Education is an important issue in Japanese society. Compulsory education includes elementary school (lasting 6 years) and junior high school (lasting 3 years) and although high school (lasting 3 years) is not compulsory more than 90% of pupils attend and many continue on university. A characteristic of the Japanese school system are entrance exams, and with them a high competitiveness among students. Japan has a wide variety of different international schools in the larger cities.