The purpose of this study is 1) to investigate the current status of English education in Japan, 2) to identify problematic factors that have affected Japan’s English education system, and 3) to make recommendations in order for Japan’s English education system to function more effectively. In doing so, the researcher interviewed five voluntary Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) and surveyed 71 voluntary high school students, asking their perceptions towards the current education system. The results show that student participants are not satisfied with the current English education system and that there are several more problematic factors newly identified such as students’ attitudes towards speaking English and teachers’ responsibilities in addition to what has been discussed by previous researchers. The results also reveal that the teacher and student participants only agreed with each other that college entrance examination is helpful to students because it helps them improve their literal skills; they disagreed on the role of speaking skills of English in the curriculum, which needs to be resolved. In order to address the problems, three recommendations are provided regarding 1) the implementation of a new examination system, 2) the additional teacher training, and 3) the teaching method of traditional English classes.
