13 standing advisory councils, with the most powerful being the Central Council for Education. The Ministry of Education is responsible for the entire official system of education including establishing curricula, operating national education institutions, and regulating the establishment of private schools: "As a result of the Japanese commitment to education the highly centralised system has made demands upon students which would be thought unacceptable in many other developed countries" (Stephens, 1991, p. 124). The Japanese education system is characterized by long school days and school years, with minimal school holidays.
At the prefectural level, each prefecture has a 5-member board of education. These boards are responsible for operating schools, licensing teachers, paying teacher salaries, and providing financial assistance to municipalities. Prefectures primarily have authority over upper secondary schools: "Most of the public high schools are funded and run by local governments (municipalities and prefectures), although a few are national" (James and Benjamin, 1988, p. 54).
At the municipal level, each municipality has a 3- or 5-member board of education. These boards operate schools in their jurisdictions, select textbooks from the list approved by the Ministry of Education, and make recommendations to the prefectural boards regarding the appointment and dismissal of teachers.
Teachers have considerable prestige in Japan, and teacher salaries are an important component of education funding. Japanese teachers have a strong, socialist-oriented union and are generally higher paid than their Western counterparts: "starting salaries for teachers in Japan are higher than the starting salaries of businesspeople and engineers with the same level of education, and has been rising compared to other occupations" (Feinberg, 1993, p. 196). All public school teachers have the same pay arrangements within each prefec...