STUDENT VIEW 2How Japanese High Schools Can
Reform to Prepare Students for theFuture
By Shenger Zhou

Introduction
This article aims to explore the routes Japanese high schools cantake to reform so that individual students will be capable of dealing
with the challenges of the coming decades. In order to find out thebest strategies to utilize in exploring those routes, it is crucial tounderstand what these future challenges will be. I am looking into
this topic from a few different angles and perspectives, including
students’ ability to engage in conceptual and critical thinking, culturaland language learning, the development of individuality and theirability at adapting to technology.

Emerging Problems & Possible Solutions forJapanese High Schoolers
How Individual Opinions Could Play a Bigger Role inClassroom Settings
With the introduction of 5G and artificial intelligence (AI)technologies, the future that seemed to be so distant even a decade
ago now appears more real to us than ever before. The Japanesehigh school system with its strict emphasis on memorization oftechnical knowledge will no longer serve students well in an age
where robotic machines are capable of storing more data thanhuman brains. It is therefore crucial for the education system to beable to adapt and evolve so that young people will be able to function
successfully in the future, as traditional education is going to fail tomeet the upcoming demands in skills and capabilities. Individuality
and personal opinions are going to be even more important inproviding new insights and will add another layer of depth and color
to the world.
Given that the future is going to be less predictable and changing
at a faster rate, it is important for students to innovate and providesolutions to problems utilizing new insights. High schools would
thus be an important stage to help students realize this and topromote individual thinking. In current Japanese high schools,
teachers normally are the authority figures who don’t allow students
to provide different points of view from the ones they provide. In
addition, there are standardized tests with standardized answers that
don’t allow students to justify their own answers, which in turn mold

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Author Shenger Zhou

students to think alike. Japanese high school classrooms don’t
promote teacher-student interaction. The lack of discussion makes
students less aware of the existence of different opinions anddeprives them of the opportunity to see problems from their own
points of view and to address problems on their own. There are stillsome Japanese high schools, however, able to do a better job in
helping students develop individual opinions by forging discussions
and debates during class. The establishment of a channel forteachers and students to engage in conversations and dialogues will
help students not to shy away when trying to express their own
thoughts and provide teachers with a better understanding of what
their students are like.

How Technology Could Facilitate Learning
Since it is well known that the future is going to be even more
dependent on technology, which also seems to be an irreversible
trend, it is therefore essential for students to bring technology into
their learning in order for them to stay ahead of the curve and aheadof others who aren’t willing to adapt or don’t have the access to
crucial technologies. By utilizing technology, students can access theinformation they need to conduct research more effectively. Although
there are numerous other applications unrelated to studies thatpupils could access, the merits of bringing technology into theclassroom outweigh the demerits, given that it is also a good
opportunity for students to exercise self-control and discipline. The
current Japanese high school system, however, doesn’t allow theusage of technology as schools see it as a distraction in class.
Gauging the seriousness of the problem, the government of Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe is starting an initiative to encourage the use oftechnologies in classrooms, despite some opposition from parents
who believe the ability to pass tests and exams is more importantand practical than utilizing technologies which might potentiallydistract their kids from studying. But in order for Japanese students
to get ahead of the learning curve and be prepared for a much more
technologically-integrated future, it is critical for high schools toevaluate this proposal objectively.

https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/

STUDENT VIEW 2How Japanese High Schools Should Prepare Students for
Globalization
Globalization is said to be another trend that is irreversible with thebringing in of faster transportation, more interconnectedtransnational business networks and increasing time for leisure dueto the utilization of AI. It is therefore important to understand otherpoints of views with regard to differences of culture, in addition tolearning international languages. In Japanese high schools, English
teaching is focused heavily on reading and grammar as opposed tooral skills and cultural understanding. Though students might gain ageneral understanding of the language and some can score very highon their exams, their conversational abilities are actually very weak.
Besides their inability to communicate in English, their interculturaland international experiences are quite limited as well. Due to thefact that there aren’t a lot of international students studying inJapanese high schools, Japanese students generally don’t have any
friends who come from a different country or a different background.
Opportunities to study abroad are also very limited due to the factthat not everyone can apply and only a few are accepted afterapplication. The current Japanese high school system does notpromote awareness of foreign cultures enough, with the result thatan average Japanese high schooler only has a limited understandingof the outside world. Nonetheless, most Japanese high schoolers
seem open to forming friendships with people of different ethnic andcultural backgrounds and all they need are opportunities in theirschool systems. Therefore, it wll be useful if Japanese high schools
hold more classes on other cultural practices so as to make theirstudents more familiar with encountering differences. It will be ofgreat benefit if Japanese high schools could coordinate with eachother to establish “buddy programs” between foreign exchange
students and local Japanese students so that they will be able todevelop friendships and better cultural understanding. Such a
program would help to boost communication between people ofdifferent backgrounds and lead to greater knowledge sharing,enhancing cultural ties while improving English oral skills for theJapanese high school students.

How Standardized Answers Should Be Replaced by CreativeSolutions
The ability to conduct research on their own will be essential forstudents to compete in a future environment of constant change,
where they might have to face situations and conditions that havenever appeared before. Japanese high schools, instead of teaching
students how to solve problems, are still very focused on
memorization and technical abilities when it comes to students’exams. Due to the fact that daily grade point averages are notcounted toward getting into Japanese public universities, the ability
to memorize and show technical skills in their tests becomes more
important to Japanese students and families than gaining actual reallife capabilities. Instead of encouraging students to learn something
on their own, Japanese society places enormous pressure on themto go to juku (private cram schools) after school to boost their testscores in the university entrance exams.
Given that the future is unpredictable, the only individuals who will
be able to lead society forward will be those that are able to thinkcritically and creatively. The traditional Japanese high school systemthat seeks standardized solutions will thus be put under anenormous strain by society, knowing that this system might not be
producing leaders capable of offering productive solutions tocomplicated problems that have never arisen before. In addressing
this problem, I suggest Japanese high schools come up with
programs to spur creativity by encouraging students to solve
problems on their own. I believe Japanese students will become
more confident and pragmatic in their ability to solve problems withthe establishment of such programs in their high school years.

Conclusion
The future will present numerous challenges as well as
opportunities. What the Japanese school system does to prepare its
pupils for the future is going to determine whether or not Japan canremain a lively and competitive nation. I have suggested a few
directions in which Japanese high schools could move forward,including a greater adoption of technologies, integration in the globalenvironment, emphasis on personal opinions and encouragement ofinnovative and conceptual thinking. I believe with the adoption ofsuch reforms, Japan could have a brighter future with its talented
young leaders playing a key role in advancing the country toward
greater development.

Shenger Zhou is a visiting scholar at Keio University from Boston University.
He was born in Shanghai, and has studied abroad in several countries, including
the United States and Japan. He aims to be an entrepreneur in helping toaddress the problems of the 21st century.

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