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University entrance exams begin across Japan

24 Comments

Japan's unified university entrance exams began Saturday at 651 venues across the country.

According to the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, which administers the exams, applicants sat for tests in geography, history, civics, Japanese language and foreign languages on Saturday.

On Sunday, tests will be held in mathematics, science and a new subject, "Information 1," which tests knowledge of data utilization and programming.

The number of applicants this year is around 495,000. The results will be used to screen applicants to 838 universities and colleges.

Students who are unable to sit for the exams if they are sick, delayed due to snow disrupting transport or are in disaster-hit areas, can take the exams on January 25 and 26.

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24 Comments
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Best of luck to all of you, I just hope that the requirement for essential english has finally been totally removed. As for info1 good luck, just remember to upgrade annually.

Not making the fun, as you progress in life always remember the hours you devoted to all study and continue to develop it. no matter what year day,

-4 ( +6 / -10 )

Wishing all candidates the very best of luck and success! Getting into one of the few "famous" universities is not the be all and end all!

1 ( +15 / -14 )

Maybe if this is what high schools and companies looked like in terms of dress, the country would be better off.

-2 ( +8 / -10 )

getting a good education and having proof is a major step towards being a responsible adult. I Accept that entering one of the few jpn unis is for jpn peoples. But Unitians strive to gain ivy league entrance??? same case!

TWNC dress code is recognised by all nations shirts ties etc. ok if your Taiwan Uni did not require it from you, fair play but it does not give you ultimate right to criticize other nations.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

Very nostalgic! I was in that room in 1998 taking the exam for Tokyo University. And I passed! It's a great place to study.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

@Gokai - same, in 2005. Made some fantastic memories there and wouldn't trade my experience for anything.

5 ( +10 / -5 )

Why do they still bother with these exams? Japanese universities are so desperate they will accept anyone. Would love to see the application ratios. Even Todai is probably 1:1 these days.

-12 ( +6 / -18 )

Todai is ranked 28th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025, but Waseda is 801–1000th and Keio is 601–800th. The Japanese university system is a joke. The appalling quality of tertiary education wasn't a problem when Japan was rich, but it's starting to matter now.

-11 ( +6 / -17 )

On Sunday, tests will be held in mathematics, science and a new subject, "Information 1," which tests knowledge of data utilization and programming.

Oh the irony of having to do it with a pencil and paper.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

The Japanese university system is a joke.

The shinkansen.

Seto Ohashi.

Earthquake proof buildings and infrastructure.

The number of Japanese recipients of the Nobel Prize and other awards in science.

All products of the Japanese university system.

6 ( +12 / -6 )

garymalgren: "All products of the Japanese university system."

Of the past, yes. These kids are all going to pass and get in. Not because of any great system, but because kids are becoming fewer and fewer and the money getting tighter. And all of the things the person cited in pointing out the rankings of Japan's current system are not wrong. I mean, remember when Japan's major companies were in the top ten of world companies? How are they now?

-7 ( +7 / -14 )

Half my daughter's uniclasses seem to get cancelled for 'teacher's meeting' or such. No aim of education here. Just passing them along the conveyor belt of Japanese life.

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

iron manToday  04:54 pm JST

Best of luck to all of you, I just hope that the requirement for essential english has finally been totally removed. 

Why?

3 ( +7 / -4 )

It would be nice to have more information in this article. Such as: approximately how many university openings exist for Japanese students; how many foreign students in Japan each year; ratio of boys and girls taking exams; historical trend in the scores; number of Japanese students who go outside Japan each year for university education and what countries do they go to;...

Just looking at that picture I can almost feel the anxiety! I hope they all do their best.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

The shinkansen. 

Seto Ohashi. 

Earthquake proof buildings and infrastructure. 

The number of Japanese recipients of the Nobel Prize and other awards in science. 

All products of the Japanese university system.

Not new inventions, but refinement of existing technology. So much for innovation.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

Everything seems OK, except one! Why only the selected through tests are allowed to go for higher studies? This is happening all over the world, but it is against the common populace who want to study but are thwarted due to these artificially created boundaries/levels by so-called intellectuals and policy makers.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I read yesterday elsewhere that extra police were being deployed in the Tokyo trains and subways to prevent gropers, because in online chatrooms between would-be gropers they say that the entrance exam days are a great day to get out and fondle girls heading out to take their tests since they won't report you to the cops because that means it'll take time to do so and they will risk missing when the doors close at the test center (there are no excuses allowed in Japan if you are late, even if you were groped and have a police report. If you are late, you have to wait to re-take the test next year.)

Pretty sad with how nasty J-men can be. Here's the story:

Anti-groping steps heightened for entrance exam season

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15588676

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Can you memorize and regurgitate? Have we got an offer for you!

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

"...I just hope that the requirement for essential english (sic) has finally been totally removed."

'Essential English' allows us to communicate with each other, beyond the base level of text-speak, abbreviations and emoticons. Ironically, the quoted statement was issued by a poster who is usually incomprehensible, unintelligible and unfathomable.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

toraJan. 18 08:57 pm JST

On Sunday, tests will be held in mathematics, science and a new subject, "Information 1," which tests knowledge of data utilization and programming.

Oh the irony of having to do it with a pencil and paper.

Multiple choice increases the difficulty for the same bell curve and creating a custom program for each exam question is prohibitively expensive. My cs exams were all on paper.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I feel somewhat sad for anyone trying to get into university these days. You have a long and hard road ahead filled with nothing but ego, lies, stress, crowd pleasing, fraud and years of wasted time that you could have spent earning a good salary. Even if you graduate as fast as humanly possible, a tradesman or even a programmer will have made close to a quarter of a million before tax. You on the other hand will likely have a mountain of student debt to start off with as a handicap. In a world of rising costs and AI the absolute worst thing you can do is go to university. It takes less than half a year of dedicated effort to hone a skill well enough to get good gainful employment and create a career. I cannot understand why anyone would want to sit in a toxic classroom environment in this day and age and go through an entirely outdated cirriculum. Social media proved years ago that the real intelligent people didn't go to university. Every time I travel to a new country, the other people I talk to having fun aren't uni graduates...

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

These students are under a lot of pressure these days. Not knowing what their future holds can be recking. Good luck to those precious young minds.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This isn't just to get into uni's. 3rd year Jr High kids have to do this to get into a high school!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I saw the sad news a while ago. Some student cheated during the test, the exam supervisor found. They dismiss the qualification for taking university exam. It is so sad that they lose the chance by unfair way to cheat the test. I hope challengers do their best all.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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