Difficulty, perception, and usefullness of graduate school in Japan?

[Sphincter]

I am wondering if anybody knows what the perception of graduate schools are in Japan. The educational system in japan is definitely different than the US. The biggest parallel ive noticed is how primary-highschool is extremely intense and it all leads up to the entrance exams for college. However, once you are in college... your degree means nothing, your grades mean nothing, and you have fun for 4 years. The only thing that seems to matter to companies is the tier of college you went to.

After college, few students continue on to graduate school. From what family members have said, many companies view a masters degree as a waste of time (wheras the US views them as a solid thing to have on a resume). I have no idea how PhDs are perceived in Japan. The only thing I can see that a PhD can do for you in Japan is let you transition into a university professor. However, many universities seem to not want tenured foreigners.

I am currently applying to graduate schools in Japan and I am curious to know if it is a pointless endeavor. I intend to pursue PhD and become fluent in the language (my reading/writing is atrocious but my comprehension is fairly solid).

On a side note: I know a student who works with Japanese professors (in the US) and he said the Japanese professors commented about how the information in Americna textbooks are much more difficult than Japanese textbooks (in college). Are Japanese universities "easier" than American universities...and does this translate into graduate school because that would be pretty awesome.

[KansaiBen]

One of the problems in Japan is that seniority is based on age in Japan and you enter a company with people the same age as you. By the time you finish a PhD in Japan you will be 26 or 27 and much older than the average graduate, and older than people you will be working under. Companies don't like to hire people that are outside the norm in terms of age.

Second is with doing a PhD you concentrate on a very specific tiny area of research that may or may not fit in with what a company is looking for- you may eventually specialise your way out of being considered for a job.

In Japan it matters more WHERE you actually went to school than what you studied while you were there.

[well_bicyclically]

the impression is that grad school students are merely slaves to their senior professor. Any research produced by the student ends up being published with the senior teacher's name on the top of it. Getting a masters degree means more money at work. Getting a PhD means more grief, same money as a masters.

I would not recommend Japanese University as a worth while academic persuit to anyone.... regardless of national origin.

[YMO]

The majority of your time during a Masters degree in sciences will be spent doing research. There are some taught classes, but most of your time will be spent in the lab. PhDs are entirely research based (as they are in the UK). In order to graduate your PhD, you have to publish at least one paper. No publication, no graduation. Yes, your professor's name will end up on your publication. That is the same as it is in every other country and every lab in the world - absolutely standard - I have been in research science for 10 years, and I have never seen otherwise. Unless you plan to stay in academia, then a PhD is almost certainly the wrong thing to do.

If you find research easy, then perhaps it may be easier to do a Masters and PhD here than in the US. However, for us mere mortals, research is far more demanding than taught courses. The thesis component does seem easier than in the UK. Ultimately, there are many world-class researchers in Japan. If the person you are applying to go work with is of that calibre, then you probably should strongly consider studying in their lab - irrespective of the country.

I honestly couldn't say why your professor friend told you Japanese textbooks were comparatively easy. Many textbooks used here are direct translations of US textbooks.

[wzwzwz]

Companies provide a lot of their own training in Japan (big, traditional Japanese companies), so additional post-grad training at a university isn't as much of an advantage here as it is in N.America.

That being said, I know a few people, foreign and Japanese, who got M.Eng, M.Sc and Ph.D degrees here and went on to work in Japanese companies. They do mostly R&D. I get the general sense that Japanese companies are becoming more and more open to hiring foreigners who go to grad school in STEM fields here, but have also been told that finding an industry job depends heavily on your advisor's connections.