Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management: Article Information

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Building competitive advantage: construction education in Japan

Willie Tan
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Willie Tan, (2003),"Building competitive advantage: construction education in Japan", Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management, Vol. 10 Iss 2 pp. 78 - 87
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Introduction
Building competitive
advantage:
construction education
in Japan
The purpose of this paper is to examine how

Japan builds its competitive advantage by
systematically screening and training its
construction workforce. This study is
interesting because learning by doing, while
important as a source of productivity growth,
has been found not to be significant in
Singapore (Tan and Elias, 2000). This raises
the question of how learning can be
improved, and Japan may provide a suitable
model since probably no country has a greater
historical or contemporary zest for learning
than Japan (Rehder, 1983). It is therefore
hardly surprising that Lorriman and Kenjo
(1996) identified the Japanese education
system as its ``first winning margin'' in
competitive advantage.
Despite the importance of labour as a
source of value and growth, most accounts of
the development of the construction industry
(Wang, 1987; Bennett et al., 1987; Miles and
Neale, 1991; Davis Langdon and Seah
International, 1995; Ganesan, 2000) pay little
heed to the systemic effects of the education
system in supplying a competent and flexible
workforce.
The paper traces the historical development
of construction education within the general
framework of the Japanese education system.
This working hypothesis implies construction
education cannot be studied independently of
the way the Japanese State structures and
reshapes overall education policy. It begins
with the dual education system of the
Tokugagwa period catering to the samurai
class and commoners. This system existed
alongside an exploitative and hence declining
apprentice system. The foundations of
Japan's modern education system started with
the setting up of the Ministry of Education in
1871 by the Meiji government. Under its
education master plan, eight districts
consisting primarily of an imperial university,
middle, and elementary schools were
envisaged with the intent of providing
universal education and selective enrolment
of potential leaders of government, industry,
and commerce in its elite universities. Private
education institutions received far less
financial support. With the advent of war in
the late nineteenth century and early
twentieth century, the education system
became ultra-nationalistic and industryoriented to nurture loyal imperial subjects and
Willie Tan
The author
Willie Tan is an Associate Professor in the Department of
Building, School of Design and Environment,
National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Keywords
Learning styles, Construction industry,
Competitive advantage, Education, Japan
Abstract
This paper examines the way the Japanese education
system strategically channels talent towards its elite
universities, turning out a high proportion of engineers
and architects for the construction industry. At the same
time, it provides limited education for construction
workers and technicians in public vocational institutes
and technical colleges, preferring to turn out a highly
educated workforce of generalists who are trained for
specific jobs by employers through the training centres of
large firms, private vocational institutes, or on-the-job
training by smaller subcontractors.
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Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . pp. 78-87
# MCB UP Limited . ISSN 0969-9988
DOI 10.1108/09699980310466569
78

Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
compete industrially with the western powers.

University education was expanded, primarily
through official recognition of private
institutions as universities, and the system
turned out a large number of engineers
(including architects). Following the end
of the Second World War, the imperialistic
elements were eliminated and, although the
Americans tried to decentralise the education
system, it was less successful than intended
except for the growing strength of universities
against a weakened Ministry of Education.
Consequently, reform of the much dreaded
university entrance examinations has been
difficult, resulting in the undue emphasis on
rote learning and passing examinations at the
expense of creativity. The lack of flexibility in
the curricula is also a common criticism.
Graduate enrolment was, until recently,
small, and this was compensated by the large
number of research institutes set up by public
and private organisations. Overall, the
Japanese education system is effective in
providing a high quality workforce for the
construction industry, in sharp contrast to the
situation in many other countries.
The Shogunate controlled the Shoheiko at

Edo (now Tokyo), the highest seat of
learning. Its main function was to provide the
bulk of Confucian scholars engaged by fief
schools. Despite being cut off from the rest of
the world (apart from the Dutch trading port
at Nagasaki) since the early Edo period, the
Shogunate and fief lords set up several
institutes (mainly medical and military) in the
middle of the nineteenth century to diffuse
western technology.
Private and country schools (shijuku and
gogaku respectively) were also established on a
smaller scale. Artisans organised themselves
into vocational clans (bumin) and jealously
guarded their technical skills through long
apprenticeships lasting, on average, ten years
(Irie, 1988). In the absence of special
education institutions, apprentices of master
craftsmen learned the skills through
observation and imitation. Usually, they
received general education (reading and
writing) in the gogaku established by their
clans (Kaigo, 1968) before becoming
apprentices. Training was strict, and it
emphasised technical skills as well as
appearance, posture, sincerity and
perseverance.
However, towards the end of the Edo
period, the apprenticeship system was on the
decline. It became increasingly difficult for
the master craftsman to offer the large capital
required for his apprentices to set up their
own practice and many apprentices became
wage earners (Irie, 1988). Further, since
wages were low, the apprenticeship system
was seen as exploitative (Lorriman and
Kenjo, 1996, p. 136).
In summary, although there was no modern
schooling system by the end of the Edo
period, education had reached a fairly high
standard. There were established institutions
for elementary and higher education as well as
diffusion of western technology. The
institution for training apprentices was the
family of the master craftsman, and
apprenticeship training was in decline.
The Edo period (1603-1867): a dual

education system
Prior to the Meiji restoration of 1868, Japan
was divided into 300 fiefs each ruled by a
feudal lord (daimyo). The apex of this political
arrangement was the Tokugawa Shogunate
government.
Feudal Japan was stratified into four main
classes, namely the samurai, farmers, artisans
and merchants (Hane, 1991). The education
system was dualistic, comprising fief schools
for samurai and terakoya (temple schools) for
commoners. For the samurai families, which
accounted for only 2 per cent of the
population (Aso and Amano, 1983, p. 5),
education was for personal cultivation in
Confucianism, Chinese classics and
proficiency in martial arts reflecting its
warrior status. Consequently, the fief schools
accepted only boys. The terakoya, numbering
about 12,000 by the end of the Edo period
(Ministry of Education, Science and Culture,
1980, p. 452; henceforth MESC), provided
elementary education in reading and writing,
mostly for boys. The enrolment rate was
about 25 per cent during the late Edo period.
The Meiji restoration and the modern

education system
With the Meiji restoration in 1868, the
government began to establish a national
education system for all citizens, including
girls. This was motivated by the desire to
79

Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
despite the new emphasis on the practical

value of education and research. Middle
schools were organised to prepare students for
a university education. The curricula
included the Japanese language, history,
geography, mathematics, science, morals,
calligraphy, economics and mechanical
drawing. Vocational middle schools were also
established, as were specialised schools, the
Japanese version of polytechnics. These
schools, which were difficult to differentiate in
practice, made little impact prior to rapid
industrialisation. Vocational middle schools
were purely makeshift arrangements and were
de-emphasised (MESC, 1980, p. 116). In
1880, there were 188 middle schools (one
government, 137 local public and 50 private).
Some 630 private schools lost their middle
school status due to strict enforcement of
standards and became ``miscellaneous''
schools (MESC, 1980, p. 83).
From 1886, there was an attempt to use the
school system to train an elite group by
differentiating higher middle schools from
ordinary middle schools. The former were
used as preparatory schools for imperial
universities. Under the master plan for
education (Fundamental Code of Education,
1872), the basic unit in each of the eight
planned district was an imperial university,
the 32 middle schools and 6,720 elementary
schools. Each Imperial university consisted of
five colleges offering courses in science,
engineering (including architecture), law,
literature and medicine, and a graduate
school. Five such universities, namely Tokyo
(1877), Kyoto (1897), Tohoku (1907),
Kyushu (1910) and Hokkaido (1918) were
established. The apex of this screening
process was Tokyo University; it accounted
for as much as 40 per cent of the Ministry's
budget in 1880 (Okano and Tsuchiya, 1999,
p. 17). The length of courses was fixed at
three years (four years for medicine), and two
years for graduate schools. Given the less
developed Japanese infrastructure at that
time, civil engineering and architecture were
popular (Ministry of Education, 1966,
p. 155), laying the foundation for a
technologically advanced construction
industry. Significantly, both departments
were placed under the School of Engineering
in the imperial universities. Integrating the
disciplines of design and structures within the
department of architecture maximized
practical knowledge imparted to students.
develop Japan into a strong modern nation

and use education to enhance social stability.
Consequently, following the abolition of the
fiefs in 1871, the government dismantled the
dualistic system and established the
Department of Education to take central
control of education. The philosophy was
undeniably ``statist'', that is, `èducation is not
for the sake of the student but for the sake of
the state'' (MESC, 1980, p. 94). An elaborate
administrative machinery using regional
school inspection bureaus, regional officials,
district supervisors and normal schools
(for teacher training) was set up to ensure
adequate supervision and quality control.
Japan was thus far ahead of many developed
and developing countries in setting up a
national education system to ensure high
standards of education.
` ... The philosophy was undeniably
``statist'', that is, `èducation is not for
the sake of the student but for the sake
of the state''... '
Elementary schools for children from six to 13
years old were established. These schools
were based on the former terakoya, except
that civic and moral education were included
to reflect the new government's initial, and
unsuccessful, attempt to foster nationalism
and patriotism (MESC, 1980). Moral
education was placed at the centre of the
elementary school curricular (Okano and
Tsuchiya, 1999, p. 16). The old distinction
between fief schools and terakoya had
collapsed, and all children attended the same
elementary school. Promotion would solely be
based on examination results, the origin of the
very competitive Japanese education system.
The curricula and textbooks in reading,
writing, arithmetic, calligraphy, science,
geography, history and morals were carefully
graded and standardised. From 1886,
elementary school education was compulsory
and the abolition of tuition fees in 1900
contributed to a sharp rise in school
enrolment. The attendance rate rose from
61.2 per cent in 1895 to 95.5 per cent by
1905 (MESC, 1980).
Middle schools (for students aged 14-19)
were also set up and staffed with teachers
from the previous samurai class that had lost
its social privileges and economic functions.
The Confucian ethic was, therefore, still alive
80

Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
Thus, prior to the First World War, the

Japanese national education system was
established to provide general education and
an elite system of imperial universities. A
small number of vocational schools were
established to replace the declining
apprenticeship system. Significantly,
architecture and structural engineering were
integrated within the Schools of Engineering
in imperial universities. This began the long
tradition of integrating the training of
Japanese designers and engineers within the
department of architecture.
This consideration sat well with the strategy

of Japanese contractors to diversify upstream
and downstream using design and build
contracts.
By the turn of the century, the Japanese
education system had been modernised. It
had a coherent structure; elementary and
ordinary middle schools were targeted at
the general populace while systematically
channelling the future elite into higher middle
schools and high quality Imperial universities.
This coherence, achieved within a relatively
short span of time, was remarkable, and
subsequent reforms did not fundamentally
change this basic structure. With rapid
industrialisation near the turn of the twentieth
century, the government began to develop an
industrial education system. It was recognised
that separate, and subsidised, vocational
institutions were required. Thus, in 1893,
vocational supplementary schools were
established to teach, apart from morals,
reading, arithmetic and calligraphy,
vocational skills for graduates of elementary
schools for up to three years. Apprentice
schools were also set up to train industrial
workers to upgrade their skills. These
vocational and apprentice schools began to
replace the declining family-based
apprenticeship system.
Western learning was selective (Aso and
Amano, 1983, p. 8). The measures included
sending students to the west for study and
research and using foreign teachers. However,
their numbers remained very small, totalling
less than 100 each year up to the First
World War (MESC, 1980, pp. 47-8). The
government and private firms also employed a
small number of foreign technicians and
engineers (Ministry of Education, 1966,
p. 134). More successful was the widespread
use of translated western textbooks. Even
here, there was concern over the erosion of
moral values. Consequently, in 1880, the
government adopted the Imperial Will on the
Great Principles of Education. It emphasised
moral education by censoring textbooks
relating to popular rights and introduced
military-style physical education to cultivate
an attitude of obedience to superior authority,
rules and regulations. The tension between
modernisation and tradition was, however,
not resolved even with the issuance of the
Imperial Rescript on Education in 1890. The
Rescript stressed the role of Confucianist
moral education.
Education reforms between the wars:

nationalistic and industrial education
Following the First World War, a growing
number of student movements, the teachers'
union (Keimeikai) and Marxists scholars
launched strong ideological attacks on the
establishment. Although these protests were
suppressed, including the expulsion of several
Marxists scholars from the universities,
several reforms were introduced to enhance
social stability and support Japan's rapid
industrial progress (Macpherson, 1995).
Nationalistic schooling was deemed essential
to quell civil protests and nurture loyal
imperial subjects.
In the elementary schools (renamed
national schools in 1944), compulsory
education was extended by another two years
to eight years from 1944. By the 1940s, the
curricula had been simplified and changed to
include national studies, physical training and
vocational training. The well-known Japanese
characteristic of ``groupism'' and bottom-up
decision-making (Kumagai, 1996) was
strengthened when teaching methods were
reformed to stress the unity of theory and
practice and group training. Individualism
was suppressed, and ceremonial bows in the
direction of the Imperial Palace became a
daily school routine. Other symbols of
patriotism and nationalism were evident,
such as the introduction of martial arts,
callisthenics and the hanging of pictures of
war heroes and war gods.
In middle schools, national studies
(including morals), civics, military drill
(taught by military officers), martial arts,
vocational training and manual training were
included in the curricula to stress respect for
authority, manual work and acquisition
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Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
technical skills, leadership training, safety

education, and adult education. Systematic
training became a requirement for large firms
to reduce the high labour turnover (Ministry
of Education, 1966, p. 211). This framework
where the primary responsibility for providing
vocational training rests with the industry has
not changed (Cantor, 1985).
Equally impressive was the nationwide
promotion of popular or social education
outside the schools through the Central
Federation of Social Education groups and
the Social Education Bureau within the
Ministry of Education. Social education
included adult education, worker education,
family education and moral education to
mobilise a patriotic spirit in view of the
coming war. Shintoism, government and
education were the premises (Aso and
Amano, 1983, p. 56).
Thus, by the end of the Second World
War, the Japanese education system had
become an impressive learning machine.
The government, employers and people
recognised the purpose of education for
economic prosperity, nationalism and social
stability. These three principles formed the
bedrock of the education system. Places for
elementary, middle-level, vocational and
competitive tertiary education were vastly
expanded and, despite the rapid growth,
quality measures were in place. Employers
undertook the primary responsibility for
vocational training to increase worker skills
and reduce turnover. The curricula were
changed to emphasise scientific, social and
physical education. Nonetheless, its
weaknesses were soon apparent.
practical skills. In 1938, textbooks were

standardised.
The concept of university was expanded in
1918 so that local private and public
institutions could claim this status. The effect
was to increase substantially the number of
universities (including a substantial number
from vocational specialised and specialised
schools) from six in 1919 to 46 by 1940.
However, as demand for higher education
intensified, there was fierce competition to
enter the elite universities. The government's
intent was still to fund lavishly the targeted
imperial universities and their research
institutes and refused direct aid to private
universities. It also converted schools
specialising in the humanities into scientific
and engineering schools to meet the needs of
military during the war. This provided the
human resource foundation for Japan's
spectacular post-Second World War
industrial growth from the 1950s to the
1990s.
` ... Many entrepreneurs who once opposed
lengthening compulsory education on
the grounds that it would interfere with
their efforts to recruit cheap labour
came round to the view that industry
would benefit from a highly educated
workforce... '
Vocational education was also greatly
expanded. Between 1913 and 1940, the
number of vocational schools rose from 531
to 1,479, the number of specialised schools
increased from 86 to 193, and that of youth
schools (combination of vocational
supplementary schools and youth training
centres from 1935) grew from 8,014 to
20,492 (MESC, 1980, p. 455). Many
entrepreneurs who once opposed lengthening
compulsory education on the grounds that it
would interfere with their efforts to recruit
cheap labour came round to the view that
industry would benefit from a highly educated
workforce (MESC, 1980, p. 199). Thus many
corporations established their own training
centres to increase the number of skilled
workers and reduce turnover. Recruitment of
a large number of employees was now direct,
and this dealt a severe blow to the traditional
master-apprentice system. Training centres
also replaced the feudal ``see and do'' way
with more systematic training that included
Post-war education reforms

After Japan's defeat in the Second World
War, governmental control was passed to the
general headquarters (GHQ) under the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Forces
(SCAP). GHQ's goal was to institute
fundamental reforms to make Japan a
democratic and peaceful nation. Not
surprising, the education system was
considered the cornerstone of this reform.
The militaristic and ultra-nationalistic
ideologies were prohibited and all such
education was discontinued. The curricula
and textbooks were revised, teachers were
screened and purged, and all symbols of
82

Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
universities. In the end, the issue of university

administration was not resolved.
Shintoism were removed from schools. In its

place, civil and social education were
emphasised to prepare for the construction of
a new and democratic Japan. The Report of the
United States Education Mission to Japan
(1946) highlighted the evils of a highly
centralised educational system and
recommended a shift towards the broadbased American model. Decentralisation was
suggested to allow teachers and schools to
develop without regimentation, including the
selection of textbooks.
In 1947, a new and democratic ``single line''
6-3-3-4 system consisting of six years of
elementary school, three years of lower
secondary, three years of upper secondary and
four years of university education was
implemented. In the elementary schools,
social studies replaced civics and morals.
Middle school education was standardised to
eliminate differentials under the old system.
The new system was democratic in the sense
that university education was now available to
all students instead of only those from higher
middle schools. Finally, control of upper
secondary schools was placed in the hands of
prefecture authorities.
Significantly, standardisation meant the
need to offer general and vocational education
in the form of electives. As the number of
students electing to take vocational electives
dropped, the quality of vocational education
deteriorated and, in line with the emphasis on
general education, the 11,620 youth schools
that provided part-time vocational training for
working youths were abolished. The number
of vocational schools fell from 1,528 in 1947
to five in 1953 (MESC, 1980, p. 455).
Reform of the university system proved
difficult with a largely weakened Ministry of
Education. In 1946, the Minister proposed
setting up nine school districts each having its
own education bureau to administer the 6-33-4 education system as well as social
education. Education would then be centred
on self-governing universities and
independent of partisan interests. However,
GHQ rejected it in favour of a more
decentralised system where administrative
authority over all national universities, higher
schools and specialised schools would be
transferred to local governments without
proposing how it could be financed. The
Education Reform Committee and
universities rejected the GHQ proposal
because it endangered the autonomy of the
Educational development during the

post-war boom
By the early 1950s, the Japanese education
system had recovered from the war. From the
point of view of construction education, the
occupational reforms had rid the system of its
imperialistic overtones, demoted vocational
education in favour of general education, and
created a political stalemate between the
universities and the Ministry of Education.
Social education was still a strong
component, replacing patriotism with
democracy rather than groupism. Despite
the efforts at decentralisation, there was a
tendency to centralisation after 1950 (Kaigo,
1968, p. 120).
However, the new post-war economic and
baby booms created new challenges. The new
emphasis was on strengthening moral
education and expanding scientific and
technological education. With the immediate
post-war closure of youth schools and decline
in vocational education, many enterprises set
up their own training centres. In May 1962, a
co-operative system between part-time
schools and these training centres was set up
and subjects taken by part-time working
youths at these institutes were recognised as
equivalent to regular upper secondary
schools. In the latter, vocation subjects
became popular due to the high demand for
technicians and the government provided
funds for the rapid expansion of vocational
education. Technical colleges to train
professional workers with good scholastic
foundation were also established from 1962,
and their numbers reached 63 by 1971. Their
impact on technical education was thus less
significant than training centres and upper
secondary schools offering vocational
education.
The growth in university education,
particularly in science and engineering, was
phenomenal. The number of universities rose
from 12 in 1948 to 178 in 1949, reaching 389
by 1971. The pre-war system of higher and
ordinary middle schools had collapsed,
allowing all students from upper secondary
schools to enter universities, with many
wanting to become technologists to support
Japan's remarkable post-war economic
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Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
expansion. Between 1953 and 1969, the

Japanese economy grew at a real annual rate
of 9.56 per cent (Macpherson, 1995, p. 8).
New departments in electronics, nuclear
energy, urban planning and environment
engineering were created.
Although the Japanese Accreditation
Association was established as early as 1947,
there was concern about the quality of
university education during this period of
rapid expansion. Entry into the universities,
particularly the elite ones, remained very
competitive because of the Japanese practice
of using entrance examinations. In the
1960s, the Ministry of Education tried to
encourage the use of standardised tests in
the `èxamination hells'' (juken jigoku) of
national universities without success. In
1963, a further bill to reform university
administration was abandoned due to strong
opposition from academia. The universities
had become a closed and rigid system
operating alongside a weak ministry. A
unified entrance examination came much
later, in 1979. But the individual institution
conducts a second examination (including
interviews) to assess performance beyond the
standard examination.
Graduate schools were also established;
by 1971, of the 389 universities, 188 had
graduate schools with a total enrolment of
41,637 students (MESC, 1980, p. 288). The
average enrolment in each graduate school
was therefore only 221, a clear weakness in
terms of numbers for postgraduate education.
In the 1990s, the situation had not changed
dramatically; in 1994, Japan had 1.1 graduate
students per 1,000 people, compared to 7.7
for the USA (1992) and 3.6 in France in 1993
(Okano and Tsuchiya, 1999, p. 215).
Figure 1 The Japanese education system
university or less expensive junior colleges

offering typically two-year courses.
Despite the occupational reforms, the
system was centralised under the Ministry of
Education. It authorised the curricular and
textbooks and provided teacher training and
funding. Although efficient, the system lacked
diversity and flexibility. Excessive emphasis
was placed on passing university entrance
examinations, resulting in a high level of rote
learning of model answers (Kumagai, 1996).
Moral education, which may be traced to
ancient times, began to decline with the
post-modern age. As Kaigo (1968, p. 54)
complained:
But recently there have been a great many people
who value only knowledge and techniques which
are simply the products of cultural
enlightenment, and who do not keep the morals
but destroy good manners and customs.
In the early 1980s, lack of diversity was

thought to be a cause of deviant adolescent
behaviour. Students exhibited far greater
variance in terms of their academic ability,
needs and values, and the curricula had
become too demanding due to progressive
content inflation (NCER, 1987). The simple
solution was to reduce content and increase
choice by introducing comprehensive high
schools in the 1980s and 1990s. These schools
offered both academic and vocational
education. The curricular consisted of a
common core and a rich choice of electives,
including the concept of clustering schools to
share and broaden the choice of electives. For
example, Ina Gakuen High School offers more
than 164 courses (Shimahara, 1995). So-called
Reforming for the new economy

By the end of the 1970s, the Japanese
education system did not differ structurally
from that of many developed countries. The
6-3-3-4 system (see Figure 1) resulted in at
least nine years of compulsory education.
After lower secondary education, students
may opt for technical colleges, upper
secondary schools, specialised schools (such
as agricultural or computing colleges) or
miscellaneous schools. Upper secondary
school students may go direct to the
84

Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
The observed weakness of a small number of

graduate schools has also changed. In the top
universities, masters and doctoral students
make up as much as 75 per cent of the intake.
Most graduate students are enrolled in
science and engineering rather than in
business schools (Dore and Sako, 1986).
However, industry-university relationships,
although improving, are still not as close.
This stems from the universities' historical
desire for economic and political autonomy.
In-breeding is also evident in recruitment of
faculty members, reinforcing the isolation
from industry. Consequently, Japanese
engineering education is sometimes criticised
as too broad-based and lacks practical content
but this flexibility is now seen as an
advantage. Corporations and the government
compensated for the weakness in universitybased research by setting up independent
research institutes and their own laboratories
(Cummings, 1994). For instance, the
Ministry of Construction, which was set up in
1949, is a client, regulator and innovator in
the industry. It has two major research
institutes, namely, the Building Research
Institute and the Public Works Research
Institute. Perhaps a more important reason
for loss of research monopoly in Japanese
universities has to do with funding that is
based on student numbers rather than
research priorities. Consequently, the
universities cannot compete with the
resources available in large corporations and
research institutes (Ushiogi, 1993).
innovative high schools were also established.

These included schools for international
studies, information science and economics.
Employers tend to recruit fresh high school
graduates and take it as their responsibility for
vocational training. The state provides
financial support and has instituted a national
system of trade tests as well as seting up a
wide range of public vocational institutions.
However, only about one-third of those
enrolling in upper secondary schools opt for
vocational subjects and those who
subsequently enrol at the small number of
technical colleges are seen as ``laggards'' of the
highly competitive system. Since only the
large firms can afford systematic vocational
training, many Japanese construction workers
employed by subcontractors learned on the
job. Because of the broad-based curricula and
high standards of Japanese education, these
generalists were well educated and adaptable.
Politically, the universities enjoyed
considerable autonomy, making reforms on
``hell examinations'' and quality of university
difficult. As Vogel (1963, p. 40) noted, ``no
single event, with the exception of marriage,
determines the course of a young man's life as
much as an entrance examination''. It is of no
surprise that many parents send their children
to private cramming schools (jukus). The
success of the relatively new comprehensive
and innovation high schools will also depend
on the performance of their students at the
entrance examinations.
The long tradition of integrating design
and build in the curricula in engineering
schools in imperial universities meant that
architecture education was already fairly
broad-based. For instance, in Tohoku
University, the current undergraduate
programme at the Department of
Architecture and Building Science within
the School of Engineering is organised along
the following philosophy:
(1) first and second year: general education in
the humanities and sciences;
(2) second year: general theories and tools for
creating buildings in subjects such as
drawing, structures, urban and regional
planning, and urban design;
(3) third year: emphasis on technical skills
such as structures and detailed design;
and
(4) fourth year: dissertation, project work,
comprehensive exercise and
specialisation.
Conclusions: lessons
In summary, construction education in Japan
is largely framed by its 6-3-3-4 education
system. The system is hierarchical and
efficient in providing universal general
education, resulting in a highly educated and
adaptable workforce. At the apex of the
hierarchy, the universities continue to enjoy
considerable autonomy and entry is highly
selective. Historically, the state targeted the
imperial universities for quality university
education, leaving private universities to fend
for themselves and resulting in highly variable
education quality. These top universities are
able to train a large number of competent
engineering graduates for the construction
industry. Further, with the exception of the
top universities, the universities' research and
85

Volume 10 . Number 2 . 2003 . 78-87
Willie Tan
Table I The general education framework and implications construction education

Period
General education framework
Implications for construction education

and industry
Edo
Pre-modern general education system;

apprenticeship system
Reliance on apprenticeship system or on-thejob training
Meiji
Modern national education system; small

number of vocational schools; elite imperial
universities system; integration of design and
structures in architecture departments within
engineering schools
Trade schools and on-the-job training;

decline of apprenticeship system; beginning
of tradition of integrating design and build
and intakes of high quality graduates from
imperial universities
WWI-II
Expansion of university education, but private

universities were not funded by the State.
Expansion of vocational training but
employers assumed primaly responsibility to
improve skills and reduce turnover
Parallel expansion of professional

qualifications within construction firms;
establishment of training centres within
large firms
Post-WWII reforms
Purging of ultra-nationalistic ideologies;

limited decentralisation of national education
system; standardization of general education
and hence demotion of vocational training
Growth of firm-based training centres to

train well educated and adaptable high
school generalists
Post-war boom
Baby boom and growth in demand for

university places. Political stalemate between
imperial universities and Ministry of
Education. Weaknesses in R&D and graduate
schools
Higher ratio of well-educated construction

professionals within firms; setting up of
independent research centres by large
contractors
Reforms for the

new economy
Broad-based education; comprehensive high

schools; increase in graduate enrolment
Greater links between independent research

centres and universities; well educated and
adaptable workforce
graduate schools are relatively weak and these

are compensated by pubic and private
organisations that set up independent
research institutes and private laboratories.
Corporations also exhibit a high commitment
to train generalists for specific jobs. Graduates
are hired for their flexibility rather than
domain knowledge.
Table I summarizes the historical
development of the Japanese education
system and its implications for construction
education and, in a limited way, the
construction industry. The critical break is
the Meiji period with the early establishment
of the modern national education system, well
ahead of many countries. The creation of an
elite imperial universities system to train
leaders for government and industry is also
novel, as is the move to demote vocational
training just after the Second World War.
In turn, employers assumed primary
responsibility for training well educated and
adaptable high school generalists while
competing for graduates from elite
universities. Finally, the setting up of

independent research institutes to
compensate for weaknesses in university
research means many Japanese universities
are basically ``teaching universities''. This
division of labour between teaching and
research is not a common feature elsewhere.
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