Chemical Education in Japan Version 2

Chapter 6 CHEMICAL EDUCATION AS RELATED TO THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY


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6.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE JAPANESE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY - THE MEIJI ERA

Although primitive Western-style factories using hydraulic power existed before the middle of the nineteenth century in Japan (producing, for example, gun-powder and natural dyestuffs, or operating as dyeing mills), a modern chemical industry emerged as early as the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The modernization of traditional Japanese society was carried out under the forceful leadership of the Meiji government. Cabinet membership comprised mostly samurai from the lowest ranks of the samurai hierarchy established in the preceding Edo era (Tokugawa Shogunate) during which time Japan survived for two hundred and fifty years within a closed economy, except for restricted trading with the Netherlands. By the end of this period, the feudal system had lost its political hegemony and Japan was forced to open her markets to the West. Foreign economic power with its experience of the Industrial Revolution soon overwhelmed Japan's primitive industry. As a result, a flood of goods was imported and Japan became an easy market for items such as old-fashioned rifles and steamships at extraordinary prices in the early 1860's.

Japan's new government, uninhibited by convention, sent delegations of talented young civil servants to Europe to learn the Western parliamentary system, financial and tax polices, modern military and naval organization, and advanced industrial technologies, as well as new educational systems. With regard to the latter, compulsory elementary schools were established in each town and village throughout the country as soon as the Ministry of Education began to function. An adequate elementary education that taught reading and writing of Japanese and basic mathematical calculation enormously enhanced the public level of knowledge. This clearly played a key role in the rapid growth of Japan up to the early 1920's.

In 1871 the Ministry of Industry had been established by the government to furnish leadership in expanding national prosperity and assuring military strength. Ten departments were designated for stimulating industrial activity, namely, for the mining industry, railroad and lighthouse construction, civil engineering. shipbuilding, a nascent electric industry, and iron manufacturing, among others. The chemical industry was also modernized in an impressively short time under the impress of government policy. A variety of products were commercialized, such as Portland cement, tanned leather, soap, beer, brick, printing ink and paper. However, sodium hydroxide, dynamite, and latex were still imported. In order to supply the new currency, the Meiji government built a foundry in Osaka to produce new silver and copper coins in addition to gold ones. Large quantities of sulfuric and nitric acids were required for the analysis and refining of raw metals and for cleaning coins. This was one of the typical spin-off effects in early modern Japanese industry. Thus, the government first imported sulfuric acid from Germany, later introducing production facilities from England. By 1872, it was recorded that the Osaka foundry produced 5.1 tons of sulfuric acid per month. The monthly production of sulfuric acid increased to 160 tons in 1873, and 543 tons in 1876, abundant enough to export it to China. The cost of sulfuric acid per pound had dropped to 4.3 cents by that time, as compared to the price of the European product, which was as high as 8-15 cents.

In 1900 the Meiji government established the Chemical Industrial Research Institute in Tokyo in order to help the industry supply adequate amounts of chemical materials to the military forces, the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) occurring shortly thereafter. Imported materials were far too expensive, including shipping costs and patent royalties. The new Institute aimed at the production of ammonia by the Haber process in 1908, only succeeding in production on an industrial scale after nearly eight years, owing to difficulties in chemical engineering implementation.

A variety of other research institutions were also created in this period, including the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research and the Industrial Chemical Society of Japan, both in Tokyo. The University of Tokyo also promoted its Faculty of Engineering, from which extremely gifted engineers and scientists graduated to jobs in rising Japanese industry.

More and more chemicals were produced under governmental auspices in the initial stage, and a number of industrial companies grew up through the stimulation of government policies. Among those were a factory for caustic soda built in 1880 in the Osaka foundry relying on the Leblanc process, a small plant for the Solvay process being built later. With low-cost hydroelectric power available in several places in Japan, the electrolysis method of producing both caustic soda and chlorine was industrialized in 1914. After production of sulfuric acid exceeded domestic demands, sulfuric acid was utilized to obtain calcium superphosphate Ca(H2PO4)2 and soda ash (Na2CO3), among other products. In addition, ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) was first produced in Japan as a chemical fertilizer, in conjunction with the production of calcium nitride in order to consume surplus hydroelectric power. Industrial fertilizer companies had been so successful at producing chemical fertilizers for nearly half a century that in 1945 they easily succeeded in aiding the nation to recover from the disastrous destruction of agriculture during World War II. In fact, the gross production of ammonium sulfate in that year was the same as before the war. Integrated industrial chemical complexes were also reestablished by 1951. However, such plants soon had to be reorganized, because the chemical feed stock changed dramatically to a new resource - petroleum - in the middle of the 1950's.
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6.2 FEATURES OF THE JAPANESE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY - THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND THE EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS

Chemical science appears so far to have been successful enough to guarantee its principal scientific role in the coming twenty-first century. The chemical industry relies on a variety of chemical transformations of substances or raw materials, although--by convention--oil refining, metal refining, ceramics and food production are not included. At present, numerous products of the chemical industry are so easily available that they are scarcely recognized by the public as consuming natural resources. The Japanese chemical industry today holds a position as one of the largest processors of basic materials, with gross sales amounting to 23.4 trillion yen in 1990 (corresponding to 7.4% of all Japanese manufactured products) (Figs. 6.2.1 and 6.2.2).

Difficulties of waste disposal and pollution arising principally from mass production in the chemical industry have lent chemistry and the industry a notorious public image during the 1960's. However, damage has been restricted by innovations in technology over three decades. The global oil crises that occurred in 1973 and 1979 seriously affected the Japanese chemical industry, because local oil demands for chemical feed stocks and fuels had by the 70's reached about 300 times the level attained (mostly for fuels) in the 1940's during World War II.

Economic renewal was of the utmost importance for the Japanese people following the disastrous destruction of cities and factories in August, 1945. Under the auspices of the allied occupation forces, all aspects of militarism were excluded from the political, land-ownership, and educational systems. Thus, Japan was reborn and reinforced through democracy. However, the real individualism which alone can be the basis of democratic thought and action was not quite fully mature in Japan. The Japanese have been eager to learn new things or ideas from the West. They attributed much value to existing knowledge in recognition of the fact that chemical materials arising from developed countries are one of the necessities of a prosperous life style. Full economic restoration had to await the Treaty of Peace in 1951. Then, a sudden rush into imported technologies took place. Extraordinary patent royalties for I.C.I. process-polyethylene and Montecatini process-polypropylene

were paid out by competing Japanese firms. Such incidents became a form of typical behavior among Japanese enterprises.

Industrial management, especially within the chemical industry throughout the crises mentioned above, has been conducted with incredible efficiency. This success has been due not only to the capability of executives, who are usually selected from among the most capable company employees, but also to the diligence and training of all employees from R & D staff to factory workers. Here, the high general level of Japanese education has borne real fruit. In overcoming the technical problems that diminish hazardous wastes causing air and water pollution, stable employer-employee relationships have worked most effectively. Crucial improvements regarding technical issues were frequently suggested by workers in token of their loyalty to the company. Such relationships arise from the Japanese management system that consists of lifelong employment, a seniority wage system, and closed enterprise-based employee's unions. In addition, strong leadership as displayed in Government policy, especially by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), has helped industry as a whole to move in an advantageous direction and avoid recession. The same was true in the years of the oil crises. Japanese management techniques combined with government leadership offer a sharp contrast, then as now, to European and U.S. patterns.

However, the so-called Japan Inc. must now henceforward change fundamentally to adopt individualism to the framework of corporate enterprise. Group-security oriented habits must in part give way under new conditions involving the ever stronger yen prevailing since the late 1980's, soft-oriented technology, and a more innovative technology in general. Furthermore, in accordance with the current global alteration in Japan-U.S. and Japan-E.U. relationships with regards to economic issues and trade friction, Japanese management may have to be modified in consonance with world-wide economic policy.
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6.3 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM RELATED TO CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

This section describes in some detail the educational system in relation to chemical industry. An overview of the educational system related to chemistry can be referred to in Chapter 3.
  1. ) Upper Secondary Schools (Kogyo Koko)

    Upper secondary schools (High Schools; Koko) are classified into two categories, general courses and vocational courses. The latter are specialized in subjects such as (1) Home Economics (2) Agriculture (3) Industry (4) Commerce (5) Fishery (6) Nursery. The "Industry Course" (Kogyo Koko) will be explained in detail in this section. This course is divided into several Departments, and all students are required to take fundamentals such as "introduction to (a particular subject)" and "fundamental techniques of handling machines". Departments are as follows. (i) Mechanical Engineering (ii) Shipbuilding Engineering (iii) Electronic Engineering (iv) Architecture (v) Civil Engineering (vi) Chemical Engineering (vii) Metallurgy (viii) Interior Design (ix) System Engineering (x) Information.

    All vocational high schools are fairly well-equipped, but enrollment in these schools is declining because youngsters nowadays prefer choosing white-collar rather than blue-collar jobs.

    The curriculum for the chemical industrial course is also specified in the "Course of Study". It is required to cover the following subjects:
    Department of Chemical Engineering. Introduction, Materials, Elements and Inorganic Compounds, Chemical Equilibrium and Rate of Reaction, Organic Compounds, Radioactive Substances and Atomic Energy, Resources for Chemical Industry, Process in Industrial Chemistry, Environment.

    Department of Engineering Chemistry. Revenue to Expenditure of Materials and Energy, Unit Operation and Equipment, Apparatus for Chemical Reactions, Measurement and Automatic Control, Chemical Plants.

    Department of Planning and Administration. Materials, Machinery and Electrics, Administration, Safety and Quality, Environmental Conservation Equipment.

    Department of Safety for Chemical Industry . Calamities in Industry and their Prevention, Handling of Hazardous Materials, Safety Design, Laws and Qualifications Related to Safety.

    Department of Applied Industrial Chemistry . Analytical Chemistry, Fermentation Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Radio Chemistry, Electro Chemistry, Photo Chemistry, Fuel Chemistry, Foods, Paper and Pulp, Dyes and Paints, Drugs and Agricultural Chemicals, Cosmetics.

    Department of Environment. Environmental Industry, Water Pollution, Air Pollution, Investigation and Control of Environment, Effluents Control Technology.

    The "Course of Study" lists these items, but does not allocate a specific number of units to each subject, which is different from the General Course. This is because there are a certain number of schools attached to industrial companies, which each have their own aims and goals in training the technicians who work in these companies.

  2. ) Colleges of Technology (Kosen)

    "Colleges of Technology" (Kosen) provide a 5-year course corresponding to high school combined with junior college. Colleges of Technology began in 1962 to overcome the shortage of technicians caused by the rapid expansion of industries during the post-war boom. Some universities accept graduates from Colleges of Technology to the third-year junior level. Recently, some Colleges of Technology have established 2-year Advanced Courses (Senko-ka) after which the graduates may obtain Bachelor's degree (Gakushi) from National Institutions for Academic Degrees.

  3. ) Institutes of Technological Sciences (Gijutsu Kagaku Daigaku)

    Institutes accept graduates from industrial courses of upper secondary schools (Kogyo Koko) and offer 6-year courses leading to a Master's degree (Shushi). Graduates from "Colleges of Technology" can enter institutes at the third year level. The institutes are characterized by their close relationships with industries. The curriculum includes a practical training period of 4th year students at industries etc. for a 5-month period. They welcome enrollment of graduates from Colleges of Technology (Kosen) and universities working in industries.

    Because of this background, the educational system for engineers and technicians appears complicated at the present time, though each college or institute was established following the strong requirements and needs of industries or government policy at that time for its own purpose.

  4. ) Universities In the Faculty of Engineering at a University (Faculty corresponds to a College in the U.S.), there are several Departments related to chemistry in the undergraduate course. These are primarily the Departments of Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, and Environmental Chemistry. Recently, many applied chemistry related departments have changed their names to those more oriented to materials science or emphasizing the relationship to biotechnology, in order to meet the social demand and to attract the interest of good students. Students usually begin to study "special fields" in the second year; they are taught general studies including human sciences, foreign languages, and gymnastics in their freshman year.

    Typical curriculum for a Department of Applied Chemistry includes: (1) Subjects on fundamental chemistry such as Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, plus Laboratory Experiments for each course, (2) Applied and/or Industrial Chemistries

    corresponding to the above fields including Materials Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, etc. A large number of lectures in the latter category are features of the Applied Chemistry Departments in contrast to the Departments of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science (Table 6.3.1). Almost all Departments require a thesis during the senior year. Students are appointed to one particular laboratory, and are given instruction by the professor responsible for that laboratory. Students at the senior level must carry out experiments throughout the year, and act as if they are graduate students. This experience is worthwhile for them particularly after they receive jobs and are required to contribute to the objectives of their company. The subject to be studied by a senior student is determined by the professor, which may be the professor's idea and sometimes is a cooperative subject linked with a company.

    Table  6.3.1  A comparative example of the curricula of the Department of Chemistry and
                 Department of Applied Chemistry, as illustrated in the time tables for the
                 3rd year level, the University of Tokyo, as of 1993.
    (A)  Department of Chemistry
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Summer Semester
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Morning                                    Afternoon(a)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Mon.    Organic Chem. II      Chemical             Analytical/Inorganic Chem. Experiments
                                    Thermodynamics      
    
      Tue.    Inorganic Chem. II    Structural Chem.     Analytical/Inorganic Chem. Experiments
    
    
      Wed.    Radio Chem.           Organic Chem. III    Analytical/Inorganic Chem. Experiments
    
    
      Thu.    Organic    Solid State    Organic          Analytical/Inorganic Chem. Experiments
              Chem.II    Chem.          Chem.III
    
      Fri.    Structural Chem.      Chemical             Analytical/Inorganic Chem. Experiments
                                    Thermodynamics     
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Winter Semester
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Morning                                     Afternoon(a)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Mon.    Quantum Chem. II      Analytical Chem.II    Organic Chem. Experiments
                   
      Tue.    Industrial Chem.I     Chemical Kinetics     Organic Chem. Experiments
                   
      Wed.    Organic Chem. of      Chemical Kinetics     Organic Chem. Experiments
              Natural Products
                   
      Thu.    Inorganic Chem. II    Organic Chem. IV      Organic Chem. Experiments
                   
      Fri.    Quantum Chem. II      Geochemistry          Organic Chem. Experiments
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (a) Physical Chem.Exp. in the Summer Semester of 4th year
    
    
    
    
    (B)  Department of Applied Chemistry(a)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Summer Semester
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Morning                                     Afternoon(b)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Mon.    Spectro-               Properties of      
              Analytical Chem.       Materials II     
         
      Tue.    Computer Science       PhysicalChem. II     Analytical Chem. Experiments
                                                          Organic Chem. Experiments
                                                          Computer Chem. Exercise
    
      Wed.    Inorganic Chem. I      Organic Chem. II     Mathematics 2E
    
      Thu.    Molecular Structure    Quantum Chem. II     Analytical Chem. Experiments
                                                          Organic Chem. Experiments
                                                          Computer Chem. Exercise
    
      Fri.    Polymer Chem.          Chemical Kinetics    Analytical Chem. Experiments
                                                          Organic Chem. Experiments
                                                          Computer Chem. Exercise
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Winter Semester
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Morning                                    Afternoon(b)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Mon.    Properties of        Chemical Reaction     
              Materials III        Engineering     
    
      Tue.    Industrial           Physical Chem. III    Physical Chem. Experiments
              Organic Chem.                              Chemical Engineering Experiments     
    
      Wed.    Chem. Energetic      Quantum Chem. III     Physical Chem. Experiments
              Materials I                                Chemical Engineering Experiments
    
      Thu.    Polymer Materials    Chem.of Energy        Applied Physics Experiments II
                                   Conversion     
    
      Fri.    Organic Chem. III    Inorganic Chem. II    Physical Chem. Experiments
                                                         Chemical Engineering Experiments
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (a)Some lectures on biochemistry/engineering and on process/system  engineering are provided as
        optional.
    (b)1/3 of the semester for each experiment.
    

    Expenses to do research work are covered through annual university grants, grants for scientific research by the Ministry of Education upon application, and are supported from either industry or other ministries such as the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Science Bureau, etc.

    Other Departments related to "Applied Chemistry" in other Faculties, such as the Department of Agricultural Chemistry and the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry exist.

    Concerning Departments of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science, the curriculum tends to be much simpler than that in the Applied Chemistry Departments, instead they emphasize the fundamental chemistry subjects. Many of the graduates from the Departments of Chemistry are employed by industries, with almost no difference between those from Departments of Applied Chemistry.

  5. ) Graduate Schools

    The Graduate School is divided into Master's (2 years) (MC) and Doctor's (3 years) (DC) courses. In order to receive a Doctor's degree, a student must pass through the Master Course. Recently, a new system has been established in some universities that allows a Doctor's degree to be obtained in less than 4 years when the graduates are outstanding. The new system also allows university students at the third-year level to enter the graduate school when evaluated as outstanding candidates for the Doctoral degree program.

    Many universities currently plan to establish graduate schools, or to put greater emphasis on education in graduate courses. Recently, institutes consisting only of graduate courses have been established, with names such as the "Advanced Institute of Science and Technology" (Sentan Kagaku Gijutsu Daigakuin Daigaku). These institutes encourage the enrollment of university graduates working in industries.

    In most universities, there is no standardized curriculum for graduate school: students are often required to only attend several lectures in Master Course, none in Doctor Course; most of their time is devoted to research work overseen by a professor throughout the graduate course. Therefore, a thesis given by a graduate student is effectively a report on the current activities of that laboratory; i.e., without having DC students, laboratories often find difficulty in presenting good reports on their activities in science. In other words, a DC student in the final stage is a member of the research staff rather than a student. In fact, receiving a Doctor's degree usually requires a certain amount of publications in refereed journals. However, some strong opinions argue that requiring more core curricula courses is necessary for MC and DC courses, so that graduates may have a more similar experience to the U. S. system, and hopefully achieve the level of recognized abilities that Ph.D. graduates from U. S. universities currently hold.
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6. 4 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES AND INDUSTRY

6.4.1 Period before World War II

As stated before, the early development of Japanese industry took place in accordance with the government objectives of national prosperity and military strength, and universities were also established to fulfill these objectives.

The manpower required by industries is not limited to an elite educated class. Under the old education system, in parallel with the universities, there were specialized high schools for the training of lower-level workers, and there were vocational schools at the middle-school level. This basic structure remained intact until the end of World War II.

The fact that within only 50 years after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 Japan was able to become one of the world's advanced industrialized nations is considered by many to be due not only to the excellent education system developed by the Meiji Government but also to the potential of the people as a whole who were educated rather well, and the technology accumulated during the foregoing Edo era, although these have not adopted completely the form of 'modern' systems. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for the people to adapt to the policy of modernization as successfully as they have proven capable of doing.

Since the Meiji era, research in the universities has been undertaken with a view to engendering national progress. National progress and prosperity were equated with the maintenance of a strong military power. Furthermore, industry as well, in the mechanical, electrical, and chemical fields and others, was developed in harmony with the goals of achieving national prosperity and a strong military establishment. The joint efforts of universities and industry were undoubtedly unified on the basis of a cohesive government policy.

On the other hand, when the modern university systems were imported from Europe etc. for the practical purpose mentioned above, the concept of the autonomy of universities also followed. This concept of academic freedom has been considered to be of primary importance to universities. However, when historical studies revealed facts not welcome to then-current government policies, open conflict took place between university and government. While universities claimed loudly that autonomy as the raison-d'etre of university was an important principle worth fighting for, the fact that universities were supported by government funds and historically relied upon government policy-setting directives meant flexibility and bending to the political reality of power was equally important for survival. However, the fields of applied sciences and engineering are considered to have benefited from the development of Japan without divergent political goals surfacing between universities and the government, which enabled the development of these fields concurrently with intimate contacts between universities and industries with the approval of government.

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6.4.2 Period after World War II

At the end of World War II, the occupation forces disbanded the interlocking financial-industrial establishment (Zaibatsu) and the military forces. At this point, the powerful industrial structure, which had also undergone heavy damage from air raids, virtually disintegrated.

After the war, chemical industries began restoring productive capacity with emphasis on fertilizers, based on the government policy to encourage food production. The prevalence of inorganic chemicals in the early stage was later changed to that of organic chemicals from coal, which was then substituted by petroleum in the 1950's. This period is characterized by a large number of technological imports, particularly in petrochemical industries. These technology imports had a profound influence on the fundamental nature of Japanese chemical industries, and can still be found.

Post war democracy made the concept of academic freedom generally accepted. In the field of applied sciences and engineering, however, the relationship between universities and industries remained fundamentally unchanged during this period. Universities supply industries with manpower they need and industries furnish universities with funds for research which are otherwise inadequate. This research includes privately contracted research; most of these projects are not considered by professors to contradict the autonomy of universities. At the same time, industries have enhanced their own ability to conduct research, although this is often oriented towards further development of imported technologies rather than fundamental research, and have thus become less dependent on universities.

In the late 1960's, student unrest caused campus disturbances in Japan as well as other nations, providing the opportunity to fundamentally re-evaluate the role of universities, taking the form of basic rejection of the industry-academic cooperative stance. In other words, the premise that "the university is a place for pure study and is not a vehicle to serve industry" became dominant.

A more important issue for chemical education arising from this time period was the increasing awareness of pollution, some companies were profiled as major polluters of the environment. The matter was somewhat amplified by the mass media, though essentially of substance, and the deteriorating image of chemical industries has since prevailed among the public. The effect has been profound not only on chemical industries but also on chemistry itself. Chemistry, particularly applied chemistry, has become an educational major that is not preferred by students. There was also an increasing reluctance of graduates to seek employment by entering private industry, particularly large enterprises, and a strengthened tendency to choose national research institutions.

With the arrival of the 1970's came the oil shock. Since then the need for cooperation between academics and industry has again come to be voiced openly, because of the difficulty for industries to conduct research under depressed financial conditions and the continuing shortage of research funds for universities. Cooperative research between universities and industries is currently encouraged by government. The system of Chairs by Donation from Industry (Kifu Koza) has been established in some universities.

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6.4.3 Employment of Graduates

An important aspect of university-industry relations is the employment of graduates. A recent tendency is the greater employment of chemistry graduates by industries other than traditional chemical companies, for example by automobile or electronics firms. At the same time, chemical industries themselves are widening their horizons and are eager to employ graduates from other technical fields such as electronics or biotechnology.

In the case of bachelor graduates, companies send employment announcements to universities, then interviews for applicants take place. Some companies have special contacts with certain professors at universities, and students belonging to the laboratories of such a professor might be accepted into that company by taking perfunctory examinations. For master and doctoral candidates, the latter type of examinations is normal.

Most of the chemical firms prefer students with a master's degree to bachelors. At the same time, they have been reluctant to employ doctoral students who are considered too specialized, although the situation is slowly changing. This is in sharp contrast to the fact that a Ph.D. is an essential requirement for employment as a research staff member in U.S. chemical firms.

In some aspects, in Japanese companies in general, newly hired entrants to the company from graduate schools are not particularly treated favorably from the viewpoint of salary. Their salary will be calculated as follows: (basic salary of normal bachelor entrants) + (average increments per year of service) x (number of years in graduate school). This means that a person with a master's degree who spent two more years in graduate school than a bachelor's degree student receives the same amount as one who entered the company two years before. In Japan, except certain special cases, company management does not give additional credit for the advanced graduate school studies. This situation makes graduate students reluctant to proceed further to Doctor's degrees, which can lead to the shortage of excellent successors to university professors and affect the progress of fundamental research. Chemical industries seem to hold the view that a master's degree is sufficient and a doctorate is unnecessary due to their dependence on imported technologies.

The balance between the supply and demand for manpower has not been, and can not be, stable similar to other countries with a 'free economic' system. The number of students, undergraduates and graduates, greatly increased in the 1950's and 1960's, as required by industries. Currently, more emphasis is being placed on the various routes leading to engineers, and on the increase in the number of graduate schools, as mentioned in
section 6.3. The result of these factors will affect the supply-demand balance in the future, which is difficult to foresee.
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6.5 IN-COMPANY TRAINING AND CHEMICAL EDUCATION

In-company training and education have been recognized as very important for chemical industries. This is considered closely related to the 'employment for life' system common in the Japanese employer-employee relationship as described in section 6.2. This means that in-company training and education are also considered a long-term project with the view of improving the skills of employees. It can be said that industries are constantly making efforts to train and educate their staff to respond to current and future needs, and thus have confidence in the results of their own internal education system. Education is not completed with graduation from the university system, it is an ongoing process to improve skills and the company product.

Some years ago, the Chemical Society of Japan asked approximately 100 companies, mainly chemical, to answer a questionnaire concerning in-company training. The description in this section is mostly based on the resulting analysis of the answers to the questionnaire, summarized as follows:

i). Japanese companies consistently work to educate their staff in indispensable matters for the management and development of the company, through general and managerial training courses designed to teach traditional and technical matters in practice with OJT (On the Job Training), and by helping them to acquire the professional and creative capabilities necessary for the company, and the individual's own future, by means of Off JT (Off the Job Training) based on self-education.

ii). The chemical companies philosophy behind in-company education is to enable their staff to mature and acquire necessary knowledge and ability for themselves and the company, in an identical manner to what has been characterized as "Japan Inc.", although there are certain differences in each company's training practices due to diversity and differences in the professional knowledge and methods of the companies.

iii). "Education in school" is regarded as and expected to play the role of "laying a foundation" for creating and delivering knowledge, information and methods, which are the essential elements of the "ability creating principle".

Some of the details will follow.

a). Styles and systems of internal training and education.

    The following three categories of training and education are common in Japanese companies.

    1. General staff training: New entrants, young staff.

    2. Managerial training: According to the managerial level i.e. by section, department, etc.

    3. Specialized training: For professional engineers, and for research staff.

    Examples are listed below

    All categories of training are adopted in the company because they feel they are needed for training. The selection of staff members to attend these training courses can be either compulsory or voluntary, according to the needs of the firm or the attendant.

    Example 1. "Freshman" orientation, Accounting seminars, OJT, Language studies, Quality Control (QC) seminars, Report-making, Patent seminars, and Correspondence classes.

    Example 2. Leadership case-study seminars, Electronics study seminars, Problem solution seminars, Innovation case-study seminars.

    Example 3. R & D theme-selection seminars. R & D investment analysis methods seminars.

    Example 4. Leave-time granted for university studies, in Japan or abroad, for recurrent education and training.

b). Are there any differences in training between research workers and engineers?
    Of the companies answering the questionnaire, 69% do not make any distinctions. The reason for this is that most university graduates begin in research positions and then experience alternating plant and research jobs. It is considered good to have a chance to live and interact with other functional staff members in other job categories. The companies which distinguish between research workers and plant engineers in training and education attribute their policy to the natural difference in their technical functions.

    Employers expect their technical staff:

    1) To develop their ability through self-motivation primarily to arrive at new product development. (Research workers).

    2) To make principal efforts to optimize the developed products and to reduce overall costs (Engineers).

c). Evaluation of internal education.
    Of those answering, 68% said that their internal education is effective, whereas 20% said it was difficult to evaluate the effect, and 10% were dubious about the effectiveness of their efforts. Most companies, however, seem to believe that the immediate effect of education is a matter not to be expected, but to continue believing in the eventual return on that effort, which seemingly derives from the family-like employer-employee relationship in Japanese enterprise.
d). New entrants from universities
    With the great increase in the number of university students after World War II, one might have expected a decrease in their average quality. The introduction of the common examination system (Chapter 7) has often been said to have created students short in individuality and lacking initiative. As for the chemistry-related fields, it is a general expression nowadays that "chemistry lost its charm for talented youngsters resulting in a lower academic level", and thus "the graduate engineers are less able than before."

    Rather unexpectedly, most of the answers from big/medium size industries contradicted the above generalization. Many of them find no deterioration in the newly employed graduates, or they find no trouble because they are prepared to give adequate training and education. However, the fact that smaller sized specialty chemical firms more loudly point out the deterioration indicates the change in quality as a whole.

    One can understand that Japanese company executives want to "hire good entrants" and to "educate and train as far as possible" because not all, of course, are excellent to begin with. When commenting on "their educated staffs" to outsiders, their thinking frequently becomes wishful and they often try to make out that the "college graduates of our company are all right", this also being a form of Japanese paternalism.
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Chemical Education in Japan (1994)(Copy right 1994, The Chemical Society of Japan)