have much to teach. For example, subordination and discipline. Essayist and sociologist Lee Kyu Tae, who in modern Korea is considered one of the leading authorities on national character, writes in his book devoted to the consciousness of modern Koreans: "Hierarchy is a Korean's way of existence, and leaving the hierarchical structure is tantamount to leaving Korean society." When getting acquainted, Koreans not by chance immediately begin to ask each other about their place of work, position, age, and even marital status. The answers to all these questions help people meeting for the first time to determine each other's status in the hierarchy that pervades all society, and accordingly, to understand how they should build mutual relations, who among them is senior and who is junior.
As is well known, the ideal of Confucianism was meritocracy ("rule of the best"). In accordance with Neo-Confucian principles, the path to career advancement, to ranks, and the material well-being directly associated with them, should be open to any person, regardless of their origin. The only criterion for selection should be the presence of individual abilities and education, not specialized, but very broad. The embodiment of the Confucian meritocratic ideal was the examination system, which existed in Korea for about a thousand years (in China, twice as long) and gave people from the lower strata at least formal opportunities for a dizzying career. In these conditions, in Korea and other countries of Confucian civilization, a real cult developed both of education itself and of all sorts of academic degrees and titles.
A characteristic feature of modern Korean consciousness remains the cult of higher education, primarily obtained at one of the prestigious universities. Possession of a university diploma is practically a necessary condition for a successful career for men and a successful marriage for women. Although most Korean women do not work, a diploma is necessary for them too: only diplomated brides can count on a good match.
The main goal that the Korean school system sets for itself is not only to prepare students for university admission, but also to ensure that applicants acquire roughly equal chances. The possibility of success in exams should depend to the maximum extent on the applicant's diligence, knowledge, and abilities, and to the minimum extent on the material capabilities of his family. This explains the suspicious attitude of authorities and public opinion towards any elitism in secondary education. The school curriculum is uniform for the entire country, there are almost no specialized schools with in-depth study of certain subjects. There are also no fee-paying schools, because in Korea it is believed that all young citizens of the country, regardless of their parents' income, should have an equal right to receive a quality education.
Another manifestation of the egalitarian approach characteristic of South Korea in ensuring access to higher education is the relatively low tuition fees at Korean universities, which is possible thanks to significant government subsidies. Usually this fee is $3-4 thousand per year, which with an average salary of $1,200 per month seems quite modest, accessible even for a not wealthy family. In addition, in Korea an expensive university is not necessarily the best. On the contrary, the leading and most prestigious state universities, including Seoul National University, the "number one university," are actually the cheapest (tuition fees there are 1.5-2 times lower than at private ones).
However, it should be remembered that Korean universities differ greatly from each other both in the level of training of their students and in the status that their graduates can aspire to in the future. As in Japan, there is a clear hierarchy of higher education institutions in Korea. This hierarchy is not formally established, but it is well-known. At the very top of the hierarchical pyramid in proud solitude is Seoul National University. The second tier is formed by several leading private universities of the capital (Korea University, Yonsei University), the third by state universities, the fourth by numerous private universities in Seoul. The fifth by provincial private universities.
By the way, to become a student at a Korean university, you don't necessarily have to learn Korean. A good command of English is enough. Moreover, many South Korean universities teach our students for free and even pay them a scholarship. So, if you want to get to know the country called the 'Asian tiger' better, welcome! Just don't forget what was mentioned at the beginning of the article: the East is, after all, a very delicate matter. You need to understand and feel the 'mysterious Asian soul' well.