Examples of Japanese ignorance of world history : offtopics

[nice gaijin]

There's been a recent scandal about how schools from 46 prefectures have fessed up to not teaching world history and claiming they did. It's not a subject in most college entrance exams, so they figured it was expendable. (found this (http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200610270127.html) link at Asahi)

like the purveyance of urban legends in the states, it's very easy for misinformation to spread here.

[epigene]

I will agree that World History is not taught at all in the Japanese school system. It is quite a shame and I can't quite figure out why, unless it is that the Japanese teachers just can't manage their time wisely!

It must be added here that the high schools that failed to teach world history (and other subjects regarded unrelated to university entrance) are mostly in prefectures outside the metropolitan areas of Japan. The reason for this is because students living outside Tokyo (and probably also Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe/Nagoya area) have little access to "yobiko" prep schools that teach them skills for university entrance exams. Although I can't supply statistical data offhand, it has been said that most students who enter the University of Tokyo and similar prestigious universities are from the Tokyo area (also upper middle class with annual income of 10 million yen or higher).

These prefectural high schools had been revamping their curricula to push up their success rates in putting their students in top universities. In fact, the ratio of students from these public high schools outside Tokyo to enter top national and private universities has been on the rise in recent years.

So, in Tokyo, most schools teach world history, and my kids did take them in their high school years. :-)

[ricecake]

I can say,most Japanese I've known in person and contacted in cyberspace are well versed in modern and ancient East Asia history.

I've never questioned or challenged them on world history matters,I would think any Japanese with formal education have good knowledge of Western Civilization as it's a part of high school curriculum in any East Asia country.

[senseiman]

Yeah, but all those questions are centred around knowledge of European history.

History in Japan is (unsurprisingly) taught from an East asian perspective. I'm sure if you asked European schoolkids about confuscius, the Tang dynasty and Hideyoshi Toyotomi you would get responses that would be just as far off the mark. Yet these are just as important to East asian history as Napoleon, Alexander and the Vikings are in European history.