The initial nine-years of education is compulsory and uniform in coursework.
Entry to Kōsen Colleges of Technology and technical high schools is at age 15 years.
The high schools provide three-years of training, and the graduates are qualified to, but comparatively hard to proceed to tertiary education, for the usual university entrance examination is not considered for the case.
Western-style began in earnest in the Meiji period with the founding of the British-dominated Imperial College of Engineering.
Most of these tertiary students come through three-years of general education at high schools.