| Summary: | Japan's most ambitious parents pack off their promising kids at holiday time to an academic boot camp that will either make them or break them. Successful completion of this ordeal enables them to stand up to the tremendous pressures of the Japanese school system. Up before dawn, drilled before eating, constantly quizzed, prodded and harassed to learn by rote, these kids are on constant alert except for a few hours sleep at night. Even breakfast is not a respite since it is eaten while pouring over a book. Each student must pass an oral examination, grilled by a stern panel of academicians, who goad and mock them and exhort them to present their ideas more fiercely. While many Japanese approve of this privately run program, there are some who question whether it stifles creativity and independent thought.
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