One characteristic of Japanese universities is that they provide highly specialized education for undergraduate students. This is partly because high-school students receive a high level of science education. In fact, their knowledge level in math and physics is one of the highest in the world. Thus, first-year undergraduates in science departments are ready to take highly specialized courses.

Elementary and junior high-school students also receive a relatively high level of science education, and their scholastic ability, as well as that of high-school students, in international achievement contests is also tops. However, the level of scientific thinking among adults is ranked 14th in a 15-nation survey of those aged around 30, one conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The message for Japan is: Scientific knowledge acquired by rote in preparation for university entrance examinations can be forgotten, almost entirely, in 10 years, say, after graduation from high school. More to the point, such knowledge does not help much to arouse interest in nature or develop scientific thinking. The primary purpose of education is to cultivate intellect. The OECD survey indicates that rote learning hardly contributes to the cultivation of adult intellect, raising questions about the value of education by cramming.