Opinions on Japan’s compulsory education system differs greatly between Japanese people. Some say the system is putting too much pressure on students, while others say students should be studying for longer hours.

For the past two decades, the Japanese education system saw change from the strict, jam-packed curriculum that had been dominating both public and private schools for many years. However, the new system, which has less school hours, received a lot of criticism. Many people felt that students were starting to lack knowledge and that the average intelligence level was declining. On the other hand, there were people who saw many merits with the new curriculum. With no more school on Saturdays, students had time to do extracurricular activities, therefore letting their perspectives towards non-academic fields to broaden greatly. Also, with the implementation of moral and ethical classes, the young generation became more involved and interested in volunteer work and other humanitarian aid work. After many discussions whether the conventional educational system or the new system was more beneficial, the Ministry of Education decided to shift back. Now, most elementary schools once again have morning classes on Saturdays, and students have more facts to learn.

Despite the feud regarding the excessively strict education system, most students go to cram schools. So, even though there may not have been school on Saturdays for a couple of decades, students went to cram schools to do further studying. This style of further studies is a result of the Japanese entrance examination system for higher education. No matter how much the system for compulsory education may change, high schools and universities do not change their entrance exam assessment methods and levels. As a result, students who want to get into good schools, must do extra studying at cram schools. If a student wants to learn a musical instrument outside school, but the university he or she wants to study at only uses test scores to select students, the student would have to give up learning music, and would have no other option but to assign free time to do extra studying. Thus, would not have the opportunity to interact with the world beyond school gates.

Education in Japan has many issues to solve. The one-sided, teacher centered teaching method is still a controversial topic. Hopefully, Japan will see positive changes in the near future.