Failing Economy Makes Japan Rethink its Education System

Japan has been seeing its decline as the top manufacturing nation. For a country whose economy is based off of the manufacturing market, this is a problem. Students who are studying to be scientists or engineers don’t include history or literature into their education. Instead, they focus strongly on science and engineering, knowledge that Takamitsu Sawa, president of Shiga University, argues can be obtained from on-the-job training. He stresses the importance of educating students on the basics of humanities and science, literature, philosophy, and fine arts. Students educated in these subjects provided Western economies with the abilities to thrive even though they fell behind in the manufacturing market.

After World War II, Japan had surpassed Western competition in manufacturing. However Western nations were able to maintain their economic stronghold by depending on other markets. Japan however does not have a strong presence in other markets.

In a recent article, Sawa further supports this claim.He tackles the country’s sole dependency on the manufacturing market. He separates industry into four sectors: agriculture-forestry-fishery, mining, manufacturing, and services. Except for the manufacturing market, he argues that Japan has no competitive edge in the remaining sectors.  The reason for the lack of competition is due to the lack of education in other subjects. Japan is dropping behind countries like China and South Korea in economic globalization. Japan needs to reform its education in order to catch up.

If Sawa’s argument is taken seriously, there may be a change in education curriculum across the nation. It would start from high school and continue through college.

Creative Commons Love: WorldSkills on Flickr.com

Written by Sera Yoo