What Difficulty Has Japan Faced Due To Its Geography

Professional And Vocational Junior Colleges

A subset of junior colleges, discussed below, professional and vocational junior colleges , pursue teaching and research in highly-specialized fields with the aim to develop practical and applicable abilities needed to take on specialized work. Programs at PVJCs are two or three years in length, requiring 62 to 93 credits, one-third of which must be earned in practicum, skills training, or experiment, including on-site training conducted off-campus. Students completing their studies are awarded the associate degree and are able to transfer to a general university or a professional and vocational university.

In Brief: The Education System Of Japan

The structure of Japans education system resembles that of much of the U.S., consisting of three stages

of basic education, elementary, junior high, and senior high school, followed by higher education. Most parents also enroll their children in early childhood education programs prior to elementary school. Children are required to attend school for nine yearssix years of elementary education and three years of lower secondary education. At the primary and secondary levels, the school year typically begins on April 1 and is divided into three terms: April to July, September to December, and January to March.

High educational outcomes have earned Japans educational system a sterling reputation on the global stage, especially at the elementary and secondary levels. On worldwide assessments of educational attainment, the country consistently scores above average in educational performance, participation rates, and classroom environment. In the OECDs 2018 PISA, 15-year-old Japanese students scored 16 points above the OECD average in reading and literacy, 36 points higher in mathematics, and 38 points above in science.

That said, Japans education system faces a number of challenges, among the most significant of which are demographic aging and enrollment declines. Elementary and secondary enrollment peaked in the 1980s, with elementary enrollment reaching a high of nearly 12 million in 1982, and secondary enrollments, a high of over 11.4 million in 1988.

Iwo Jima Falls To American Forces

Battles raged on in the northern part of Iwo Jima for four weeks, with Kuribayashi essentially setting up a garrison in the mountains in that part of the island. On March 25, 1945, 300 of Kuribayashis men mounted a final banzai attack.

The American forces sustained a number of casualties, but ultimately quelled the attack. Although the American military declared that Iwo Jima had been captured the next day, American forces spent weeks on end trudging through the islands jungles, finding and killing or capturing Japanese holdouts who refused to surrender and opted to continue fighting.

Dozens of Americans were killed during this process. Two Japanese holdouts continued to hide in the islands caves, scavenging food and supplies until they finally surrendered in 1949, almost four years after the end of World War II.

In the end, neither the U.S. Army nor the U.S. Navy was able to use Iwo Jima as a World War II staging area. Navy Seabees, or construction battalions, did rebuild the airfields for Air Force pilots to use in case of emergency landings.

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Higher Education Institutions Programs And Degrees

The structure and requirements of Japans higher education programs strongly resemble those of the U.S. The academic year for most HEIs is split into two semesters, April to September and October to March, although some institutions operate on a trimester or quarter system. Although the government and university officials in recent years have debated beginning the academic year in the fall to better align with international practices, no nationwide action has yet been taken. The language of instruction in most programs is Japanese, although a small number are taught in English.

Junior colleges , sometimes referred to in English as community colleges, offer two- to three-year programs in a variety of fields. Two-year courses require the completion of a minimum of 62 credits three-year courses require a minimum of 93 credits. Between 1991 and 2005, junior colleges awarded their graduates the title of Associate. Since 2006, students have been awarded an associate degree which allows them to transfer to an undergraduate program at a university. At times, credit exemptions are awarded.

The vast majority of students enrolled at junior colleges are women. In 2009, women made up nearly 90 percent of junior college enrollments. With more and more women choosing to study at four-year universities, however, enrollment at junior colleges has declined sharply.

Universities

National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education

Preface: Chinas Impact On Strategic Regions

Erik Brattberg and Evan A. Feigenbaum

Chinas economic and political footprint has expanded so quickly that many countries, even those with relatively strong state and civil society institutions, have struggled to grapple with the implications. There has been growing attention to this issue in the United States and the advanced industrial democracies of Japan and Western Europe. But vulnerable countriesthose where the gap is greatest between the scope and intensity of Chinese activism, on the one hand, and, on the other, local capacity to manage and mitigate political and economic risksface special challenges. In these countries, the tools and tactics of Chinas activism and influence activities remain poorly understood among local experts and elites. Both within and beyond these countries, meanwhile, policy too often transposes Western solutions and is not well adapted to local realities.

This is especially notable in two strategic regions: Southeastern, Central, and Eastern Europe and South Asia. Chinas economic and political profile has expanded unusually quickly in these two regions, but many countries lack a deep bench of local experts who can match analysis of the domestic implications of Chinese activism to policy recommendations that reflect domestic political and economic ground truth.

To address this gap, the Carnegie Endowment initiated a global project to better understand Chinese activities in eight pivot countries in these two strategic regions.

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Deprivation: Lack Of Access To Water

A specific issue in Nairobi is access to water. Much of the city does not have piped water directly to the house, and rely on either local water sources such as rivers and boreholes, or water that is brought in by truck. The map below shows this distribution which follows very closely the population distribution. The most densely populated areas are more likely to lack access to a stable water supply.

• Water coverage across Nairobi as a percentage of households with piped water. Source: Ledant, 2013.

Effects Of Global Warming

Global warming is a global situation whose effects will not choose which country to affect, but will devastate us all. Therefore, Japan just like any other country in the world, faces the same challenges to ensure that they do not contribute to things that bring about global warming.

Additionally, since Japan is a participant of the Kyoto Protocol, it is under the set obligations which requires it to reduce its CO2 emissions to a level 6% lower than what it was producing in 1990. Japan is also to take any other measure that will help to curb the effect of climate change.

As the fifth-largest emitter on the globe, Japan introduced campaigns such as the Cool Biz campaign. This campaign aimed to reduce the amount of energy used in state offices by particularly reducing the use of air conditioning. This is one of the steps they have taken towards curbing climate change.

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The Backdrop To Reform: Japans Educational Performance

Education is one of the most important aspects of Japans national identity and a source of pride for Japanese citizens. The countrys high-quality education system has consistently won international praise. An emphasis on the holistic development of children has for decades led Japanese students to achieve mastery in a variety of academic disciplinestheir performance in science, math, and engineering is particularly noteworthy. In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments Program for International Student Assessment in 2015, Japan ranked second in science and fifth in math among 72 participating countries and regions.

The school system also still embodies the values of egalitarianism, harmony, and social equality, which were highlighted as early as the first postwar education law, the 1947 Fundamental Law of Education, also translated as the Basic Act on Education. According to the OECD, Japan ranks highly among wealthy nations in providing equal opportunities to students of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Only 9 percent of variation in performance among compulsory school students is explained by socioeconomic hardship, about 5 percent below the OECD average.

Letters From Iwo Jima

Because of the brutality of the fighting, and the fact that the battle occurred fairly close to the end of World War II, Iwo Jimaand those who lost their lives trying to capture the islandretain a great deal of significance even today, decades after the fighting stopped.

In 1954, the U.S. Marine Corps dedicated the , also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to honor all Marines. The statue is based on Rosenthals now-famous photograph.

Actor/director Clint Eastwood in 2006 made two movies about the events on Iwo Jima called, respectively, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. The first depicts the battle from the American perspective, while the latter shows it from the Japanese perspective.

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Diversifying Investments Away From China

For years, China was a focus of manufacturing investment for Japan. China’s cheap labor force provided a solution to Japan’s labor shortage, helping its manufacturers stay competitive in the global economy. Meanwhile, China became a significant market for Japanese products.

In recent years, things have changed for a couple of reasons. One of them is that China’s labor is no longer cheap, as the country is facing its own labor shortages, eroding its competitive advantage. In 2018, China’s manufacturing labor costs $5.51 dollars per hour, well above the $4.45 in Mexico, and $2.73 in Vietnam.

Secondly, renewed tensions between the two countries over China’s aggressive expansion in the South China Sea and military exercises near Taiwan.

Education Reform: Past And Present

Education reform in Japan is not new. Western education systems came to influence Japanese education shortly after the 1868 Meiji Restoration, which transferred effective political power from the Tokugawa shogunate to the emperor, ushering in an era of modernization across all sectors of Japanese society. In 1872, Japans newly established Ministry of Education adopted from the American school system the three-tier elementary, secondary, and university structure, and from the French, strong administrative centralization. A group of newly established Imperial Universities took on certain aspects of the German university model. Despite those early international influences, domestic resistance to outsiders quickly followed, intensifying sharply during World War II.

While the reforms have produced some positive results for Japan, they are not without their shortcomings. The OECDs 2018 report, Education Policy in Japan: Building Bridges towards 2030, warns that the reforms, though well regulated and well-intentioned, risk being adopted only as superficial change. The content and success of these reforms will occupy much of the discussion below.

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Social Issues In China

Social issues in China are wide-ranging, and are a combined result of Chinese economic reforms set in place in the late 1970s, the nation’s political and cultural history, and an immense population. Due to the significant number of social problems that have existed throughout the country, China’s government has faced difficulty in trying to remedy the issues. Many of these issues are exposed by the Chinese media, while subjects that may contain politically sensitive issues may be censored. Some academics hold that China’s fragile social balance, combined with a bubble economy makes China a very unstable country, while others argue China’s societal trends have created a balance to sustain itself.

The Establishment Of Manchukuo And The Creation Of The United Front

For much of the early 20th century, Japan had exercised effective control of Manchuria, initially through the terms of the Twenty-one Demands and later through its support of Chinese warlord Zhang Zuolin. However, a serious conflict was developing, and the Chinese in Manchuria were especially restive under the privileges held by the Japanese. Chinese citizens formed the vast majority of the population, and the legal title of the region was held by China. Yet Japan controlled much of south Manchuria through its railways and its leasehold on the Liaodong Peninsula and in other ways that compromised Chinese sovereignty.

In 1935 the Japanese forced the withdrawal from Hebei and Chahar of any officials and armed forces that might prove unfriendly to Japan. These territories passed partly into Japanese control, and Suiyuan, Shansi , and Shantung were threatened. Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek did not offer open opposition, preferring instead to pursue his campaign against Chinese communist forces. In December 1936, in what came to be known as the Xian Incident, Chiang was seized by forces under the command of his own generals and compelled to ally with the communists in a United Front against Japan.

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Deprivation: Lack Of Access To Healthcare

A further issue is the lack of access to healthcare. Facilities are spread throughout the city, with the main concentration in the CBD. Notably the facilities are generally distributed in the higher income areas.

• Health facilities and their distribution across Nairobi. Source: Murphy et al., 2017.

Kenya currently has a mixture of public and private healthcare provision, with the aim of achieving universal healthcare, i.e. government-funded healthcare for everyone, by 2022, and in 2018 only 19% of people had private healthcare insurance . This means the majority use a public health system which struggles to cope with the demands made upon it.

The Bottom Line: Outlook For Japan

Japan is facing both cyclical and structural challenges as it begins the new year. Its cyclical challenges are global supply chain bottlenecks and labor market frictions, which continue to put downward pressure on its economy as it strives to recover from the global recession.

Structural challenges are associated with the three-decades-long economic slowdown associated with the burst of multiple asset bubbles in 1990 and a decline in the birthrate, which create labor shortages and an unfavorable dependency ratio.

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Georgia: On The Silk Road But Looking West

A Brief History

When Georgia declared independence in 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to recognize the new state. Despite this, the two countries never developed close political ties or cultural links. Georgia did not even appoint an ambassador to China until 2005. In the last decade, this has begun to change, thanks in large part to developing trade relations. Yet, after several years, more Georgians are disappointed than enthusiastic about the new relationship.

This reality check comes as both sides assess the importance of their relationship. For China, Georgia is ultimately not a country of strategic importance. It is small and does not occupy a prized location on the main routes of the BRI. It is not a member of the EU, like most members of the 17+1 framework. Moreover, Georgia is firmly pro-Western. The majority of its political elite and public remains oriented toward Europe and the United States, with a minority that favors Russia.209 On key issues, Tbilisi will choose Washington over Beijing. For example, in January 2021, Georgia and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on 5G security, which forestalled Chinas Huawei from taking over Georgias 5G network.210

A Stop on the Silk Road

Black Sea Ports

Trade and Investment

Road and Rail Construction

Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Georgia include:

Propaganda, Influence, and Vaccine Diplomacy

How Does Climate Affect Life In The Himalayas

Human settlements in the Himalayas have also been highly influenced by topography and economic patterns. But climatic conditions remain the most important factor since extreme climate in the Himalayan region has always imposed restrictions on the living conditions and also restricted communication and movement.

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Professional And Vocational Universities And Professional Graduate Schools

Other HEIs include professional and vocational universities , which offer courses similar to those offered at PVJCs and award four-year, 124 credit bachelors degrees .

Professional Graduate Schools , which specialize in fostering highly-specialized professionals who will be active internationally and include law schools and schools for teacher education, award graduate professional degrees, such as the Juris Doctor and other professional masters degrees. Programs range from one to three years in length with widely varying credit requirements. These professional degrees often meet eligibility prerequisites to sit for professional examinations for example, a Juris Doctor is required to sit for the national bar examination.

Iwo Jima Before The Battle

According to postwar analyses, the Imperial Japanese Navy had been so crippled by earlier World War II clashes in the Pacific that it was already unable to defend the empires island holdings, including the Marshall archipelago.

In addition, Japans air force had lost many of its warplanes, and those it had were unable to protect an inner line of defenses set up by the empires military leaders. This line of defenses included islands like Iwo Jima.

Given this information, American military leaders planned an attack on the island that they believed would last no more than a few days. However, the Japanese had secretly embarked on a new defensive tactic, taking advantage of Iwo Jimas mountainous landscape and jungles to set up camouflaged artillery positions.

Although Allied forces led by the Americans bombarded Iwo Jima with bombs dropped from the sky and heavy gunfire from ships positioned off the coast of the island, the strategy developed by Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi meant that the forces controlling it suffered little damage and were thus ready to repel the initial attack by the U.S. Marines, under the command of Holland M. Howlin Mad Smith.

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