Another thing that I forgot to mention is that in Japan where I earned my B.A., undergrads were generally not taught by TAs. All my teachers at Tokyo Gaigo Daigaku -- which had graduate programs -- were professors (only some of whom had a Ph.D.).
First of all, a smaller proportion of the Japanese population go to grad school in comparison to other rich nations:
***** International comparison of the size of graduate schools as indicated by number of students enrolled, however, shows that Japan's ratio of graduate to undergraduate students is only 5.5%, compared with 15.4% in the United States, 37.2% in the United Kingdom, and 18.3% in France. Japan has 1.0 graduate student per 1,000 population, against 7.6 graduate students per 1,000 population in the United States, 3.3 in the United Kingdom, and 3.3 in France. By both measures, Japan lags behind other developed countries ( Figure 2.13 ).
<http://wwwwp.monbu.go.jp/eky1995/index-9.html> *****
Things have been changing since my undergrad days, however:
**** The advancement promotion special expenditure system was established in fiscal 1992 to give priority to encouragement of the advancement of education and research, especially at graduate schools, through support for educational and research activities, including joint research, research exchange, the use of teaching assistants, and international exchange. In fiscal 1995, 9,981 million yen was allocated for this purpose....
Various forms of student financial support are also provided to enable outstanding graduate students to continue their studies without worrying about finances. First, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science offers research fellowships to outstanding young researchers engaged in highly original and advanced research activities (the JSPS fellowship program for young Japanese researchers). Postdoctorate (PD) fellows receive 282,000 yen a month and doctorate course (DC) students 195,000 yen a month. Research funding of up to 1.5 million yen is also provided ( Figures 2.15 ), ( Figures 2.16 ). Second, the Japan Scholarship Foundation provides scholarship loans of 81,000 yen a month for master's degree course students and 112,000 yen a month for doctorate course students ( Table 2.3 ). Third, support is provided through the teaching assistant (TA) program.
<http://wwwwp.monbu.go.jp/eky1995/index-9.html> *****
Maybe TAs are common sights in Japan now.
Yoshie