Ishikawa Entrance Social Studies study plan
Ishikawa Entrance Social Studies · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Geography - Japan and the World (regional geography, maps, industry, population, climate) & History - Japan and the World (prehistory through modern era, periodization, key figures and events)
Build a one-page mental map of Japan's 8 regions and 47 prefectures, and label them from memory on a blank outline map.
Locate and name Japan's major plains, mountain ranges, rivers, and straits, and state one economic or historical consequence of each.
Sketch a timeline of Japanese periodization from Jōmon through Heisei, writing the start and end years for each period.
Practice 20 map-identification items and log every miss with the correct location in a personal error notebook.
Your checkpoint
A hand-drawn blank map of Japan labeled correctly (prefectures, 8 regions, 5 major rivers, 3 major plains) plus a one-page periodization timeline, both self-checked against an atlas.
Geography - Japan and the World (regional geography, maps, industry, population, climate) & History - Japan and the World (prehistory through modern era, periodization, key figures and events)
Explain how Japan's climate divides into Pacific-side, Sea-of-Japan-side, Hokkaido, and Setouchi zones, and predict seasonal weather for each from a given city.
Describe the distribution of Japan's core industrial zones (Keihin, Hanshin, Chūkyō, Kitakyūshū) and match each to its dominant industries.
Summarize the main reforms of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods (Taika Reform, ritsuryō system, Heian court culture) in your own words.
Read three climate or population graphs and state the trend, the likely cause, and one limitation of the data.
Your checkpoint
A two-column comparison table of Japan's four climate zones (features, agriculture, housing/industry implications) and a 150-word written explanation of why industry concentrated along the Pacific Belt.
History - Japan and the World (prehistory through modern era, periodization, key figures and events) & Geography - Japan and the World (regional geography, maps, industry, population, climate)
Narrate the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, naming the shogunates, key figures (Minamoto no Yoritomo, Hōjō regents, Ashikaga Takauji), and the Mongol invasions.
Trace the Sengoku unification sequence (Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu) and explain each leader's key policies.
Explain the Tokugawa shogunate's control mechanisms (sankin-kōtai, class system, sakoku) and their effects on society and economy.
Compare Japan's population distribution and urbanization today with the Edo-period castle towns, citing at least three examples.
Your checkpoint
A one-page causal diagram linking Edo-period policies (alternate attendance, national isolation, class system) to outcomes in urbanization, transport, and merchant culture, with each arrow justified in a sentence.
History - Japan and the World (prehistory through modern era, periodization, key figures and events) & Civics - Contemporary Society (constitution, politics, economy, international relations, civic life)
Sequence the events from the arrival of Perry's ships through the Meiji Restoration, and explain the causes and consequences of each step.
List the major Meiji reforms (abolition of domains, conscription, land tax, compulsory education, industrialization) and state one social effect of each.
Explain the main features of the Meiji Constitution (1889) and contrast them with the postwar Constitution of Japan.
Identify the branches of Japan's current government and the separation-of-powers principle, using the Meiji-versus-postwar contrast as the frame.
Your checkpoint
A side-by-side chart of the Meiji Constitution and the Constitution of Japan covering sovereignty, the emperor's role, the Diet, cabinet, and rights, with at least six rows completed from memory.
Civics - Contemporary Society (constitution, politics, economy, international relations, civic life)
Explain the three principles of the Constitution of Japan (popular sovereignty, fundamental human rights, pacifism) and Article 9 in your own words.
Describe how a bill becomes law in the Diet, including the role of the House of Councillors and the two-thirds override.
Outline the cabinet system, the prime minister's selection, and the relationship between the cabinet and the bureaucracy.
Summarize the structure and role of the courts, including judicial review and the lay judge (saiban-in) system.
Your checkpoint
A flowchart of the legislative process from bill drafting to promulgation, with each stage annotated by the constitutional article or convention that governs it.
Civics - Contemporary Society (constitution, politics, economy, international relations, civic life) & Integrated/Cross-Domain and Data Interpretation (charts, graphs, maps, source reading, multi-topic reasoning)
Explain the roles of the Bank of Japan, fiscal policy, and the business cycle, and interpret a simple supply-and-demand or price-index chart.
Describe Japan's major trading partners, key exports and imports, and the significance of the Japan–US security alliance and UN membership.
Interpret election data (turnout, seat shares, proportional versus district results) and explain how the electoral system shapes outcomes.
Analyze one short primary source (a constitutional article or a policy excerpt) and state its claim, evidence, and limitation.
Your checkpoint
A one-page data-interpretation write-up of a real election or trade chart: describe the trend, propose two causes, and list two questions the data cannot answer.
Geography - Japan and the World (regional geography, maps, industry, population, climate) & History - Japan and the World (prehistory through modern era, periodization, key figures and events) & Civics - Contemporary Society (constitution, politics, economy, international relations, civic life)
Complete a full timed practice set across all four domains and record accuracy per domain.
Re-teach your three weakest subtopics aloud or in writing without notes, then correct gaps immediately.
Drill map, timeline, and constitutional-article recall with spaced repetition until each is retrieved in under ten seconds.
Rewrite your error notebook into a single prioritized list of at most ten recurring mistakes.
Your checkpoint
A full-length timed practice result with per-domain accuracy scores and a prioritized top-ten error list, each item paired with a specific corrective action.
Integrated/Cross-Domain and Data Interpretation (charts, graphs, maps, source reading, multi-topic reasoning) & Geography - Japan and the World (regional geography, maps, industry, population, climate) & History - Japan and the World (prehistory through modern era, periodization, key figures and events) & Civics - Contemporary Society (constitution, politics, economy, international relations, civic life)
Take two full timed mock exams under exam conditions and compare scores to identify remaining weak spots.
Practice cross-domain items that combine a map or chart with a historical or civic question, and justify each answer in one sentence.
Review only your top-ten error list and the associated corrective actions; retire items you now answer correctly twice.
Rehearse time allocation per domain so no section is left unfinished.
Your checkpoint
Two completed mock exams with scores, a final one-page 'last-look' sheet of the five facts most likely to be missed, and a written time-allocation plan for exam day.
Milestones
Week 2: Label a blank map of Japan with all 47 prefectures and 8 regions at 90% accuracy, and recite the periodization timeline from Jōmon to Heisei with correct years.
Week 4: Score at least 70% on a 30-item mixed set covering geography and pre-modern/modern history, and complete the Meiji-versus-postwar constitutional comparison chart from memory.
Week 6: Score at least 75% on a 30-item civics and data-interpretation set, and correctly interpret an unseen chart by stating trend, cause, and limitation.
Week 7: Achieve at least 80% overall on a full timed practice exam with no domain below 70%.
Week 8: Achieve at least 85% on both final mock exams and confirm that every item on the top-ten error list has been answered correctly twice.