60% of Japanese Regional Governors Support Switching to September Academic Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Approximately 60% of Japanese prefectural governors surveyed support changing the school entrance and start of the academic year from April to September.

On the 13th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun conducted a survey earlier this month targeting the governors of 47 prefectures. Among the 41 prefectural governors who responded by the previous day, 18 answered "support," and 6 said "somewhat support." Two were "opposed," and 15 responded "cannot say either way."

Specifically, Tokyo and Osaka prefectures expressed support, while Shimane and Oita prefectures opposed. Supporters stated, "Since society as a whole is becoming globalized, this should be actively promoted," whereas opponents questioned, "Can changing the school entrance period alone really be called globalization?"

In Japan, since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's nationwide simultaneous school closure request in February, most schools have remained temporarily closed. Due to the prolonged school closures caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), there have been calls, mainly from local governments, to switch to a September academic year system like advanced countries such as the United States and Europe.

However, regarding the immediate introduction of the September academic year system starting this year, 17 of the 41 prefectural governors expressed opposition, exceeding the 9 in favor. Many opinions suggested that early implementation this year is realistically difficult due to the need for public opinion gathering and legal revisions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.