Study Abroad in Japan

Japan is an archipelago of islands covering over 200,000 square miles. The largest island is Japan, followed by Hokkaido in the North, then Kysuhu and Shikoku, with many smaller islands making up the country. The climate varies from subtropical in the south, to cold and snowy in the north.

Tokyo is the capital and is a large, bustling city of contrasts, where you can find skyscrapers next to traditional shrines. The famous Senso-ji Temple is here if you want to sample some of Japan’s Buddhist tradition, but you can also visit the main entertainment district Shinjuku and a variety of museums

japanese are proud of their four seasons (and a surprising number believe the phenomenon is unique to Japan), but the discerning tourist should try to aim for two of them.

Spring is probably the best time of year to be in Japan. The temperatures are warm but not hot, there's not too much rain, and March-April brings the justly famous cherry blossoms and is a time of revelry and festivals. Just watch out for Golden Week (April 27 to May 6), the longest holiday of the year, when everybody travels and everything is booked full.

Summer starts with a dreary rainy season in June and turns into a steam bath in July-August, with extreme humidity and the temperature heading as high as 40°C. O-Bon (mid-August), when everybody is on the road again, is probably the worst possible time to visit. Avoid, or do as the Japanese do and head to northern Hokkaido or the mountains of Chubu and Tohoku to escape.

Autumn - Fall, starting in September, is a close second to spring. Temperatures become more tolerable, fair days are common and fall colors can be just as impressive as cherry blossoms.

Winter is a good time to go skiing or hot-spring hopping, but as the Japanese have yet to figure out the wonders of central heating, it's often miserably cold indoors. Heading south to Okinawa provides some relief. Also watch out for New Years (December 29 to January 3), the only days of the year when everything in the country shuts down.

Economy
Japan has become a recognized leader in high technology electronics. Japan is a major producer of computers, televisions, cameras and audio equipment. Japan is also well known for its electronic semiconductors. Japan does have some farming, particularly rice. Japan also has a large fishing fleet. Fish and rice are two major foods eaten by the Japanese.

cities
Here are the important cities of japan along with their respective population.
Tokyo 8.0 million
Yokohama 3.4 million
Osaka 2.5 million
Nagoya 2.1 million
Sapporo 1.8 million
Kobe 1.5 million
Kyoto 1.4 million
Fukuoka 1.3 million
Kawasaki 1.2 million
Hiroshima 1.1 million
Saitama 1.0 million
Kitakyushu 1.0 million
Sendai 1.0 million

currency
There is no limit on the amount of any currency that may be brought into or taken out of Japan. However, if you transport (any currencies, checks, securities or other monies.) exceeding 1,000,000 yen worth in Japanese currency into or out of the country then you must complete a customs declaration

Japanese currency is called Yen (¥). Banknotes come in denominations of ¥1000, ¥2000, ¥5000 and ¥10,000 (¥2000 notes are very rarely seen).
Coins come in denominations of ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100 and ¥500.
The ¥1.00 coin is an aluminium lightweight coin, the ¥5.00 and ¥50.00 coins have a punched hole in the middle (the former is coloured bronze and the latter silver).
Note that some vending machines do not accept older ¥500 coins

Education system
Understanding the Japanese people and culture requires understanding the factors that mold them. Particularly important are those components which influence them in their formative years. The Japanese education system is one of the most influential agents molding Japanese youth. Given the large amount of time that Japanese students spend in schools, it is little wonder that the education system plays a tremendous role in determining the fabric of Japanese society. An examination of the "typical" high school experience illuminates the function of the education system in Japanese society. Getting to School Japanese high school students do not drive cars. Many either walk or ride bicycles if the distance is not too great. In other cases, students must take public buses and trains, often changing lines several times in order to reach their destinations. It is not uncommon for students to spend two or more hours each day on public transportation. After junior high school, students attend schools based on standardized high school entrance examination scores. As a result, some students travel a great distance to attend the school determined by their test scores.

In Japan, education is free and compulsory for children from 6 to 15 years of age, meaning a student can leave school legally basically around the start of upper secondary school. Even with that freedom, though, some 97% of all students go on to enter upper secondary school, with 45% of the students going on to a university education. By comparison nationally some 40% of American students drop out of high school before graduation; thus, the actual U.S. percentage going on to college is much, much smaller.

Over 99% of students attend elementary school, entering at the age of six. Classes are large with around 31 students per class as an average. Students are organized into small work groups for academic and disciplinary purposes.

The standard curriculum includes Japanese language, social studies, math and science along with art, music, home economics., physical education and moral education, the most emphasis being given to learning the Japanese language.

There are lunches in the elementary schools but few schools have their own cafeterias. Students will usually eat lunch in the room with their teacher (which can also be used by the teacher for instructing students in proper nutrition and group behavior.)

Lower-secondary schools cover grades seven, eight and nine (similar to the old-style "junior high" in the U.S.). Men compose two-thirds of the teachers at this level, and some 99% of the principals are also men. Class size averages 38, and the periods are fifty minutes long.

The upper-secondary schools are ranked based on their success in placing graduating students into prestigious universities which then causes parents to want their children to attend these "better" schools. This leads to the pressure to do well on each series of placement tests that the students have to take to determine just what school they will be attending.

The upper-secondary schools offer academic, technical and vocational programs. The first-year courses will include Japanese language, English, math and science. Vocational courses can include information processing, navigation, fish farming, ceramics and business English.

There are also schools for handicapped students. "Mainstreaming" is not like in the U.S. schools where students with various mental and/or physical handicaps are placed into standard classes. Handicapped Japanese students tend to go to schools specifically for students with special needs.

Women form 20% of the teaching force in the upper-secondary schools and only hold 2.5 percent of the principal jobs.

Then there are, of course, the various universities that the students can attend. Private institutions make up 80% of university enrollments although the public schools have the most prestige.

To get into a university (there are over 500 in Japan) the student must take two exams; the first one is a national achievement test, and the second will be one given by the university itself. The competition is quite fierce, and some students who fail a test will take another year to study and prepare to take the test again. The term ronin us used for these students; the word originally referred to samurai whose lord had been killed, leaving them with a job, basically.

Ronin make up about 40% of the entrants into four-year colleges (although only 14% of this group are female.)

There is also a University of the Air which makes higher education available via radio and television broadcasts.

60% of the universities have graduate schools, but only about 7% of the university graduates go on to obtain master's degrees. It is also dominated by males, with women at the master's level concentrated in the humanities, social sciences and education, while the men are often in engineering programs. (2% of the women are in these programs.)

At the doctorate level, women form 13% of doctoral enrollments and are concentrated in medical programs and the humanities.

There is also a series of junior colleges. Over 90% of the students attending these are women. These schools tend to stress home economics, nursing, teaching, the humanities and social sciences.

Japanese is the most important and m ost widely used language in japan although english is also well understood .here are some words along with their english meaning :-

Hello. Konnichiwa.
Good Morning. Ohayou.
Ohayou-gozaimasu. (Polite)
How are you? Ogenki desu-ka.
I'm fine. Genki-desu.
And you? Anata wa?
I'm fine, too. Watashi-mo genki-desu.
Thank you. Arigatou.