One of the most debated issues in modern Japan is education reform. Japan is world-renowned for its demanding education requirements and high academic standards. In response to modernization after World War II, the Japanese made substantial changes to their education system: high schools and universities were built, technological research was encouraged, and compulsory education was strictly enforced. However, these advances have come at a price. The Japanese school schedule is long and tedious; schools run for fourteen hours a day, six days a week, 250 days a year. Furthermore, students attend juku, or cram schools, to prepare for jukenjigoku, or Examination Hell; deal with daily ijime, bullying; and face an insurmountable amount of pressure from their parents, teachers and peers to conform to strict societal rules and standards. Japan's education system needs reform that addresses these issues, and eases the tremendous amount of stress that students face on a daily basis.
             The most important reason to reform Japanese education is the stress it puts on students. Educators spend a majority of their time occupied with academics, which leaves little time for teaching basic human values or providing options to outlet students' stress. Ijime, Japanese bullying, is one of the consequences of the intense environment at Japanese schools. Victims of ijime face water torture, daily beatings, and terrifying threats. The bullying reflects the extreme academic competition and the fact that Japanese educators spend more time teaching mindless facts than human values. Nakasone, a political leader in Japan, blames the educators for the rise in moral delinquency among youth. He points out that as a result of the effort to academically keep ahead of the western world, teachers are failing to instill the traditional Japanese principles of respect and discipline (Schoppa 1). Others point to jukenjigoku, examination hell, a phenomenon in Japanese e...