Japanese Children Not Motivated to Study?

Primary school students in Japan have little expectation for the future, and their motivation to study is low compared with Chinese and South Korean students, according to a survey by the Japan Youth Research Institute.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the percentage of parents in Japan who tell their children that they will be able to get a good job in the future if they study hard was the lowest among the three countries.

More than 70 percent of respondents in Beijing and Seoul said they wanted to study hard for the future, while 48 percent of students in Tokyo gave the same answer.

According to the survey, nearly 80 percent of the children in China and South Korea said they wanted to perform well academically, but just 43.1 percent of the Japanese children gave that answer.