CONTEMPORARY JAPAN: EDUCATION & WORK Tokyo University |
| Much attention has been given to the rigor of the Japanese education system and workplace, both of which have certainly contributed to the country’s economic and technological growth. Japanese are expected from a young age to work hard and succeed in a highly competitive environment. In this video series, Harvard University professors Theodore Bestor and Helen Hardacre explain the educational system and path to postgraduate employment in Japan. |
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Theodore Bestor :: For the last hundred years, the most prestigious university in Japan has been Tokyo University. It’s the most difficult to get into, the entrance exams are ferociously difficult, the acceptance rate is very low. One of the reasons that it’s so prestigious is that it’s the traditional route into the national bureaucracy. Now, Americans may look at the prospect of graduating from college and going to work for the government as kind of a boring outcome, but, certainly in the last century, the national bureaucracy in Japan has been the most elite career that somebody could aspire to. If you are an employee of the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, you are an incredibly elite, incredibly important member of society, and Tokyo University has been the pathway to get there. |
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