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Japan's Universities Are Failing

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Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#131

Post by krapp »

grillvogel wrote: post #126
krapp wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not aware that Buddhism isn't native to Japan? And here I thought you were a cultural expert on all things Japanese. Although I did make an error - it's both Korean and Chinese.

its a japanese buddhist/shinto temple. an american church isn't roman. and buddhism isn't chinese.

The point, which you seem to be missing, is drawn somewhere on the arbitrary line between "true" Japanese culture, and foreign culture. Buddhism isn't Chinese, but it reached Japan by way of China and Korea.

So, yes, it's a Japanese Buddhist/Shinto temple. But the religion isn't originally Japanese, and neither is the architecture. The only thing native there is the Shinto.

No one considers modern Japan to not be Japanese, despite it being, in some sense, an American reboot of a Prussian remix of Imperial China. If you want to say Japanese culture predates the US by "thousands of years," fine - except you would need to ignore the thousands of years of European culture that America is based on to do so.

And also ignore the fact that, yes, modern Japanese culture is very much a product of the postwar period, making it both older than, and newer than, the US. And the aspects which are newer are likely the more relevant to Japanese people.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#132

Post by konceptz »

csa wrote: post #128
gydfi wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan is going pretty well last I checked. It's one of the few places that is successfully transitioning to a lower birth rate via population shrinkage rather than mass immigration, enabling them to maintain their own culture and people.

Serious question... do you or have you recently lived in Japan? Japanese people don't think things are going so well. Many knowledgeable non-Japanese don't think that things are going so well. My personal take is that Japan is taking a huge gamble by taking on a massive amount of debt relative to their GDP. The piper will need to be paid at some point. John Mauldin had described the Japanese economy as a bug in searc…

I've been told that the olympics in 2020 is one such possible happening.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#133

Post by natoliniak »

anonymousDan wrote: post #107
ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #2

Why would the Japanese look to a London based publication for validation of their rankings among Asian universities? This sort of thing is not an exact science and it's a shame Asia (I know India does this a lot) continues to hold the West (UK/USA specifically) as some great arbitrator and moderator of the world when they may have their own vested interests about things - and of course vice versa.

Yup, those rankings are completely subjective bullshit. Something like 50% of the score is based on asking a selection of academics what their opinion of a university is.

I agree, although reputation is closer to 25% of the score. The rest is based on factors like number of citations, impact, which in my opinion benefits institutions from English speaking countries.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#134

Post by fiblye »

ng12 wrote: post #106
ue_ wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why is it so shocking an idea that the Japanese apparently prefer to retain their homogeneity even if it weakens their economy? Is this true? How do you know?

I'm mostly judging by the fact that Japan is a democratic country in which immigration is incredibly restricted. The country is over 98% ethnically Japanese.

Immigration here is incredibly relaxed. If you have a college degree, you can find someone willing to offer you a job, and you haven't committed a felony, you're welcome. People just choose not to come to Japan because they endlessly hear how supposedly racist it is here and how difficult it is to get over the language barrier.

And it may be a surprise to many westerners who find a need to push their cultural and political perspectives everywhere, but some people do indeed prefer protecting a cultural or national identity over quick economic gains. A non-insignificant portion of the world looks at America and and instead of thinking, "Wow, this is what we need to be", thinks, "This is what I don't want to become."

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#135

Post by stock_toaster »

edblarney wrote: post #123
rtpg wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No culture has escaped appropriation and mixing, especially not Japan. So much of modern Japanese life has been molded by the American occupation. Why do you think more non-Japanese people in the country means the end of Japanese culture? I know many foreigners who live long-term in Japan and have absorbed many ways of working in the society. Why do you think they stay? Ultimiately, the base belief behind the anti-mu…

" So much of modern Japanese life has been molded by the American occupation." Very true. But it's also fundamentally different than if the American influence were to have come from 10 or 20 million actual Americans living in Japan. "Have they not accepted American culture?" America does not have a culture in the classical sense of the term, or to be more fair - it's a new kind of culture . Ergo - there is a 'lot les…

> no cuisine

I dunno. Poutine is pretty tasty.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#136

Post by M_Grey »

akhilcacharya wrote: post #54
doall wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you spend like six hours studying after school and eleven hours in weekends for several years? Then it is comparable :)

I'm sure it's a similar regimen to get into Stanford, except that time is spent towards research and other extracurriculars in addition to SAT prep.

It's not even close... it's... soooooo much more intense, and social/professional consequences are quite a bit more impactful.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#137

Post by TulliusCicero »

pbk1 wrote: post #38
twblalock wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Japanese friends have told me that it's difficult to get in, and requires a lot of study for the entrance exam, but you don't have to work hard after you get in.

that would seem to make it comparable to a number of "elite" American universities ;)

Really? Most people going to 'target schools' for CS in the /r/cscareerquestions subreddit describe their experience as very intense and demanding.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#138

Post by ekianjo »

tsul wrote: post #13

I’ve always heard that uni is a bit of a formality in Japan, and that most career-minded individuals expect to be trained and mentored on the job when they enter the corporate world. Not sure how true that is or if the article touches on that, since it’s paywalled.

super true. Hard to get in the best one, but once you are in no challenge whatsoever and they have so much free time they have time to have a baito (part time job） on the side. And after graduating you can easily see the new recruits arriving In companies and knowing nothing at all. Thats why cOmpanies dont even care what they did and have no problem putting folks who studied biology in sales.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#139

Post by ekianjo »

pbk1 wrote: post #38
twblalock wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Japanese friends have told me that it's difficult to get in, and requires a lot of study for the entrance exam, but you don't have to work hard after you get in.

that would seem to make it comparable to a number of "elite" American universities ;)

you are a lot more busy in elite american Universities than in japanese ones.

Re: Japan's Universities Are Failing

#140

Post by ekianjo »

ng12 wrote: post #99
ue_ wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does immigration mean that you're "destroying their own culture"? Please stop talking in hyperbole and being sarcastic, it isn't helpful. I can't see why a unique culture ought to be 'preserved' as people say, either. And I can't see why the 'bad' parts cannot be slowly eroded over time. Nor do I see why certain 'races' ought to be kept. This has always been an argument that's been relatively ignored - why exactl…

> It is ultimately the decision of the Japanese citizens I mean, that's exactly it. Why is it so shocking an idea that the Japanese apparently prefer to retain their homogeneity even if it weakens their economy?

countries In europe with massive immigration levels are not doIng extremely well. Lets not pretend immigration solves everything please.
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