On Saturday we had another round of entrance exams here in Togane. Friends from around the world ask me why we have so many exams and the answer is: we have so many different types of entrance exams in Japan. Our last round is going to be on March 19 and I know that a Brazilian student will be applying.
Some universities are considering major changes in the near future. The University of Tokyo announced that they are planning to start the academic year in September instead of April. I don't know what the high school students are going to be doing from March to September, but in any case, they would like to adjust to the academic dates in most Western countries. Another university announced they are going to incorporate the quarter system used at many American universities. Here at JIU we use the semester system and for quite a while now we have had two entrance ceremonies-one in April and one in September when we welcome most of our international students and Japanese students who were studying abroad. I feel we have been ahead of most institutions.
