Notice on the Revision of the Syllabus for the EJU examination "Japan and the World"

January 15, 2015

We hereby announce that the syllabus for the “Japan and the World” examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU) has been revised as outlined below in order to reflect new Japanese high school curriculum guidelines implemented in April 2013.
The revised syllabus is based on a draft issued in September 2014 and on a review of opinions regarding the draft that were submitted by universities, Japanese language schools, and other relevant educational institutions. Please note that the revised syllabus will be applied to the EJU starting in FY 2016.
As announced previously, the syllabuses for the Science and Mathematics examinations have been revised to incorporate high school curriculum guideline changes that were implemented a year earlier, in April 2012, and these new syllabuses will come into effect in FY 2015.


1. Focus of revisions to the Japan and the World syllabus

Japan and the World takes up themes centered mainly on the contemporary world and Japan as seen from the perspective of multicultural understanding, particularly themes from politics, economy, and society, as well as geography and history. While maintaining this general focus, the revised syllabus changes some topics and adds some new ones to enhance the test content and bring it into line with the latest high school curriculum guidelines. In addition, the descriptors used for some established topics have been changed to help make the syllabus easier to understand.

2.Summary of changes

Topics added to reflect new
curriculum guidelines
Refinement of established topics &
changes to descriptors
Deleted topics
Politics, Economy & Society Contemporary society Social security, Transformation of communities, Food issues, Energy issues, Environmental issues, Sustainable society Redress of inequality None
Economy Consumers, Labor issues Market economy, Price mechanism, Business cycle, Government roles and economic policy, International trade, Foreign exchange, Balance of payments None
Politics Parliamentary democracy, Local government, New human rights The Constitution of Japan, Fundamental human rights and the rule of law, Diet, Cabinets, Courts None
Modern international society International relations and international law, Japan’s international contributions Race/ethnicity and ethnic issues None
Geography Geographical examination of featuresand issues of the modern world Lifestyles/cultures/religions around the world, Natural environment and disasters/ disaster prevention Urban and rural settlement, Land and environment of Japan None
History Development of modern society and interdependence of the world None None None
Japan and the world in the 20th century Postwar Japanese history None None

Inquiries
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