Although the Japanese junior college was the result of post-World War II American interventions to create a post-secondary educational system along the lines of the American community college, the institutions in the two countries have taken divergent paths. Both institutions do provide a general, postsecondary education of a shorter duration. However, in contrast to the open-door admissions policies of American colleges, Japanese colleges reject 50% of all applicants on the basis of high school grades or low entrance examination scores. Similarly, while a major objective in the American colleges is the transfer function, Japanese colleges are institutions of virtual terminal education, granting certificates and preparing students for state licensing. Although they are under the control of the government, Japanese institutions are primarily financed through tuition, with government providing for barely 20% of their costs. Also, Japanese colleges are directly responsible to the national Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, in contrast to the local boards which manage the internal affairs of American districts and colleges. The student population in Japan consists of a fairly homogeneous group of recent secondary school graduates, in contrast to the large body of adult and continuing education students in America. The most remarkable difference in Japanese junior colleges is the student body, 90% of which is female, due to the centuries long educational bias against women in Japan. Includes 45 references and charts of institutional organization. (MAB)