A look at Japan's vocational schools at Japan Today

Recommended reading at Japan Today. The article provides some insight into the significance of vocational-type further education in Japan. I predict that you will see convergence of vocational colleges with the university-college (daigaku, with four-year programs) sector, as is already evident with the institution profiled in this piece--Nihon Kogakuin College. Also significant is the importance of foreign students (mostly from S. Korea and Taiwan) in keeping enrollments up. Link to article is followed by a short excerpt.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/executive-impact/view/
vocational-schools-on-the-move

excerpt>>Vocational schools on the move

In Japan, 3,218 private vocational schools offer professional education in individual areas of industry. Currently, 23.1% of high school graduates study at vocational schools and 99.6% of them find employment after graduation.

One of the leading vocational schools in Japan is Nihon Kogakuin College, which is part of the Katayanagi Institute group. The school has offered industrial education since its establishment in 1947. Today, the school proactively accepts foreign students due to the labor shortage in IT and technology industry.<