Diploma (Japan)

Diploma in Japanese has 2 meanings. They can be translated into "Senmonshi"(Japanese:専門士), the Japanese original academic degree, and the certificate of graduation.

Usage

Japanese original academic degree

The first meaning is a Japanese original academic degree given to people who had spent more than 2 years and successfully completed a particular specialized course of study at the vocational school certified by Japanese educational ministry. This academic degree was established in 1994 to improve the graduates' reputation and to promote lifelong learning. This is called "Senmonshi"(専門士) which means a specialist or an expert in Japanese. Its level is equal to associate or foundation degree given by the junior college. The name of academic degree in English was translated into "technical associate" in the past, but it was changed to "Diploma" in 2006 because its name is more common and known in English spoken countries and it was hard to understand its true value for the foreigners. The vocational schools in this article mean a "Senmon-gakkō" (専門学校) which means a professional training college and a "Senshū-gakkō" (専修学校) which means a Specialized training colleges. The new original Japanese academic degree "Advanced Diploma" was established in 2005^[1][2].

Courses

• Technology (工業)
• Agriculture (農業)
• Medical Care (医療)
• Personal Care and Nutrition (衛生)
• Education and Welfare (教育・社会福祉)
• Business (商業実務)
• Fashion and Home Economics (服飾・家政)
• Culture and General Education (文化・教養)

Requirements

• To spend the school-life more than 2 years at the certified vocational schools.
• To spend the more than 1700 lessons (about 1416 hours which are equal to about 63 credits in a university and a junior college) before the graduation.
• To pass the examinations assigned by the certified vocational schools.

Certificate of Graduation

Graduation deed of Japanese junior high school in 2002.

The second meaning is documents of certificate of graduation or deed of Graduation issued by the educational institutions, such as an elementary school, a junior high school, a high school, and a university, that testifie that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study, or confers an academic degree. This is called a "Sotsugyō Shōsho" (Japanese:卒業証書) which literally means the certificate of graduation.

References

1. ^ 専修学校の専門学校修了者に対する専門士及び高度専門士の称号の付与に関する規程
2. ^ 専門士の称号 高度専門士の称号 Title of Senmonshi Title of Kōdo-Senmonshi

See also

• Advanced Diploma