One thing interesting I learned about the Japanese system, and to some extent the European systems, and I've read about this as well as talked to folks, is that high school for them is tough if they are college bound. Only about 37% of EU HS graduates attend college, the figure here is nearly 70%. HS for them is tough, college by and large is not (it can be). A chemistry major in Europe only takes chemistry classes, and maybe some math and physics and biology, he or she will take zero liberal arts classes.
Here we use college to "complete" a person's HS education in many ways. Folks come out with a 4 year degree roughly on a par in each country because esp. in Japan, college is not very difficult. (Maybe it isn't here now as much either.)
They also of course have no college sports other than perhaps rowing. If you are a top flight soccer player, you play soccer, not in college. In France, K-12 education is entirely Federalized, every school teaches the same program (excepting some teaching local languages which is allowed now), entirely funded by the Feds. Part of that was intended to bind a somewhat disparate country into one whole, back in the day local languages were taught against.
