75% Of Japanese Students Have No Idea Where Iraq Is
TOKYO, March 19 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Only 26 percent of Japanese high school students were able to correctly locate where Iraq is on a map, despite considerable media attention given to it in Japan while Japanese troops were providing postwar reconstruction aid, a survey by an academic society of geographers showed Wednesday.
The Association of Japanese Geographers stressed that this and other results show the need to improve geography in schools.
The survey also showed that only 38 percent of the students identified Switzerland correctly and 30 percent identified Vietnam, according to the survey released by the association’s Commission on Geographic Education.
In its second survey following the first one in 2005, the commission surveyed a total of 6,159 students at 51 high schools in Tokyo and six other prefectures, and 3,747 students at 31 universities and colleges across Japan from last December to February to check their geographic knowledge.
The United States was the most familiar country as 84 percent of the students knew where it is.
Iraq was the least familiar country to the surveyed university students, with only 50 percent correctly locating it on a map. Iraq was followed by Finland, which was correctly located by 63 percent of the students.
Students were also tested on Japanese geography. More than half of the surveyed high school students failed to pinpoint the location of Miyazaki Prefecture, despite its widespread popularity and media attention given to its TV personality-turned-governor, Hideo Higashikokubaru.
Miyazaki was recognized by 43 percent of the high school students, the lowest among the 10 prefectures picked for the survey. Tokyo was best known among them. Yet, seven percent did not even know where Tokyo is, according to the survey.
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Its apity they dont care about there guys work, wasnt a number of japanesse hostages taken not so long ago?
But they are on the otherside of the world, its mainly casulties, family ties or drastic changes in policy that keeps it in the news in the west. Like Kosovo a few years ago, many of the UN countries populations wouldnt know where that was.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:38 amThats really sad. I dont think there are many countries that i couldnt point to on a map. especially Iraq seeing as the middle east has been in the news for some years now
March 19th, 2008 at 3:49 amhello?…. hello?…..hello kitty?
I wonder if they know where N Korea is?
March 19th, 2008 at 3:52 amI can understand not finding Switzerland or Iraq, but Vietnam is in the same neighborhood.
I’m a big fan of schoolgirl uniforms, but what the hell is up with those socks?
March 19th, 2008 at 6:09 ambut they know where is Italy :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4p320_italia_blog
March 19th, 2008 at 6:41 am—-> ticticboom
I was in Japan for a few years, and I can tell you the chicks there dress in a strange way, wearing two of three skirts and like a million shirts. Always with pointy shoes. I always found that as one of the more curious things I saw there.
March 19th, 2008 at 6:53 amHey they are just like us now. They have clueless kids that don’t even know where any country is on the world map.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:17 amPlus they are fat with all the junk food.
Play baseball too.
What’s next?
but i bet they could reprogram your computer and turn it into a dancing robot.
March 19th, 2008 at 4:31 pmExactly, locating countries on a map is not required to program and create our new robot overlords. Besides, their death seeking rape tentacle machines will be programed to located these countries for themselves.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:00 am