Education in Japan

16mm Film - Education in Japan - BRD 1971

Direction: Valeska von Roques

Script: Valeska von Roques and Ulrich Teichler

Camera: Günter Holz and Klaus Möller

Music: Mitch Miller, and others.

Narrator: Rolf Schimpf

Cast: Prof. Kobe, and others.

This documentary film from 1971 provides a critical insight into the development of the education system in Japan. Uniformity and drill dominate the lives of children in kindergarten. The film observes individual teaching phases in a school-owned television studio, during television-controlled lessons, and during a German lesson. A teacher, a principal, and a professor of education comment on the state and goals of the Japanese education system. The problem of parental educational ambition is addressed using the example of an 11-year-old boy whose parents are primarily concerned with prestige. Scenes at Tokyo State University convey impressions of higher education in Japan. The high demand for places in lecture halls has resulted in a rigorous selection process, meaning that the equal opportunities enshrined in the new school law are no longer guaranteed. The result is exclusive private schools for the privileged, as illustrated by the example of Tamagawa School. The documentary briefly reports on the situation of schools in rural areas, shows opportunities and institutions for second-chance education, and concludes with comments on the social position of women in modern Japan.