Blogs and Articles from Third Way Forum Membrs

・There is a vast difference between the international schools and Japanese schools in terms of how children are educated. In international schools, generally speaking, children are encouraged to think and act more independently as individuals and expand their knowledge and curiosity. In Japanese schools. The focus is more on consumption of knowledge by repetition and imitation of the cases & drills in the text books. Students learn strong discipline and group mentality but not so much creativity and independence.

・In old days, the four year period at university was regarded as a happy play period in Japan. Students studied hard for the entrance exam and now successfully joined a renowned university. So it’s time for them to party for 4 years. Entering an university was hard but graduating was easy. This practice was possible because Japanese companies also wanted new grads to be trained to be company-loyal-generalists and not looking for professional skills as individuals. The university brands were much more important than what students actually studied. They did not have to study much anyway.

・But nowadays, as companies are looking for more professionalism in individual employees and can no longer give life-long employment to brand-collage-graduates with no skills, students seem to be studying more these days at schools.

・However, when it comes to preparedness for global business world, still most Japanese university students are totally unprepared. They do not seriously think about their career until the 3rd year of universities. Most students still don’t speak English, hardly any international exposure, and no professional knowledge and just drifting around. In the West, children are thinking about possible future career paths and preparing themselves much earlier.

・The curriculum of Japanese schools seem irrelevant today and the gap between the needed talent in today’ global business world and the level of Japanese students produced by the Japanese education system is getting wider.

・It is very hard for Japanese schools to change drastically because teachers are very domestically raised people. Also, many Japanese companies are still run by domestically raised leaders who still judge students based on their university brands.

・In the West, now there is a discussion whether a 4 year university degree is obsolete especially among tech companies. Smart people self-educate themselves from early age. You can develop amazing tech skills and knowledge without 4 year degree.

・As long as Japanese people feel comfortable in today’s education system and the following domestic corporate system, it is very difficult for them to realized a need for change. They do not realize Japan as a country is getting left behind year by year.

・There is still a lot of peer pressure among the Japanese to conform to the existing ways of doing things.

・What is really hindering the Japanese from becoming globally aware busines persons is not only the lack of English and international exposure, but also the real soft skillsets, such as flexibility and resilience necessary to deal with today’s VUCA world. As long as the Japanese students are still wearing uniforms, marching in a military formation with a brass band, taking crazy difficult entrance exams that does not allow proper childhood, and keep learning only by repetition and imitation, they will never be able to work properly in today’s global business world.

・A questions was asked to all the participants. “If you have a young teenage person you truly care about, do you recommend him/her to go to a Japanese school and join a Japanese company?” Everyone answered “No way!”.

・Global Japanese leaders who are successful today all seem to have pretty rich international experiences. Unless Japanese schools and companies provide such an international environment and internationally relevant curriculum, their people will probably never be able to work in the international business world. As it is highly unlikely that Japanese companies and schools can do that, individual Japanese have to decide how they want to educate themselves and their children for their future without relying on the Japanese and corporate systems.