Education is very important to the success of any country. Japan is a country that has an effective educational system. Through selective borrowing and reforms from the American occupation after World War II, Japan's educational system has created one of the most highly educated society in the world. In this essay, I will describe the evolution of the Japanese educational system and compare modern Japan's system with the United
             States'. Japan always had a strong emphasis in education. Pre-modern Japan had many examples of the strong interest in learning. Unlike the knights in feudal Europe, the
             Samurai in feudal Japan possessed fighting skills as well as literary skills. By the late Tokugawa Period, samurai youths and well as some children of commoners were able receive an education.
             Many countries influenced modern Japan¡s education system¡s structure over time. Its high regard for education stemmed from the Chinese's testing system for choosing government officials. Although Japan did not adopt this system, Japan realized the importance of education. Buddhists monasteries began teaching and became centers of learning during the feudal period. The educational system changed during Tokugawa period by having official domain schools for samurai; there are tens of thousands of village institutions for commoners, and over a thousand private academies. A Ministry of Education to centralized and uniform the school system was created during 1871 during the Meiji government. A new educational system was created, while all domain schools and a great majority of private academies disappeared. Based on the French model, a system of nationwide education was achieved. In 1907, a system of free and mandatory primary education was established. Above primary education was a system of schooling
             similar to the German gymnasium and the French lycee. They boys and girls went to separate schools after elementary school...