Examination hell

The modern examination system used in Japan began following the Meiji Restoration of 1868.^[1]

From the 1970s, a large education industry was created to support the large number of applicants, including textbooks, cram schools, and hotel 'examination plans'—an inclusive deal that provides spaces and services for students travelling to take entrance exams in different cities.^[2] In the late 1980s, it was common for around two thirds of students to fail to achieve their university of choice.^[1] The failure rate rose in the late 1960s, before declining slightly, peaking at 44.5% of applicants in 1990. The two increases in the failure rate during the late 1960s and 1990s have been attributed to demographic shifts in Japan as the baby boom generation, and their subsequent children came of age. The failure rate went down dramatically during the 1990s, getting to below 10% in 2008, with it bottoming out at 1.7% of applicant failures in 2022, leading to the suggestion that the term has outlived its usefulness.^[4]

Examination hell often involves long hours of study by students, every day from morning until late at night. During the exam hell period, students pray to kami,^[1] especially Tenjin, the patron deity of scholarship. The Tokyo Tenjin Matsuri occurs concurrently with the period with students leaving ema at the deity's shrine seeking divine support.^[5]

Critics of the intense exam system have cited the overwhelming pressure placed on students to get into their choice schools, believing that it encourages rote memorisation, and subdues critical thinking. Those who fail become disheartened, with some students who fail the exams taking their own lives.^[1]