Right now it’s juken (test) season in Japan, when hundreds of thousands of students take the entrance exams they’ve spent a year or more preparing for. The tests that each student must take differ depending on which school they’re shooting for: students trying to get into a prestigious national university like Tokyo or Kyoto University must take both a standardized exam called the Center Test plus the individual test for that school, while private universities like Waseda or Keio require just one. High school is not part of compulsory education in Japan, and all high schools require an entrance exam to enter, although most aren’t nearly as difficult as the schools my son will be trying for next month. While foreigners are often puzzled by Japan’s odd love of difficult tests, I believe the competitive academic culture is a positive thing for the country, and having worked my way through the various levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, the primary test of Japanese language ability, I can say there’s nothing like setting a goal and working your butt off to achieve it. Through an accident of linguistics, “Kit Kat” sounds to the Japanese like kitto katsu meaning “you will surely win,” and Nestle’s popular chocolate cookie treats have become the official snack mothers give to their kids to munch on while studying. (See the new flavors of Japanese Kit Kat on the site today.)
Test-taking culture goes hand-in-hand with Kit Kat in Japan.
