University in Perspective

I’ve written a lot about Japanese universities, both as an observer and as an enrolled student. During my time at Waseda, my Japanese language skills weren’t quite advanced enough to understand everything that was going on around me, but I was aware of shifts in the Japanese university environment that have drawn attention over recent years. I read two articles this week that raised some issues.

The first article, [Japanese] called “Low Academic Performance is not a Student Issue, but a Professor Issue”, was written by psychiatrist and University of Tokyo [Todai] graduate Hideki Wada. He claims that Todai is succeeding in its goal of gathering the best and brightest Japan has to offer; in fact, he claims that they’ve been so successful that a gap has opened up between Todai students and those from other schools. A few generations ago, there was no such thing as a “third rate” university, because just going to college was considered elite. Now that higher education is commonplace, you have to do a little more to distinguish yourself as an undergrad.

Just as modern training techniques have taken professional athletes far beyond the scope of their predecessors, the learning tools available to children now have created a rank of super-students. In order to make the cut and get into Todai — Japan’s most prestigious school — a student has to be brilliant, hardworking and dedicated. Wada states that it’s the students’ abnormally high potential that saves them in spite of Todai’s professors, whom he considers to be sub-par.

Though he makes several more major points, Wada’s final message is that Todai students should empathize a little more with students from other universities. Students from Waseda or Keio, for example, might have missed acceptance into Todai by less than a percentage point on the entrance exam. Even if you can call it fair that half a percentage point on one exam could so drastically alter the course of a person’s life, it’s a bit much to lord it over them. Students at other universities do work hard. Mr. Wada believes it’s time for some noblesse oblige from the University of Tokyo, and for them to acknowledge that the “education gap” is being reinforced by an economic gap. It seems obvious that families with the money for cram school, tutors and extra learning materials have the advantage in this racket.

The second article [Japanese] was a little different, and its focus was my Japanese alma mater, Waseda University. Coming off that last piece, I was feeling pretty good about Waseda; it’s not on the same level as the University of Tokyo, but it’s generally considered one of the top five universities in Japan and often tied for second place with Keio University. But this article seems to have a pretty low opinion of what Waseda’s become, for whatever reason.

The first two pages are about a recent decline in Waseda’s athletic performance. We’ve been weak in road races and rugby the last few years, apparently. I’ll admit, the whole “sports school” thing was wasted on me, anyway. But I grant them that athletics could be better at Waseda. What else?

Well, for one, alumni are concerned that the student body is full of students that didn’t get into the University of Tokyo, rather than Waseda hopefuls. This fits with Mr. Wada’s claims of Todai’s especially elite image these days. This phenomenon exists in the US as well — while Wesleyan had been my first choice, at least half of my friends were Brown rejects.

This is where things get weird. The author cites Waseda’s tactic of attracting bright young women, and notes that the percentage of female students is higher than Keio’s. Is that an issue? Then they come right out with it: too many foreign students. Waseda had 2,900 foreign students while I was there in 2010, and they plan to have 8,000 [approximately 20% of the student body] by 2015. The author laments that the establishment of the School of International Liberal Studies [my faculty] and the resulting increase in foreign students has brought on a “flood of English” at Waseda. The school, they continue, has turned its back on its core demographic, students of the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo. A poll showed that Kanto high school students favored Keio University, although there was no evidence why. Must be those damned foreigners.

There seems to be a general consensus among Waseda’s alumni that increased female and foreign matriculation rates only serve to mask the school’s diminished standing in Japan’s elite university community and that the student body’s identity has suffered for it. One alum says that Waseda students used to be reckless and crazy and that he’d be glad to see more young people willing to go wild and be absurd.

What’s wrong with Waseda students these days? According to a survey, at least 80 percent of students attend 80 percent of their classes.

“They’re paying an expensive tuition fee, so it can’t be said that attending classes is ‘bad’, but nevertheless, diligent Waseda students. You don’t get the impression that they would do anything ‘crazy’ [as in the above example].”

The final page is devoted to sob stories about how Waseda students don’t play mahjong or go out drinking enough anymore. The author interviews the respective owners of a mahjong parlor and a bar in the Waseda neighborhood, who are both in dire straits. “Please,” they seem to be asking, “please stop doing your homework and going to class. Don’t you want to get drunk and play mahjong?“

I’m appalled that this article was considered mainstream enough to print. In summary, Waseda’s going down the drain because there are more female and foreign students, more students speak foreign languages, class attendance is up and general delinquency is down? This is why Waseda is supposedly “losing out” to the University of Tokyo and Keio University? I must be completely insane, because every one of those points seems like a plus to me. Then again, I am an English-speaking foreign student who attended Waseda.

Herein lies a major issue with Japanese higher education. At Tokyo University, students work hard and get recognition; as Mr. Wada points out, there’s a general mentality among Todai students that “you reap what you sow.” That separates university students into ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, or in this case, Todai students and everyone else. Waseda students are expected by everyone else [including our own alumni] to slack off a bit, to not give it their all. This pressure is so strong that there is a conscious resistance to Waseda’s efforts to modernize and globalize its student body and curriculum.

The University of Tokyo may be the top school in Japan for the foreseeable future, but that’s no reason for everyone else to back off. And as much as Todai could do with some humbling, other schools need to earn their reputations through academics rather than partying. It’s about time they got their priorities in line.

REMIX