This research report surveys the Japanese educational system, computer-aided instruction (CAI) in Japanese education, and the Japanese home computer industry. The Japanese educational system is found to be dominated by extensive preparation for entrance examinations, with resulting popularity in private tutoring services, preparatory schools, study aids, and exam preparation equipment. There is also a strong emphasis on English language skills in schools. Computer use in Japanese schools is minimal. The home computer market is dominated by relatively inexpensive, cassette-driven hardware. The report's first section is a survey of the contemporary Japanese education system, with chapters on the structure of the educational system, college entrance examinations and their effects on secondary education, alternatives to the examination system, the Ministry of Education, educational administration by local governments, school curricula, school textbooks, instructional aids equipment, educational expenses, private tutoring services and preparatory schools, and the Test of English as a Foreign Language. A section on CAI in Japanese education surveys microcomputers in educational facilities and discusses an experimental CAI project. A third section surveys both hardware and software aspects of the home computer industry. Numerous charts and tables are included in the text, and the appendices offer the following: (1) charts showing the structure of the school system and the organization of the Ministry of Education; (2) English curriculum guides for lower and upper secondary schools; and (3) an advertisement in Japanese for educational software. (DCS)