Shiga Public High School Entrance Examination - Social Studies common mistakes
Shiga Public High School Entrance Examination - Social Studies · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When a map or graph question asks which prefecture or region has the highest/lowest value, the candidate answers from the shape of the graph or the size of the region on the map rather than reading the actual axis values and labels.
In map-and-statistics questions the visual area of a bar or the apparent size of a prefecture on a small map dominates attention, and candidates skip the step of matching the legend and axis units to the ranking being asked for.
What to do instead
Before answering, write the axis title, unit, and year at the top of your scratch space, then read off the top three values explicitly and rank them. If the question says 'rate' (率) rather than 'number' (数), check whether a large-population prefecture like Tokyo or Osaka can rank high on count but low on rate, and answer only from the quantity the question names.
On questions giving a climograph or monthly temperature/precipitation table for a Japanese city, the candidate identifies the climate type from the single wettest month instead of from the winter temperature and the seasonal distribution.
Candidates memorize 'Japan has four seasons' and look only for a summer peak, ignoring that the Sea of Japan side has heavy winter precipitation and snow while the Pacific side has dry, sunny winters, and that Okinawa stays warm all year.
What to do instead
Use a fixed two-step check: first read January and August temperatures to fix the latitude band (warm all year = Okinawa; cold January with heavy snow precipitation = Sea of Japan side; cold January with low winter precipitation = Pacific side or inland). Then check whether the precipitation maximum is in summer (Pacific side) or winter (Sea of Japan side). Practice on Kanazawa, Matsue, Tokyo, and Naha.
When asked to place an event or era in chronological order, the candidate sorts by the names they remember best or by the order the topics appeared in their textbook chapter rather than by actual dates.
Textbook chapters often group thematically, and candidates remember narrative flow rather than dates, so they misplace events that are culturally familiar but chronologically distant.
What to do instead
Keep a one-page date spine and rehearse it: 710 Nara, 794 Heian, 1192 Kamakura shogunate, 1467 Onin War, 1603 Edo shogunate, 1853 Perry arrival, 1868 Meiji Restoration, 1889 Meiji Constitution, 1945 defeat, 1947 new Constitution. For any ordering question, anchor each item to the nearest date on the spine before sorting.
On world history questions about the Industrial Revolution or imperialism, the candidate answers with the general moral judgment ('it was bad for colonies') instead of the specific cause-and-effect the question asks for, such as why Britain industrialized first.
Candidates learn these topics through value-laden summaries and never drill the concrete factors (coal and iron ore, capital from trade, enclosure and labor supply, overseas markets), so they substitute opinion for causal explanation.
What to do instead
For each major world-history topic, prepare a short causal chain of three or four concrete factors with one example each. For British industrialization, memorize coal/iron near coalfields, agricultural enclosure pushing labor to cities, accumulated capital from overseas trade, and demand from colonies and domestic markets. Answer using the named factors, not adjectives.
On Constitution questions the candidate confuses the roles of the Diet, the Cabinet, and the courts, for example saying the Cabinet appoints the Prime Minister or that the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review in name only.
The three branches are taught together and their mutual checks (Diet designates the PM, PM appoints ministers, Cabinet can dissolve the lower house, courts review legislation) blur into a single 'government does it' impression.
What to do instead
Draw the checks as arrows: Diet designates the Prime Minister; the Prime Minister appoints ministers, a majority of whom must be Diet members; the Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Diet; the lower house can pass a no-confidence vote; the Supreme Court is the court of last resort with the power to review the constitutionality of laws. Test yourself by asking 'who can do this to whom' for each arrow.
On election and political-system questions the candidate mixes up the electoral systems, describing the House of Councillors as single-member districts only or the House of Representatives as proportional only, and misstates the voting age or the number of seats.
Japan's mixed systems changed over time and candidates memorize fragments, so they blend the two houses and use outdated figures.
What to do instead
Learn the two houses as a fixed table: House of Representatives - single-member districts plus proportional representation blocks, 465 members, four-year term, dissolution possible, 25 years old to stand. House of Councillors - prefectural districts plus national proportional, 248 members, six-year term with half elected every three years, 30 years old to stand. Voting age is 18 for both. Recite the table until the numbers are automatic.
On economics questions the candidate treats price movements as caused by demand alone, so a supply shock such as a poor harvest or an oil embargo is explained as 'people wanted more', or a price rise is said to mean demand fell.
The demand curve is taught first and more vividly, and candidates never practice reading a supply-and-demand diagram where the supply curve shifts rather than the demand curve.
What to do instead
For every price question, name which curve shifted and why. Supply shifters: weather, input costs, technology, number of producers, import restrictions. Demand shifters: income, tastes, population, substitutes, expectations. Then state the direction of the price and quantity change. Practice with a bad rice harvest (supply left, price up, quantity down) and an oil price spike.
On questions about international organizations the candidate assigns the wrong body to the wrong function, for example saying the Security Council handles trade disputes or that the WTO sends peacekeepers.
The organizations are introduced as a list of acronyms with one-line descriptions, and candidates memorize the acronyms without linking each to a distinct function.
What to do instead
Build a function-first list: UN Security Council - peace and security, five permanent members with veto; UN General Assembly - one vote per member; WTO - trade rules and dispute settlement; IMF - short-term balance-of-payments lending and exchange-rate stability; World Bank - long-term development loans; WHO - health; UNESCO - education, science, culture. When a question names a problem, ask which function it belongs to before choosing the organization.
On historical-source questions the candidate summarizes what the source says instead of answering what the question asks about the source, such as who wrote it, when, for what audience, or what it leaves out.
Candidates treat source questions as reading-comprehension questions and never practice the source-criticism routine of author, date, purpose, and bias.
What to do instead
Use a fixed four-question routine on every source: Who wrote this and in what position? When, and what was happening then? Who was the intended reader? What does the author want the reader to believe, and what would an opposing side say? Write one line for each before looking at the options, then choose the option that matches your lines.
On diagram or table questions with several data series the candidate reads the column order from memory instead of from the legend, so they assign the urban population line to the total population or swap the two countries being compared.
Under time pressure candidates scan for the shape they expect and skip the legend, and similar-looking lines or columns make the swap easy to miss.
What to do instead
Physically trace the legend symbol to its line or column with your finger or pencil before reading any value, and label each series on the question paper. Then read the value at the exact year or category asked, not the nearest one. If two series are close, write both values down and compare them explicitly rather than eyeballing the crossing point.