Among other things, Prof. Yanagisawa conducts research on the topic of educational system comparisons between Japan and Germany and also made a stop in Bamberg on his trip to Germany this year. He was very impressed by the scope and complexity of the NEPS surveys and the good communication and coordination structure within the NEPS consortium. In the subsequent discussion with the staff, the many differences between the education and training systems of Japan and Germany came up. One striking difference, for example, is the emphasis on final exams such as the Abitur in Germany, while entrance exams are more common in Japan.  Finally, Prof. Yanagisawa was given an insight into the data structure of NEPS and the various ways the data can be used.